Uso do biodigestor como tecnologia social para produção de gás de cozinha

Abstract

The use of biogas as an alternative to the use of LPG gas for cooking, within the scope of family farming in the Semi-Arid is something recent and with ample room for growth. However, it was identified that part of the installed biodigesters is either deactivated or not actually used. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of the backcountry digester by farming families in the Agreste of Pernambuco State, as a social technology for the production of cooking gas and mitigation of climate change. It also aimed to identify elements that contribute to the dissemination of this technology as an alternative for the production of cooking gas to replace the use of firewood, charcoal and LPG gas. The research used qualitative and quantitative approaches, following the exploratory method, using bibliographic and documentary surveys, non-standardized interviews and non-probabilistic sampling. It was considered a finite population with 132 family units of biodigesters in the mesoregion of the Agreste of Pernambuco State; 83 interviews were collected, representing 63% of the families using biodigester. The results indicated that the use of the social technology of the biodigester provides an increase in the income of farming families, avoids the use of firewood and charcoal for cooking and contributes to the production of biofertilizer for crops. They also prove that it is possible to completely replace the use of firewood and charcoal with biogas, strengthening the role of the biodigester as a technology that contributes to mitigate the effects of climate change. They also show that the non-continuous use, or deactivation, of the biodigester is related to the lack of raw material and the need to maintain the equipment. As a contribution of the study to the dissemination of technology, it is recommended: a) to implant the biodigester only when there is availability of raw material source in the production unit; b) evaluate the potential for biogas production from the existing herd and demanded for consumption; c) strengthen the arguments of economic impact for low-income families and those of environmental impact for families with more permanent sources of income; d) encourage the use of biogas associated with other activities of the production system; and, e) incorporate biodigester technology in rural credit lines. The technical product generated in this work will be a report produced in the Cnpq / MCTIC/MDS Call Nº. 36/2018 - Social Technology and made available to the Ministry of Citizenship and a first approach to the elaboration of a manual or technical bulletin, in Portable Document Format (PDF) for use in electronic media, highlighting the methodological elements about the implantation of biodigestors in the context of family farming