Economics and perception of small-scale biogas plant benefits installed among peri-urban and rural areas in central Vietnam

The implementation of biogas plants in Southeast Asia brings many benefits to the households through socio-economic, environmental and health improvements. This paper expands the knowledge on essential aspects of biogas implementation such as socio-economic impact, post-adaptation perception and cultural habits related to traditional fuel use, focusing on differences in household economics and livelihood diversity at the peri-urban–rural continuum. A questionnaire survey was conducted from July to September in Thua Thien Hue Province central Vietnam, among rural (n=55) and peri-urban (n=63) households owning a biogas plant of various ages. Our results show that technical problems with biogas plants were influenced by the age of the biogas plant and the owners’ experience with the management of the plant. The reduction of costs on energy was the main reason for households to install a biogas plant. However, households with biogas plants in the rural area experienced lower profitability and an almost two-times longer pay-back period than those situated near cities (internal rate of return equals 20.20% and 48.16%, respectively). Furthermore, our study shows that biogas plant installation reduces firewood consumption, particularly in peri-urban areas. The saved time initially needed for dung management or firewood collection/management, households members used predominantly for leisure and household chores, less on income-generating activities. Our study concludes that rural areas face operational problems more frequently, which, together with lower economic efficiency, negatively affect the successful implementation of biogas plants in remote areas of central Vietnam.