Publication: Household Energy Access for Cooking and Heating : Lessons Learned and the Way Forward
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2012
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2012
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Half of humanity about 3 billion people are still relying on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Of that, about 2.5 billion people depend on traditional biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, agricultural waste, and animal dung), while about 400 million people use coal as their primary cooking and heating fuel (UNDP and WHO 2009). The majority of the population relying on solid fuels lives in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia. In some countries in Central America and in East Asia and the Pacific, the use of solid fuels is also significant. The inefficient and unsustainable production and use of these fuels result in a significant public health hazard, as well as negative environmental impacts that keep people in poverty. Strategies to improve energy access to the poor have focused mainly on electricity access. They have often neglected non electricity household energy access. It is, however, estimated that about 2.8 billion people will still depend on fuel wood for cooking and heating in 2030 in a business-as-usual modus operandi (IEA 2010). The need for urgent interventions at the household level to provide alternative energy services to help improve livelihoods is becoming more and more accepted. This report's main objective is to conduct a review of the World Bank's financed operations and selected interventions by other institutions on household energy access in an attempt to examine success and failure factors to inform the new generation of upcoming interventions. First, the report provides a brief literature review to lay out the multidimensional challenge of an overwhelming reliance on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Second, it highlights how the Bank and selected governments and organizations have been dealing with this challenge. Third, it presents lessons learned to inform upcoming interventions. And finally, it indicates an outlook on the way forward.
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“Ekouevi, Koffi; Tuntivate, Voravate. 2012. Household Energy Access for Cooking and Heating : Lessons Learned and the Way Forward. A World Bank Study. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9372 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Household Energy for Cooking(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2013-07)Reliance on solid fuels for cooking is an indicator of energy poverty. Access to modern energy services - including electricity and clean fuels - is important for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It can also reduce womens domestic burden of collecting fuelwood and allow them to pursue educational, economic, and other employment opportunities that can empower them and lead to increased gender equality. Similarly, the use of clean cooking and heating fuels in efficient appliances can reduce child mortality rates. Without access to modern energy services, the likelihood of escaping poverty is very low. Interventions to improve energy access to the poor have focused mainly on electricity access and have often neglected nonelectricity household energy access. 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The bureaucratic and administrative barriers e.g. overcomplicated forest management planning requirements, complex fiscal systems and land tenure procedures may inhibit development and thus warrant critical reflection. The regulatory framework needs to integrate externalities in order to promote adequate pricing of charcoal, and thus enhance regional economies.Publication Cleaner Hearths, Better Homes : New Stoves for India and the Developing World(New Delhi: Oxford University Press and World Bank, 2012)For people in developed countries, burning fuel wood in an open hearth evokes nostalgia and romance. But in developing countries, the harsh reality is that several billion people, mainly women and children, face long hours collecting fuel wood, which is burned inefficiently in traditional biomass stoves. The smoke emitted into their homes exposes them to pollution levels 10-20 times higher than the maximum standards considered safe in developed countries. 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