Making our communities greener: A case study of promoting biogas energy by Tongwei Evergreen Libraries in China

Making our communities greener: A case study of promoting biogas energy by Tongwei Evergreen Libraries in China

Promoting the consumption of new energies, particularly of biogas, in rural areas is a strategic initiative of the Chinese government. The government has incorporated this initiative into many of its rural development plans. Likewise, Tongwei Evergreen Libraries (TEL) has also integrated ideas of the initiative into its library services. This paper describes the Biogas Promotion Program (BPP) that TEL implemented, discusses the BPP model and roles of TEL in the program, and analyzes the initial results of the program through surveying local farmers. A survey was developed for this assessment study. The survey results show that the government biogas program has helped save local residents in cutting down fuel costs and improving the efficiency of agricultural processes. The results indicate that more than 50% of biogas users were influenced by the promotional activities held by TEL. The paper recognizes the success of the BPP, explains the limitations of the survey and TEL’s activities, and offers suggestions for future promotional activities. TBPP case study indicates that TEL has achieved several of its goals as it expands from offering reading-based service into training and instructional-based outreach services. The benefits of its service to the local residents are immediate and evident. However, data used for this study are not sufficient to confirm TEL’s capability to provide technical support nor can they help predict the sustainability of these programs, especially those technological- and product- specific ones. Methodical and timely assessments are essential to identify necessary refinements and enhancement of future programs.

Zhou, Wenjie

Tim J. Zou

Dong, Elaine X.

CALA Occasional Paper Series

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English

text; journal article

12/12/2017

2/1/2010

13 pages

Zhou, W., Zou, T. & Dong, E. (2010). Making our communities greener: A case study of promoting biogas energy by Tongwei Evergreen Libraries in China. CALA Occasional Paper Series, No. 6 (February), 1-13.