Clean versus Dirty Energy: Empirical Evidence from Fuel Adoption and Usage by Households in Ghana

Alhassan Karakara and Evans Osabuohien (evans.osabuohien@covenantuniversity.edu.ng)
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Evans Osabuohien: CEPDeR, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

No 20/075, Working Papers from European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS)

Abstract: There are few studies on the determinants of energy consumption of households in Africa, particularly in Ghana. Thus, this study identifies the drivers of households’ fuel consumption for domestic purposes and examines two fuel categories (‘clean’ fuels versus ‘dirty’ fuels). The study used Demographic and Health Survey data that has a sample of 11,835 households across Ghana. Binary categorical models (binary logistic and binary probit) were used to investigate whether a household uses ‘clean fuel’ or ‘dirty fuel’, which are estimated with socio-economic variables and spatial disparity (regional location). The results suggest that households’ energy consumption is affected by socio-economic variables and rural households are more deprived than urban households in adopting clean fuels. Also, male-headed households have a higher likelihood than female-headed households to adopt clean fuels. Many households choose clean fuels for lighting than they do for cooking as wealth status improves. However, solid fuels such as charcoal and firewood remain the dominant fuel used for cooking by the majority of households. The use of these dirty fuels could hamper the health status of households because of indoor pollution. The study recommends that policies should be geared towards the provision of clean and better energy sources to households.

Keywords: ‘Clean’ fuels; ‘Dirty’ fuels; household fuel adoption; household fuel consumption; Energy usage; Ghana. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 P28 Q42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Forthcoming: African Journal of Science, Technology Innovation and Development

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http://publications.excas.org/RePEc/exs/exs-wpaper ... option-and-Usage.pdf Revised version, 2020 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Clean versus Dirty Energy: Empirical Evidence from Fuel Adoption and Usage by Households in Ghana (2020)
Working Paper: Clean versus Dirty Energy: Empirical Evidence from Fuel Adoption and Usage by Households in Ghana (2020)
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