Biogas Consumption Pattern in Indonesia (A Case Study of Sumedang Community Biogas Plant, Indonesia)

The current situation on fossil fuel reserves decline has an impact on the increasing demand for renewable energy usage. In developing countries, such as Indonesia, biogas as one of the potential renewable energy sources has positively responded by Indonesian society. However, despite the high biogas demand, biogas consumption pattern in Indonesia is rarely reported in the literature. The biogas consumption pattern is an essential aspect, which can be used as a parameter to improve biodigester performance. This study aims to close the knowledge gap of biogas consumption pattern by studying biogas usage variation in the community biogas plant in Sumedang, Indonesia, as a case study. This study used a literature review and questionnaire as its methodological approach, involving 60 respondents of biogas users. The results showed that the biogas equivalent amount to LPG consumption was 0.669 m(3) per household per day or 0.17 m(3) per person per day. Meanwhile, the net biogas consumption was 1.92 m(3) per household per day or 0.49 m(3) per person per day, higher than the reported values in the literature. The inefficiency of biogas stove (34.92% efficiency) was suspected to be the cause of high daily biogas consumption rate. It was also found that 82% (49) of biogas users used biogas in the range of 1 - 2 hours per day. The weekly biogas consumption pattern was found to be constant. Meanwhile, on a daily usage, a variation was found where the daily peak usage time occurred in the morning. Furthermore, this study also addresses the importance of having an efficient biogas stove for optimal biogas utilization.