Analysis of energy supply, energy policies, and the final energy end-use consumption of the residential sector in Ethiopia

Abstract

The residential sector in Ethiopia heavily relies on biomass for cooking, using inefficient cookstoves. In order to assess energy policies and decision-making for better economic development, it is essential to have final energy consumption by end-use. However, there is a lack of readily accessible data on residential energy end-use. Our study fills this gap by using data collected from surveys of 590 urban households in Ethiopia, estimating their energy end-use consumption, and analyzing their determinants. The annual final energy consumption per household is about 7.2 MWh, where 90 % is for cooking, baking, tea/coffee boiling end-uses, and only 2.3 % for lighting. The analysis reveals that income has the strongest effect on energy consumption for Injera baking and on miscellaneous end-uses, both directly and partly indirectly as a mediating variable. The study highlights the importance of end-use consumption data to plan energy efficiency, mix technology options, and make suitable policy interventions.