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Demand for cooking fuels in a developing country. To what extent do taste and preferences matter?

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  • Wisdom Akpalu
  • Isaac Dasmani
  • Peter B. Aglobitse

Abstract

Overreliance on biomass energy, such as firewood and charcoal, for cooking in developing countries has contributed to high rates of deforestation and resulted in substantial indoor pollution which has negatively impacted the health of many individuals. However, the effectiveness of public policies aimed at encouraging households to switch to cleaner fuels, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, hinges on the extent to which they are mentally committed to specific fuels. Using data on four cooking fuels (charcoal, firewood, LPG, and kerosene) from the Ghana living standards survey, we found strong evidence that the most preferred fuel is LPG, followed by charcoal, with kerosene the least preferred. In addition, with the exception of kerosene that has price-elastic demand, the price elasticities of demand for the fuel types examined are inelastic. This finding suggests the so-called fuel-ladder is not robust.

Suggested Citation

  • Wisdom Akpalu & Isaac Dasmani & Peter B. Aglobitse, 2011. "Demand for cooking fuels in a developing country. To what extent do taste and preferences matter?," Working Papers 243, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    • Handle: RePEc:rza:wpaper:243
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    Cited by:

    1. Vanschoenwinkel, Janka & Lizin, Sebastien & Swinnen, Gilbert & Azadi, Hossein & Van Passel, Steven, 2014. "Solar cooking in Senegalese villages: An application of best–worst scaling," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 447-458.
    2. repec:eee:energy:v:135:y:2017:i:c:p:767-776 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Jean Hugues Nlom & Aziz A. Karimov, 2015. "Modeling Fuel Choice among Households in Northern Cameroon," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 7(8), pages 1-11, July.
    4. Karimu, Amin & Mensah, Justice Tei & Adu, George, 2016. "Who Adopts LPG as the Main Cooking Fuel and Why? Empirical Evidence on Ghana Based on National Survey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 43-57.
    5. repec:eee:rensus:v:78:y:2017:i:c:p:933-944 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Mensah, Justice Tei & Adu, George, 2015. "An empirical analysis of household energy choice in Ghana," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1402-1411.
    7. Lohri, Christian Riuji & Rajabu, Hassan Mtoro & Sweeney, Daniel J. & Zurbrügg, Christian, 2016. "Char fuel production in developing countries – A review of urban biowaste carbonization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1514-1530.
    8. Kileber, Solange & Parente, Virginia, 2015. "Diversifying the Brazilian electricity mix: Income level, the endowment effect, and governance capacity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1180-1189.
    9. Christophe Muller & Huijie Yan, 2018. "Household Fuel Use in Rural China," Working Papers halshs-01735847, HAL.
    10. Wang, Chengchao & Yang, Yusheng & Zhang, Yaoqi, 2012. "Rural household livelihood change, fuelwood substitution, and hilly ecosystem restoration: Evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2475-2482.
    11. Bansal, Mohit & Saini, R.P. & Khatod, D.K., 2013. "Development of cooking sector in rural areas in India—A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 44-53.
    12. repec:eee:enepol:v:113:y:2018:i:c:p:633-642 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Behera, Bhagirath & Ali, Akhter, 2016. "Household energy choice and consumption intensity: Empirical evidence from Bhutan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 993-1009.
    14. Aditi Bhattacharyya & Daisy Das, 2016. "What Makes Rural Households Use Traditional Fuel? Empirical Evidence from India," Working Papers 1604, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    15. Gosens, Jorrit & Lu, Yonglong & He, Guizhen & Bluemling, Bettina & Beckers, Theo A.M., 2013. "Sustainability effects of household-scale biogas in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 273-287.
    16. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Behera, Bhagirath & Ali, Akhter, 2016. "Patterns and determinants of household use of fuels for cooking: Empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(P1), pages 93-104.
    17. Smith, Jo U. & Fischer, Anke & Hallett, Paul D. & Homans, Hilary Y. & Smith, Pete & Abdul-Salam, Yakubu & Emmerling, Hanna H. & Phimister, Euan, 2015. "Sustainable use of organic resources for bioenergy, food and water provision in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 903-917.
    18. Christophe Muller & Huijie Yan, 2016. "Household Fuel Use in Developing Countries: Review of Theory and Evidence," Working Papers halshs-01290714, HAL.
    19. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Behera, Bhagirath & Ali, Akhter, 2017. "Factors determining household use of clean and renewable energy sources for lighting in Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 661-672.
    20. Malla, Sunil & Timilsina, Govinda R, 2014. "Household cooking fuel choice and adoption of improved cookstoves in developing countries : a review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6903, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

    Demand for fuel Taste and preferences Ghana;

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation

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