The first biogas activities date back to the Tunisian-German cooperation in the Sejenane region in 1982 when an 11 m3 floating-drum plant was built by the project Développement Régional à Sejenane. In autumn 1983 an agreement was concluded between this project and the Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs (ENIT) in which ENIT engaged to carry out research into and dissemination of biogas technology for this region. In 1986 the first fixed-dome plant (6 m3) was built. Until the engineer who had mainly been responsible for biogas at the ODESYPANO left in July 1987, a further 7 fixed-dome plants (BORDA models) had been constructed.
At the end of 1987, ODESYPANO expressed a wish to establish a cooperation with the Entreprise Tunisienne des Activités Petrolières (ETAP) and the Agence de Maitrise de l'Energie (AME) to reassume biogas activities and this was realised in 1989 by pilot measures of the Special Energy Programme Tunisia. In this phase, the non-functioning plants in the region were rehabilitated and 10 further biogas plants were built. The centre of activities was constituted, besides modification of the technical side (mainly gas appliances), by training measures and slurry experiments. From December 1991 to December 1992 a further measure was carried out in El Kef with the construction of another 11 demonstration plants (between 16 and 25 m3) and the establishing of a Biogas Office at ODESYPANO in Le Kef. In April 1992 the Special Energy Programme withdrew from biogas activities. Although the ODESYPANO general and regional managements concerned had stated their interest in continuing biogas dissemination, activities in this area almost came to a complete standstill. Both central sources of know-how saw their demands for a description of tasks as not having been fulfilled in accordance with their status and consequently searched for other areas of activity.
The dissemination activities in Sejenane as well as in El Kef almost came to a complete standstill when the direct Special Energy Programme involvement ended. In autumn 1992 plants were planned and built only in isolated cases. This decline is in direct conflict with the explicitly formulated interest of decision-makers (mainly at the ODESYPANO) in biogas technology. That this interest and the positive demonstration effects of plants built have not led to consolidation of a sustainable dissemination structure indicates the presence of a multi-level socio-economic complex of problems.