Drivers and Barriers to Rural Bioenergy Entrepreneurships - The Case of Biogas in Vietnam

Abstract: Poverty reduction, first on the list of Millennium Development Goals, requires access to modernized, stable energy to be realized. Rural areas are especially vulnerable, which is why renewable energy technologies (RETs) illustrate a promising solution for modernized energy access. Entrepreneurs play an important role in these sustainable development projects by helping build up an entire sector of services. Acting as indicators for a project s stability, entrepreneurs provide a needed service (energy) while stimulating the local economy. In order to realize their potential, drivers and barriers are to be identified to assess their current situation. Entrepreneurs in Vietnam have had limited time to develop in this contemporary age, however, rapid changes have been occurring they have emerged as key movers in rural bioenergy. This thesis looks at Biogas in Vietnam as a case study towards understanding the key drivers and barriers to bioenergy entrepreneurs in rural areas and their project dissemination models. The project's surveys rural bioenergy entrepreneurs, households and key informants in the projects. The purpose of this study is to explore what critical factors to bring about the creation of a new business in the developing rural energy sector by identifying the key drivers and barriers to biogas entrepreneurs and the dissemination approaches of each case s development project. Using several analytical frameworks, two programs are analyzed, the Biogas Programme and the Vietnamese Women s Union s (VWU) energy project, with three separate cases conducted in the northern part of Vietnam. The study highlights drivers and barriers and compares dissemination models to aid future research, while making important recommendations for future rural bioenergy entrepreneurs.