212 Mariana Silaen et al.
Fossil- fuel subsidies present another challenge because they work against
biogas development. Challenges posed are fossil fuels being more affordable
compared to renewable energy systems. As stated by the Bappenas representatives, farmers, local businesses, and policymakers alike are more likely to favour
fossil fuels. Nevertheless, in many rural or isolated areas subsidised fuels are not
accessible or rarely available, causing the price to constantly fluctuate.
Consequential risks of biogas development in Indonesia
Environmental aspects were a central concern among the consequential risks.
For example, some rural biogas digesters were not installed with H 2 S filtering,
which may harm the environment or even human and livestock health according to researchers in Udayana University (Devisscher et al., 2017). It also runs
the risk of corrosion to the digesters (Chaiprapat et al., 2011). Large quantities
of manure in the biodigester may release this gas, unless it is fitted with filtering
technology. Unfortunately, in many cases the observed biogas digesters were not
equipped with this technology.
Similarly, some methane leakages in the biogas digesters might occur when
users do not burn the biogas produced. There have been some debates on
whether or not the methane leakage is less harmful to the atmosphere than
abandoning the manure on the ground or in the barns. Bruun et al. (2014)
argued that a small amount of methane leakage could offset the emissions
savings from faulty or improperly used digesters. Also, from the perspective of
technological efficiency, biogas technology should be used as optimally as possible in order to take advantage of the feedstock and to reduce the overall GHG
emission.
Besides the environmental risks, we identified a specific consequential risk
within the social domain. The women in rural Bali tend to have significant roles
in collecting the firewood and providing meals, while men’s roles are mainly
taking care of livestock and managing organic waste as feedstock for biogas
technology. Substitution of biogas for firewood therefore has the effect of reducing the women’s working time while increasing the men’s. Such a role reversal
has a positive aspect because women and their families can benefit from women
spending more time doing other things. However, it was also recognised that
this carries a risk of imbalance and turmoil in the household. Some debates
arose around this perception as it is mostly a viewpoint of male farmers, while
other stakeholders, such as the policymakers and some researchers, do not view
it as a significant issue, suggesting it does not represent the entire situation in
Indonesia. Yet such gender- based role division is embedded in many customs
across Indonesia.
Despite interesting discussions on the gender role, the representative of PLN
seemed to be more concerned about the other pathway, especially the reliability of
electricity generation. Conditions may induce a risk to system stability within the
interconnection grid. The current state of biogas production tends to fluctuate,
which may disturb the current system. To resolve this, the PLN representative
Fossil- fuel subsidies present another challenge because they work against
biogas development. Challenges posed are fossil fuels being more affordable
compared to renewable energy systems. As stated by the Bappenas representatives, farmers, local businesses, and policymakers alike are more likely to favour
fossil fuels. Nevertheless, in many rural or isolated areas subsidised fuels are not
accessible or rarely available, causing the price to constantly fluctuate.
Consequential risks of biogas development in Indonesia
Environmental aspects were a central concern among the consequential risks.
For example, some rural biogas digesters were not installed with H 2 S filtering,
which may harm the environment or even human and livestock health according to researchers in Udayana University (Devisscher et al., 2017). It also runs
the risk of corrosion to the digesters (Chaiprapat et al., 2011). Large quantities
of manure in the biodigester may release this gas, unless it is fitted with filtering
technology. Unfortunately, in many cases the observed biogas digesters were not
equipped with this technology.
Similarly, some methane leakages in the biogas digesters might occur when
users do not burn the biogas produced. There have been some debates on
whether or not the methane leakage is less harmful to the atmosphere than
abandoning the manure on the ground or in the barns. Bruun et al. (2014)
argued that a small amount of methane leakage could offset the emissions
savings from faulty or improperly used digesters. Also, from the perspective of
technological efficiency, biogas technology should be used as optimally as possible in order to take advantage of the feedstock and to reduce the overall GHG
emission.
Besides the environmental risks, we identified a specific consequential risk
within the social domain. The women in rural Bali tend to have significant roles
in collecting the firewood and providing meals, while men’s roles are mainly
taking care of livestock and managing organic waste as feedstock for biogas
technology. Substitution of biogas for firewood therefore has the effect of reducing the women’s working time while increasing the men’s. Such a role reversal
has a positive aspect because women and their families can benefit from women
spending more time doing other things. However, it was also recognised that
this carries a risk of imbalance and turmoil in the household. Some debates
arose around this perception as it is mostly a viewpoint of male farmers, while
other stakeholders, such as the policymakers and some researchers, do not view
it as a significant issue, suggesting it does not represent the entire situation in
Indonesia. Yet such gender- based role division is embedded in many customs
across Indonesia.
Despite interesting discussions on the gender role, the representative of PLN
seemed to be more concerned about the other pathway, especially the reliability of
electricity generation. Conditions may induce a risk to system stability within the
interconnection grid. The current state of biogas production tends to fluctuate,
which may disturb the current system. To resolve this, the PLN representative