Income alone doesn’t determine adoption and choice of fuel types: Evidence from households in Tigrai and major cities in Ethiopia

It is estimated that approximately 2.5 billion people in developing countries rely on biomass fuels to meet their cooking needs. Biomass fuels are derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood and leaves, animal waste and other types of waste. Urban centers have long been dependent on the rural hinterlands for about 90% of their biomass fuel needs in Ethiopia. This is one of the causes of deforestation and has resulted in growing fuel scarcity and higher firewood prices.

One response to reducing the pressure on rural hinterlands could be for urban households to
switch from biomass fuels to another type of fuel such as electricity. This switching of fuel types
is known as energy transition. Without new policies, the number of people globally that rely on
biomass fuels is expected to increase to 2.6 billion by 2015, and 2.7 million by 2030 (about one third of the world’s population) due to population growth.

EfD Authors

Assistant Professor Alemu Mekonnen Coordinator and Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Menale Kassie Research Associate
Associate Professor Gunnar Köhlin Research Fellow and EfD Director

Keywords

Files

Link to pdf 155.6 kB

Centers

ethiopia

Type of publication

Policy brief

Reference

Mekonnen, A., and Köhlin, G. 2008 “Determinants of Household Fuel Choice in Major Cities in Ethiopia” Discussion Paper Series EfD DP 08-18, Environment for Development (EfD), University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden. Gebreegziabher, Z., Mekonnen, A., Kassie, M., and Köhlin, G. 2009 “Urban Energy Transition and Technology Adoption: the Case of Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia” Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia (EEPFE), Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI), Addis Ababa.

Environment for Development

Environment for Development