An estimated 16 million households worldwide receive energy for lighting and cooking from biogas produced in household-scale plants (called anaerobic digesters). This includes 12 million households in China, 3.7 million households in India, and 140,000 households in Nepal. In addition to providing energy for cooking and lighting, biogas has improved the livelihood of rural households in indirect ways. For example, analysis of the benefits of biogas in Nepal shows a reduction of workload for women and girls of 3 hours/day per household, annual savings of kerosene of 25 liters/household, and annual savings of fuel wood, agricultural waste, and dung of 3 tons/household.[N39]

In China, household-scale biogas for rural home lighting and cooking is a widespread application. A typical digester, sized 6–8 cubic meters, produces 300 cubic meters of biogas per year and costs 1,500–2,000 RMB ($200–250), depending on the province. Because digesters are a simple technology, there is no need for advanced expertise, and they can be supplied by local small companies. Farmers, after receiving proper training, can build and operate the digesters themselves. A new government program, started in 2002, provides 1 billion RMB annually as subsidies to farmers who build their own digester. The subsidy is 800 RMB per digester. Some estimate that more than 1 million biogas digesters are being produced each year. Beyond household scale, a few thousand medium and large-scale industrial biogas plants were operating in China, with a recent national biogas action plan expected to expand the numbers of such plants.

In India, the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources has been promoting household-scale biogas plants since the early 1980s. The ministry provides subsidies and financing for constructing and maintaining biogas plants, training, public awareness, technical centers, and support to local implementing agencies. The well-known Khadi and Village Industries commission also supports biogas plants.

In Nepal, the SNV/Biogas Support Programme has provided technological innovation, financing, engineering, and market development for household-scale biogas plants (sized 4–20 cubic meters, with the most popular being 6 cubic meters). During the program, 60 private biogas companies increased their technical and market capabilities, 100 micro-credit organizations provided loans, quality standards were adopted, and a permanent market facilitation organization, Biogas Sector Partnership/Nepal, has been created.