Barriers and opportunities to bioenergy transitions: An integrated, multi-level perspective analysis of biogas uptake in Bali

Highlights: • Barriers to biogas adoption mainly found in policy sector, access to finance and capacity building. • Overcoming barriers is possible by improving steps in market chain and with right policies. • Focusing on co-benefits, creating ownership and build capacity amongst adopters will be crucial. -- Abstract: Renewable energy is expected to gain a larger share in the Indonesian energy mix by 2025. Biogas has not only the potential to contribute significantly to the country's renewable energy targets by mid-century, but also to provide a series of co-benefits to improve wellbeing of vulnerable rural communities. The challenge is to find pathways for biogas to overcome well-established technologies and practices in the current heavily fossil fuel based energy system. This paper focused on household-level biogas development in Bali, Indonesia, critically analysing four domestic biogas programmes that are currently under implementation. For our analysis, we adopted an integrated approach combining the multi-level perspective framework with a system-mapping exercise. Moreover, a series of semi-structured interviews as well as an interactive workshop was conducted which allowed us to place multiple stakeholder perspectives and experiences at the heart of the analysis to look at factors beyond the micro-system of the technology, and understand the broader socio-institutional context. Our analysis of enabling and hindering factors to biogas expansion identified opportunities for improving the design and implementation of policy, finance and technology measures. These findings are relevant not only for the Indonesian context, but also for other developing countries that are increasingly investing in transitioning to low-carbon energy futures.