Waste- to- Biogas in Bolivia: Promoting Sustainable Development

1. Background
With the rapid urbanization and the fast growth of population, Solid Waste Management
(SWM) has emerged as one of the major environmental problems of the municipalities in
developing countries. The situation has exasperated more due to the ever-increasing
amount of waste, lack of resources, inefficiency in waste management, leading towards
hygienic (i.e. public health) hazards and environmental problems, including air pollution and
water contamination. Modern waste management practices such as source separated
collection systems, recycling facilities, sanitary landfills, and waste-to-energy recovery
systems have not been introduced in most municipalities.
The municipalities of Bolivia are facing the same problems with regard to solid waste
management. Few municipalities in Bolivia, for example, La Paz and El Alto, have initiated
approaches to manage waste through participation of private sectors in the collection,
transport, and disposal at land fill sites. But, the challenge is still there for effective and
sustainable management of generated solid waste, degree of segregation of the recyclable
materials, collection and transport, and final disposal. As the landfills are already
approaching to reach their full capacity and there is seemingly a lack of suitable landfill sites
in the municipalities, managing solid waste through the disposal in the existing land-fills can
only be considered as a short-term strategy. Landfill leachates can also severely contaminate
water resources, posing threat to human health and natural environment. Furthermore,
anaerobic digestion of solid waste (i.e. mainly organic waste) generates biogas which is a
useful renewable energy source when it is captured. In this way, waste-to-biogas strategy
provides a long-term sustainable way for managing solid waste, also generating renewable
energy from abandoned resource.
On the other hand, the Bolivian energy matrix is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Costly
subsidies are provided for oil and gas. Unexplored renewable energy resources can be
utilized not only for reducing fossil energy consumption but also for mitigating climate
change and promoting sustainable development. Great benefits can be accrued from
transforming this organic waste into biogas. This project addresses resources and
technologies, infrastructure and logistics, regulatory framework, socio-economic and
environmental benefits, and barriers for implementing a waste-to-biogas system in Bolivia.
The project will result in a road map towards implementation of a biogas project.
2. Aim and Objective of the Project:
The overall aim of the project is to mitigate climate change and raise livelihoods of Bolivian
people through the promotion of renewable and sustainable energy systems.
The specific objective of the project is:
To develop a strategy for generation of biogas from organic waste in La Paz and El
Alto for greenhouse gas mitigation and sustainable development.

3. Transforming Waste-to-Biogas for a Renewable Energy Option

Waste-to-biogas has co-benefits of managing urban solid waste by ensuring the safe and
effective disposal, and generating useful renewable energy. Municipal Solid Waste (SMW)
management system involves generation of waste, segregation and collection,
transportation, transformation of the waste into useful materials (e.g. energy recovery) , and
final disposal Biogas can be recovered from the organic fraction of the solid waste in the
anaerobic digestion process. The schematic diagram below illustrates the steps carried out in
managing the solid waste, also depicting the pathways for generating biogas for useful enduse.
Solid waste management strategy should be based on the hierarchical preference of Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle (i.e. 3R) principle, followed by efficient transport and logistics
management, and energy recovery. In addition, GHG emissions from waste are reduced by
promoting waste recycling, reuse and encouraging waste minimization. The supply-chain of
the Solid Waste Management (SWM) system, depending upon the type of disposal (e.g. land
filling), conversion technologies, and end-use of biogas such as electricity, heat and
upgraded transport fuel are also presented in the diagram. Landfill has been the traditional
means of waste disposal. It should be noted that the organic waste would also be used to
produce bio-fertilizers, called vermi-composting. Landfill gas, a strong source of GHG
emissions, is obtained in the both passive and active landfill systems. In order to avoid direct
release of methane into the atmosphere, recovered biogas is just open-burned (i.e. flaring)
in the passive land-filling systems while biogas is captured and subsequently used as a
renewable fuel in the active systems. An advanced biorefinery for biogas production could
be developed, taking account of organic waste as the feedstocks. Finally, biogas is upgraded
to natural gas standards and injected into the gas grid.

Key drivers for solid waste management and implementing waste-biogas conversion are
policy and regulatory (i.e. legal), environmental, technological, socio-economic, incentives,
and institutional. Stringent rules and regulations at the municipal level, concerns about

environment protection, infrastructural development for supply chain, public awareness on

health hazards, and public-private participation are required. The SWM policies should also
be closely linked to climate and energy policies. Policies should support investments in
biogas infrastructure/facilities development, also providing economic instruments. In
addition to this, Solid Waste Management strategy and waste-to-biogas solution shall be
based on a systems approach, considering all these drivers.
This project investigates the most favorable and optimal technological solutions for
converting waste-to-biogas in the cities of La Paz and El Alto, taking account of the local
conditions such as waste generation and its composition, geography (i.e. mountainous high
altitude land), stakeholders involved, investment capacity, technological know-how, and also
the institutional set-up. Energy demand, supply of renewable biogas and infrastructure, and
fossil fuel substitution potential will be estimated. Swedish experiences and expertise are
used in assessing the waste-to-biogas potential and transferring technological know-how.
4. Expected Outcomes
Feasibility study on waste-to-biogas from organic waste in the cities of La Paz and El
Alto in Bolivia, considering technological, socio-economical and environmental
conditions for implementation
Continuous stakeholder dialogues leading to a common understanding of how to
tackle the biogas potential in Bolivia
Road-map for the successful implementation of the waste-to-biogas project in Bolivia
Concrete opportunity open for technology and know-how transfer from Sweden
Research results building upon contributions from field work, and implementation
strategies to address barriers to biogas development with particular interest to other
developing countries in similar conditions
5. Project Partners and Organization
The project is developed within the triple helix model in which projects evolve in
cooperation between government, university and industries. Established strong
collaboration and consultation with the local governments, private sectors, and NGO is
considered as a driving force for successful implementation of the project.

6. Project Funding
This project has received a grant from the Nordic Climate Facility (NCF) through a
competitive basis under the category of projects that have a potential to combat climate
change and reduce poverty in low-income countries. The Nordic Climate Facility (NDF) is
financed by the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and implemented jointly with the Nordic
Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO).
Project Leader
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Key Funders:
Nordic Climate Facility (NCF)/Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and Nordic
Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO)
Project Duration:
December 2011 November 2013 (2 years)
Project Contact: Tomas Lnnqvist (Tomas.Lonnqvist@energy.kth.se)
Official Webpage: www.biogas-bolivia.proj.kth.se

Project team in El Alto land-fill site in Bolivia, 30 January 2012

Waste-to-energy in La Paz and El Alto: Promoting sustainable development