IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/gigawp/198.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Renewables in the Energy Transition: Evidence on Solar Home Systems and Lighting-Fuel Choice in Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Lay, Jann
  • Ondraczek, Janosch
  • Stoever, Jana

Abstract

We study the determinants of households' choices of lighting fuels in Kenya, including the option of using solar home systems (SHSs). The paper adds new evidence on the factors that influence the introduction and adoption of decentralized and less carbon-intensive energy sources in developing countries. We capitalize on a unique representative survey on energy use and sources from Kenya, one of the few relatively well-established SHSs markets in the world. Our results reveal some very interesting patterns in the fuel transition in the context of lighting-fuel choices. While we find clear evidence for a crosssectional energy ladder, the income threshold for modern fuel use - including solar energy use - is very high. Income and education turn out to be key determinants of SHSs adoption, but we also find a very pronounced effect of SHSs clustering. In addition, we do not find a negative correlation between grid access and SHSs use.

Suggested Citation

  • Lay, Jann & Ondraczek, Janosch & Stoever, Jana, 2012. "Renewables in the Energy Transition: Evidence on Solar Home Systems and Lighting-Fuel Choice in Kenya," GIGA Working Papers 198, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/60108/1/71927947X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hosier, Richard H. & Dowd, Jeffrey, 1987. "Household fuel choice in Zimbabwe : An empirical test of the energy ladder hypothesis," Resources and Energy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 347-361, December.
    2. Ekholm, Tommi & Krey, Volker & Pachauri, Shonali & Riahi, Keywan, 2010. "Determinants of household energy consumption in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5696-5707, October.
    3. Rebane, Kaja L. & Barham, Bradford L., 2011. "Knowledge and adoption of solar home systems in rural Nicaragua," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3064-3075, June.
    4. Gebreegziabher, Zenebe & Mekonnen, Alemu & Kassie, Menale & Köhlin, Gunnar, 2012. "Urban energy transition and technology adoption: The case of Tigrai, northern Ethiopia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 410-418.
    5. Jacobson, Arne, 2007. "Connective Power: Solar Electrification and Social Change in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 144-162, January.
    6. Heltberg, Rasmus, 2005. "Factors determining household fuel choice in Guatemala," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 337-361, June.
    7. Acker, Richard H & Kammen, Daniel M, 1996. "The quiet (energy) revolution : Analysing the dissemination of photovoltaic power systems in Kenya," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 81-111, January.
    8. Heltberg, Rasmus, 2004. "Fuel switching: evidence from eight developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 869-887, September.
    9. Ngui, Dianah & Mutua, John & Osiolo, Hellen & Aligula, Eric, 2011. "Household energy demand in Kenya: An application of the linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA-AIDS)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7084-7094.
    10. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo & Pachauri, Shonali, 2007. "Fuel choices in urban Indian households," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(6), pages 757-774, December.
    11. Jumbe, Charles B.L. & Angelsen, Arild, 2011. "Modeling choice of fuelwood source among rural households in Malawi: A multinomial probit analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 732-738, September.
    12. Ondraczek, Janosch, 2013. "The sun rises in the east (of Africa): A comparison of the development and status of solar energy markets in Kenya and Tanzania," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 407-417.
    13. Masera, Omar R. & Saatkamp, Barbara D. & Kammen, Daniel M., 2000. "From Linear Fuel Switching to Multiple Cooking Strategies: A Critique and Alternative to the Energy Ladder Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2083-2103, December.
    14. Karekezi, Stephen, 2002. "Renewables in Africa--meeting the energy needs of the poor," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(11-12), pages 1059-1069, September.
    15. World Bank, 2010. "World Development Report 2010," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4387, December.
    16. Leach, Gerald, 1992. "The energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 116-123, February.
    17. Pundo, Moses O. & Fraser, Gavin C.G., 2006. "Multinominal logit analysis of household cooking fuel choice in rural Kenya: The case of Kisumu district," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 45(1), pages 1-14, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muller, Christophe & Yan, Huijie, 2018. "Household fuel use in developing countries: Review of theory and evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 429-439.
    2. van der Kroon, Bianca & Brouwer, Roy & van Beukering, Pieter J.H., 2013. "The energy ladder: Theoretical myth or empirical truth? Results from a meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 504-513.
    3. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Das, Sukanya & De Groote, Hugo & Behera, Bhagirath, 2014. "Determinants of household energy use in Bhutan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 661-672.
    4. Alem, Yonas & Beyene, Abebe D. & Köhlin, Gunnar & Mekonnen, Alemu, 2016. "Modeling household cooking fuel choice: A panel multinomial logit approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 129-137.
    5. Andadari, Roos Kities & Mulder, Peter & Rietveld, Piet, 2014. "Energy poverty reduction by fuel switching. Impact evaluation of the LPG conversion program in Indonesia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 436-449.
    6. Zhang, Xiao-Bing & Hassen, Sied, 2017. "Household fuel choice in urban China: evidence from panel data," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 392-413, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Tafadzwa Makonese & Ayodeji P Ifegbesan & Isaac T Rampedi, 2018. "Household cooking fuel use patterns and determinants across southern Africa: Evidence from the demographic and health survey data," Energy & Environment, , vol. 29(1), pages 29-48, February.
    9. Muhammad Irfan & Michael P. Cameron & Gazi Hassan, 2021. "Can income growth alone increase household consumption of cleaner fuels? Evidence from Pakistan," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(2), pages 121-146.
    10. Wassie, Yibeltal T. & Rannestad, Meley M. & Adaramola, Muyiwa S., 2021. "Determinants of household energy choices in rural sub-Saharan Africa: An example from southern Ethiopia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    11. Jack Gregory & David I. Stern, 2012. "Fuel Choices in Rural Maharashtra," CCEP Working Papers 1207, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    12. Takama, Takeshi & Tsephel, Stanzin & Johnson, Francis X., 2012. "Evaluating the relative strength of product-specific factors in fuel switching and stove choice decisions in Ethiopia. A discrete choice model of household preferences for clean cooking alternatives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1763-1773.
    13. Gebreegziabher, Zenebe & Mekonnen, Alemu & Kassie, Menale & Köhlin, Gunnar, 2012. "Urban energy transition and technology adoption: The case of Tigrai, northern Ethiopia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 410-418.
    14. 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.
    15. Han, Hongyun & Wu, Shu, 2018. "Rural residential energy transition and energy consumption intensity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 523-534.
    16. Kowsari, Reza & Zerriffi, Hisham, 2011. "Three dimensional energy profile:," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7505-7517.
    17. 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.
    18. Pallegedara, Asankha & Mottaleb, Khondoker Abdul & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2021. "Exploring choice and expenditure on energy for domestic works by the Sri Lankan households: Implications for policy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    19. Gelo, Dambala & Kollamparambil, Umakrishnan & Jeuland, Marc, 2023. "The causal effect of income on household energy transition: Evidence from old age pension eligibility in South Africa," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    20. Rahul Ranjan & Sudershan Singh, 2023. "Switching Towards LPG: Indian Household Perspectives," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 21(2), pages 417-435, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    renewable energy; household fuel choice; lighting-fuel choice; solar power use; solar home systems; Kenya; energy ladder; KIHBS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dueiide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.