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You are right that there have been many “white elephant” biogas projects in Africa and the technology’s reputation has been damaged because of this, while in Asia the story is different and biogas seems to be much more successful.

Some time ago (199) there was a review done by Practical Action of Biogas in Kenya Biogas Promotion in Kenya: A Review of Experiences by Stephen Gitonga https://practicalaction.org/media/preview/10737/lng:en which can be summarised as…. “According to a study (1997) by Practical Action, 1100 plants are in operation in Kenya. Most of the units were constructed under the Ministry of Energy’s Special Energy Programme sponsored by GTZ. Most biogas systems found in Kenya are between 4-16 cubic metres. Three cubic metres of gas is considered sufficient to meet the cooking and lighting needs of a family of 5 persons in Kenya. The per capita daily consumption of biogas is 0.6 cubic metres, which translates to an annual per capita consumption of 219 cubic metres of biogas. Uptake of biogas technology in Kenya has remained very low due to high capital costs for not only the plant, but also for the modified burners and lighting units. Inadequate maintenance and management support services required have further impeded uptake because plants are prone to cracking and leaking yet their operations require that they be air and water-tight. Lack of adequate water supplies, which is normally added in a ratio of between one and three parts water to one part feedstock, has also been an impediment.”

Some circumstances may still prove to be appropriate for biogas technology, even if some of other do not. Farming and rural families may not be the best focus for such a technology while institutions such as schools may work. A short description of one of the bio-latrines installed in a school is as follows although this does not include any assessment of the its continued success, I would need to contact our Kenya office to see if there is any up-to-date monitoring on this and the community centres in which biogas was also installed.