Changing demography and environmental decline are interrelated features of extensive parts of the developing countries. Ecological devastation, such as deforestation, erosion and desertification are phenomena not only interrelated to one another, but also to the fact of a growing population pressure. There is no true agreement as to the actual causal relationship between these factors. Still, they are all features of the energy sector in which this project will intervene. One of the overall problems in rural areas is the basic need for firewood and other kinds of energy supply. The need for firewood reflects a more basic problem for the developing countries. This is the inability of modern technology to meet the needs of poor people. The fact that the main energy supply is firewood can be seen as a lack of innovation instead of just a lack of firewood. At the end of the millennium, at a time where practically everything else has changed, the failure to innovate is a failure to adapt to the facts of present day reality. Devastated farmers in marginalized rural areas cannot be held solely responsible for this situation. Complex modern research is out of reach for them. Supergas address this problem of such urgent demand with invention described in this prospect.
Though Tanzania is a well-wooded country compared to many in the region, there has long been no doubt that the country suffers from a shortage of fuel wood. The results are seen in soil degradation as well as the man power lost as people spent hours everyday fetching firewood (according to calculations every household spends 200-300 man days a year). Accordingly afforestation has been a main development goal since independence and even mentioned in the famous Arusha Declaration from 1967. The community based attempts (Ujamaa) to meet the environmental degradation has, however, never been a true success. To understand why firewood or other fossil reserves cannot be seen as a viable source of energy anymore, we throw a glance at the implication of relying on such resources. The problematic is known from Western public debates over the years, but the case is quite different in devastated rural areas, and the parameters of sustainability cannot be equated with the ones in rich countries. Therefore we present the problematic concerning dependency on fossil reserves, mainly firewood, from a special perspective – namely, the perspective of the rural population in Tanzania.
As already noted, the lack of firewood is clearly related to deforestation. At once the cause and effect of the decline in peoples’ available energy supplies, deforestation has a devastating influence on the opportunities of life. Among the malicious effects are to be counted: Erosion, increased workload leading to neglect of other tasks, futility of many hours of darkness etc. Erosion goes hand in hand with nutrient deficient soil. From this stems partly problems of insufficient and/or improper diet. Malnutrition causes health problems. Even when firewood is available, the use of firewood has health related implications too. The smoke has been reported to bring serious lung and eye problems, not least in areas where food is cooked indoor for cultural reasons (as the case is in our test region). This is a problem mainly for the women and children. There is clearly a gender aspect of the sector. Especially in Africa the energy supply is a task for women. It is women spending several hours a day fetching firewood for cooking. It is, however, mostly men who are in charge of monetary dispositions. This implies that where women can be expected to make decisions in areas that lies within the subsistence economy, they are unable to demand cash investments in renewable energy sources such as biogas. The group with the most urgent interest in biogas systems are dependent on their husbands approval. Where this would be no problem if only the biogas system was acknowledged as a prestige object, the fact is that most biogas systems today are dug down in holes – hidden as if they were embarrassing. Therefore Supergas has developed an attractive design and made it clear that the outcome of an investment in biogas must also be prestige. Finally, a few unexplored issues should be brought to notice. Overstocking is generally regarded as a problem in Eastern Africa, and seen as a factor causing erosion. On top of this certain bovine diseases are regarded as reasons for promoting stalling of stock. An effect of stalling seems to be environmental issues. The organic waste from cattle attracts flies and thereby brings along an increased risk of bacterial infection. All of this is overcome with the installation of a Supergas Biogas System.