Fuel In Kenya: An Analysis Of Household Choices In Major Kenyan Cities

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 biomass 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 to the environment. Transition to clean fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity would resolve many of these issues as they do not produce dangerous particulate emissions, and are commercially viable, offering a number of socio-economic advantages over traditional options. This study applies a multinomial logit model to fuel choices and patterns of cooking fuels in urban Kenyan households. A large microeconomic dataset from Kippra‘s Comprehensive study and Analysis on fuel consumption patterns in Kenya (2010) is employed to carry out the analysis. The results show that in addition to income, there are several socio-demographic factors such as education and sex of the head of the household, which are important in determining household fuel choice. To encourage clean fuel use, the authorities should carry out public education campaigns and ensure availability of these fuels in all areas to avoid harmful effects of biomass fuels and kerosene, more modern and efficient appliances should be made available at affordable rates to ensure more efficient use of these forms of energy.