Market Barriers to Clean Cooking Fuels in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Review of Literature
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Market Barriers to Clean Cooking Fuels in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Literature Nicolai Schlag and Fiona Zuzarte Working Paper, Stockholm Environment Institute, April 2008 Market Barriers to Clean Cooking Fuels in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Literature An SEI Working Paper Nicolai Schlag and Fiona Zuzarte Stockholm Environment Institute Kräftriket 2B 106 91 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 8 674 7070 Fax: +46 8 674 7020 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.sei.se Publications Manager: Erik Willis Web Manager: Howard Cambridge Layout: Tom Gill Cover Photo: Andreus Leuling Copyright © 2008 by the Stockholm Environment Institute This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit pur- poses, without special permission from the copyright holder(s) provided acknowledgement of the source is made. No use of this publication may be made for re- sale or other commercial purpose, without the written permission of the copyright holder(s). CONTENTS Acronyms and abbreviations iv Abstract 1 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Objectives 2 1.2. Framework 2 2. Household energy consumption in developing countries 2 2.1. Traditional biomass cooking fuels 3 2.2. Modern cooking fuels 4 2.3. Benefits of clean cooking fuels 7 3. Market barriers to clean cooking fuel transition 10 3.1. Price competitiveness of fuel 10 3.2. Technological issues 12 3.3. Lack of infrastructure 14 3.4. Lack of information 14 3.5. Socio-cultural issues 14 4. A policy framework for clean cooking fuels 15 4.1. Implementation of economic incentives 16 4.2. Cooperation and establishment of partnerships 16 4.3. Public outreach and education 17 4.4. Rural sustainable development 17 5. Conclusions 18 iii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ARI Acute respiratory infection ALRI Acute respiratory infection CCFB Clean Cooking Fuel Bureau CDM Clean Development Mechanism CHAPOSA Charcoal Potential in East Africa EAC East African Community GCCFI Global Clean Cooking Fuel Initiative HDI Human Development Index IPCC International Panel on Climate Change IEA International Energy Agency LPG Liquid petroleum gas MDGs Millennium Development Goals MGI Millennium Gelfuel Initiative NMHC Non-methane hydrocarbons ODA Official Development Assistance PIC Products of incomplete combustion ProBec Programme for Biomass Energy Conservation UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme USD United States dollars WHO World Health Organization iv MARKET BARRIERS TO CLEAN COOKING FUELS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE Nicolai SCHLAG and Fiona ZUZARTE SEI Working Paper 8 March 2008 ABSTRACT In the developing nations of sub-Saharan Africa, providing households with modern energy services is a critical step towards development. A large majority of households in the region rely on traditional bio- mass fuels for cooking, which represent a significant proportion of energy used in the domestic setting. The disadvantages of these fuels are many: they are inefficient energy carriers and their heat is difficult to control; they produce dangerous emissions; and their current rate of extraction is not sustainable for forests. Transition to clean cooking fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or ethanol would resolve many of these issues as they do not produce dangerous particulate emissions, and are commer- cially viable, offering a number of socio-economic advantages over traditional options. Despite the benefits of fuel switching, clean cooking fuels are rarely used in households in sub-Saha- ran Africa. Their failure to attain widespread use can be attributed to a number of market barriers. One of the major issues is cost: clean cooking fuels are prohibitively expensive for many households, and the high price of compatible stoves further discourages their use. Besides the expense, many consumers are hesitant to adopt the new technology, reflecting the lack of public awareness of the relevant issues. At the same time, Africa’s underdeveloped infrastructure prevents these fuels from being made avail- able in many local marketplaces. To date, this combination of factors has largely stifled the transition to clean cooking fuels. National governments can adopt a number of strategies to address these issues. The creation of clean cooking-fuel initiatives at the national level would be an important first step, after which governments can begin to address the issues more effectively. The introduction of relevant financial instruments would help to tackle the economic barriers to clean cooking fuels, and public outreach and education could overcome socio-cultural obstacles. Through such a policy framework, national governments can play a significant role in encouraging the transition to clean cooking fuels. Key words: clean cooking fuels; energy consumption; ethanol; LPG; gelfuel; biogas; woodfuel; reduced emissions from deforestation (RED); climate change 1. INTRODUCTION which cleaner and more efficient energy sources pro- The provision of modern energy services to the devel- vide—result in dramatic increases in the HDI. oping world is an issue that is critical to metrics of inter- Lack of access to modern technologies and fuels is national progress. The role of energy services in achiev- thus a major impediment to development and under- ing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while pins serious problems of poverty and health in devel- not explicitly referred to in the goals, has been clearly oping countries. Household cooking, which accounts established (Modi et al. 2005; Axberg et al. 2005). Scal- for a considerable amount of household energy use, is ing up modern energy services in developing countries a clear example of this problem. A large majority of will boost efforts to reach MDG targets for poverty households in many countries depend on inefficient and and hunger reduction, education, health, gender equal- primitive fuels and technologies, particularly biomass ity and environmental sustainability. Access to mod- resources, to provide energy for cooking. Not only ern energy services will also increase quality of life are these fuels inefficient, but their heat is difficult for as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI) the user to control and their supply subject to disrup- (Reddy 2002). Because of the low levels of per capita tion. They also result in harmful emissions when used energy consumption in developing nations, even small indoors. As efforts such as the Global Clean Cooking increases in energy consumption by individuals— Fuel Initiative (GCCFI) suggest, this is a global prob- 1 Market Barriers to Clean Cooking Fuels in Sub-Saharan Africa lem. Worldwide, the number of people who depend on affect the demand for clean cooking fuels. This analysis traditional biomass fuels is close to 2.5 billion, slightly presents the framework required to determine the roles more than half the population of the developing world. of social, economic and political institutions in existing However, nowhere is this issue more pressing than in and potential national markets for clean fuels. sub-Saharan Africa, where 76% of the population relies on traditional biomass fuels for cooking (IEA 2006). 1.2 Framework Since the late 1970s, when it was first widely rec- This paper draws on a broad review of literature rel- ognised in research literature, the issue of household evant to clean cooking fuels in sub-Saharan Africa (and cooking fuels in Africa has been addressed from many globally, where applicable). It is largely a qualitative perspectives (Goldemberg et al. 2004). Initially, the analysis of market barriers to clean fuel, focusing on prevailing approach was to try to introduce improved identifying and describing the barriers rather than meas- stoves that used traditional biomass fuels more effi- uring their effects. By synthesising the data and results ciently, and there have been many studies exploring of the many applicable studies, this paper describes the the feasibility of improved stove-dissemination pro- barriers in detail and provides insight into the mecha- grammes as well as efforts to put them into practice. nisms that drive them. In recent years the focus has shifted away from tra- ditional fuels towards modern alternatives, and ulti- 2. HOUSEHOLD ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN mately to the cleanest of those alternatives—liquefied DEVELOPING COUNTRIES petroleum gas (LPG) and biofuels. Many governments In exploring the changing patterns of energy use in the have set targets to reduce dependence on traditional household, researchers have traditionally turned to the cooking fuels. For example, the East African Commu- “energy ladder” model (see figure 2.1), in which dif- nity (EAC), comprised of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, ferent fuels represent the “rungs” of the ladder. At the Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, has set a bottom are the least efficient, most polluting fuels. As target of providing access to modern cooking fuels by a household gains socioeconomic status, it ascends the 2015 for half of the households currently dependent on ladder to cleaner and more efficient forms of energy. traditional fuels (GTZ, UNDP 2005). The ladder model divides energy-use patterns into three With the assistance of international agencies such stages of fuel choice. In the first and lowest stage, house- as the United Nations and GTZ (a German sustainable holds depend solely on solid biomass, deriving energy development enterprise), African nations are beginning from the combustion of firewood and animal wastes. In to take interest in the promotion of