Feasibility of Ethanol Fuel for Cooking in Upland Sierra Leone A capstone project submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for The degree of Master of Science in International Agricultural Development University of California, Davis May 2019 Dana Armstrong M.S. Candidate, International Agricultural Development B.A., International Relations University of California, Davis Statement of Conflict of Interest and Consent This study was initiated by Martin Kailie, resident of Sierra Leone and UC Davis Humphrey Fellow. Research protocol was designed by Dana Armstrong (me). Because I was working with Martin, a local individual, and not a large established agency, my access to support in country relied on him. Our research team therefore consisted of myself and another UC Davis student, Martin’s friend Suley Koroma, and Martin’s daughter Massa Kailie. Both Suley and Massa are university graduates and possessed significant experience in research, having been employed by NGOs such as Médecins sans Frontiers and Gallup World Poll. They are experienced researchers but also friends and family of Martin, which may have resulted in unmeasurable bias in data collection or interpretation. Study participants were invited to the study’s orientation session through word of mouth, and because this spread through a network of friends, at least 2/3 of the study participants were friends or acquaintances of Martin Kailie. For this reason, friendship with Martin may have had an unmeasurable effect on purchasing behavior. This study was designated “Not Research” by the IRB, but consent signatures were collected regardless. A copy of the consent form can be found in Appendix C and signed copies can be produced upon request. _____________ Funding for this project was provided by the Blum Center for Developing Economies and the Jastro-Shields grant. _____________ Use of icons in infographics were through free online icon providers including FLATICON, Piktochart, and Free Icons Library. Photos are all the author’s own or property of Peter Nasielski. Original art by Peter Nasielski This work is in loving memory of Elizabeth Senesie, house 3, for whose support to our team was but a drop in the ocean compared your support and love in people’s lives. You are missed. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 1 II. Literature Review and Background ....................................................................................................... 2 a. Biomass Fuel ..................................................................................................................................... 2 b. Improved cookstoves ........................................................................................................................ 3 c. Ethanol .............................................................................................................................................. 4 d. Sierra Leone ...................................................................................................................................... 5 i. 2015 Census report ........................................................................................................................... 7 e. Renewable Energy and Sunbird Bioenergy ....................................................................................... 8 f. Project Initiation ............................................................................................................................. 10 III. Energy Market Analysis: The Existing Fuel Market in Bo ................................................................ 11 g. Producers and Wholesalers ............................................................................................................ 12 i. Wood production and wholesale ................................................................................................ 12 ii. Charcoal production and wholesale ............................................................................................ 14 h. Retailers .......................................................................................................................................... 15 i. Charcoal Retailers ....................................................................................................................... 15 ii. Wood Retailers ............................................................................................................................ 17 i. Consumers- Wood and Charcoal .................................................................................................... 18 j. Consumers-Gas ............................................................................................................................... 20 k. Freetown ......................................................................................................................................... 22 IV. Stove and Ethanol Feasibility Study ................................................................................................ 23 a. The Stoves and Fuel ........................................................................................................................ 25 i. Stoves- Cleancook NOVA 2 .......................................................................................................... 25 ii. Ethanol—96.5% Refined Spirit .................................................................................................... 27 b. Orientation and Phase 1 ................................................................................................................. 29 c. Household Characteristics .............................................................................................................. 32 i. Education .................................................................................................................................... 32 ii. Income and Assets....................................................................................................................... 32 iii. Family size ................................................................................................................................... 33 iv. Cooking habits ............................................................................................................................. 33 d. Qualitative Input ............................................................................................................................. 33 e. Fuel Consumption Rates ................................................................................................................. 35 i. Table 1: Fuel use by household ................................................................................................... 36 ii. Table 2: Costs per day for 100% biomass replacement .............................................................. 37 f. Phase 2: Instilling cost ..................................................................................................................... 39 i. Behavior and responses under Le 8000 ($0.95) pricing .............................................................. 40 ii. Behavior and Responses under Le 6000 ($0.70) pricing ............................................................. 41 g. Market Traction & Wrapping Up .................................................................................................... 42 h. Observations from the study .......................................................................................................... 43 i. Product packaging and sizes ....................................................................................................... 43 ii. Gender ......................................................................................................................................... 44 iii. Where to sell? ............................................................................................................................. 45 iv. Alcoholism ................................................................................................................................... 45 V. Recommendations for Moving forward.............................................................................................. 46 a. Safety .............................................................................................................................................. 46 b. Market for Ethanol .......................................................................................................................... 47 c. Market for Stoves............................................................................................................................ 47 VI. Business outlines for local distribution ........................................................................................... 47 VII. Reflections and Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 50 a. Reflections on Development Theory .............................................................................................. 50 b. Outcome Recap & Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 52 i. Existing state of affairs ............................................................................................................... 52 ii.