A Systematic Scoping Review of Biogas as an Instrumental Technology for a Circular Economy and a Way Forward to Ensure Sustainable Development in the Context of Global South Nations

ABSTRACT Sustainable development (SD) was introduced in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission report. This leads to the induction of the circular economy (CE). Within these two frameworks, biogas technology plays a crucial role in facilitating the transformation of organic waste into energy and organic fertilizer without producing non‐recyclable waste. This study aims to elucidate how peer‐reviewed research articles employed research methodologies to investigate the interconnections between biogas, CE, and SD within the Global South context. A systematic scoping review was performed with strong adherence to the PRISMA protocol. Therefore, we applied two analytical approaches: a manual interpretative coding analysis and a bibliometric analysis utilizing RStudio's Biblioshiny interface. The results indicate the dominance of quantitative methodology, with the prevalence of experimental and survey research designs. The direct interconnection of biogas, CE, and SD is hard to find in the inquiries of the reviewed articles. Moreover, CE has the least thematic representation compared to the combination of SD and CE as a distinct theme alongside SD. The publication of peer‐reviewed research articles exhibits an increasing trend, with China occupying a prominent position. This review substantiates the instrumental role and status of Biogas in the effective establishment of the CE and SD in Global South Nations. Furthermore, we recommend that future studies should explicitly examine biogas in the framework of CE and SD. Policies should be tailored to the socio‐economic contexts of Global South Nations through the application of instruments like investment support through subsidies or loans, and incentivizing research and development efforts.