Consuming modernity in Kenya: LPG bottles and the local reworking of global ideas of “clean” and “modern” energy

This longitudinal study presents the joint effects of a COVID-19 community lockdown on household energy and food security in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Randomly administered surveys were completed from December 2019–March 2020 before community lockdown (n = 474) and repeated in April 2020 during lockdown (n = 194). Nearly universal (95%) income decline occurred during the lockdown and led to 88% of households reporting food insecurity. During lockdown, a quarter of households (n = 17) using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a cleaner cooking fuel typically available in pre-set quantities (e.g. 6 kg cylinders), switched to polluting cooking fuels (kerosene, wood), which could be purchased in smaller amounts or gathered for free. Household size increases during lockdown also led to participants’ altering their cooking fuel, and changing their cooking behaviors and foods consumed. Further, households more likely to switch away from LPG had lower consumption prior to lockdown and had suffered greater income loss, compared with households that continued to use LPG. Thus, inequities in clean cooking fuel access may have been exacerbated by COVID-19 lockdown. These findings demonstrate the complex relationship between household demographics, financial strain, diet and cooking patterns, and present the opportunity for a food-energy nexus approach to address multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): achieving zero hunger (SDG 2) and universal affordable, modern and clean energy access (SDG 7) by 2030. Ensuring that LPG is affordable, accessible and meets the dietary and cooking needs of families should be a policy priority for helping improve food and energy security among the urban poor.

Clean cooking and the SDGs: Integrated analytical approaches to guide energy interventions for health and environment goals

BackgroundImplementing efficient stoves and clean fuels in low and middle-income countries are critical for improving health of poor women and children and improve the environment. Cleaner biomass stoves, however, perform poorly against the World Health Organization’s indoor air quality guidelines. This has shifted the focus to systematic dissemination and implementation of cleaner cooking systems such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) among poor communities. Even when there is some uptake of LPG by poor communities, its sustained use has been low. Concurrent use of LPG with traditional biomass cookstoves compromises reductions in household air pollution and limits health and environmental dividends. Therefore understanding key drivers of adoption and sustained implementation of clean fuels among the poor is critical. There is a significant gap, however, in the research to understand determinants and sustained exclusive use of clean fuels in rural poor communities.Methods/designUsing a case control study design, this study will explore the impact of affordability, accessibility, and awareness on adoption and sustained use of LPG among rural poor communities of India. The study uses a multistage random sampling to collect primary data from 510 households. Case group or LPG adopters constitute 255 households while control group or non-LPG adopters constitute the remaining 255 households. The study will deploy sophisticated stove use monitoring sensors in each of the stoves in 100 case group households to monitor stove use and stacking behavior (using clean and traditional systems of cooking) of participants for 12 months. Moreover, this will be the first study to explore the impact of personal social networks striated by gender on LPG adoption. This study is guided by the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) implementation science evaluation framework.DiscussionLessons from this study will feed into a larger discussion on developing a pro-poor strategy to foster uptake and sustained use of cleaner cooking systems such as LPG. Understanding the determinants of adoption and sustained use of cleaner cooking systems through the RE-AIM framework will expand our insights on implementation of cleaner cooking systems among poor communities and will advance implementation science in the clean cooking sector. A thorough study of such implementation strategies is crucial to realize multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals on global health, climate change, and energy security.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) consists in ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Before Mexico can achieve this goal, a deeper insight into the prevailing status of rural households’ energy access needs to be identified. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate how does the consumption for different energy carriers vary with income in Mexican rural households. Using household survey data an approach to the income elasticities of different energy carriers (electricity, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, coal, and firewood) is computed. The preliminary results suggest that all variables reported the expected sign except for firewood. When the income of Mexican rural households increases by 1%, their consumption of electricity, LPG, natural gas, and firewood, increases by 0.35%, 0.24%, 0.44%, and 0.12%, respectively. Additionally, when the income varies by 1%, the coal consumption decreases by 0.09%.

Background: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7.1) reinforce to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, safe and renewable energy, and SDG 3 emphasises healthy lives and wellbeing. We hypothesised that the women who use Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have a better quality of life (QOL) than women who use biofuels for cooking. However, little is known about the association between LPG and QOL. This study compared the wellbeing and health of rural women using LPG with those using biofuels. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study in Odisha, India. The cases were rural women who adopted LPG exclusively for two years (LPG Users), and the control were the women with non-adopters of LPG (Non-LPG Users). A total of 900 women, 450 from each group, were randomly selected. We measured prevalence of chronic diseases, and QOL using WHOQOL-BREF and. Findings: The LPG-Users had a better predictor of physical (p<0.001), psychological (p<0.001), social (p<0.001), and environmental (p<0.001) wellbeing than Non-LPG Users. We found the ophthalmic disorders (AOR 2.87, 95% CI 1.16-7.10, p=0.023), asthma (AOR 2.05, 95% CI 1.15-3.65, p=0.015), and ALRI (AOR 9.19, 95% CI 2.06-40.96, p<0.004) was significantly higher in Non-LPG Users in comparison to LPG Users. Interpretation: LPG-Users have better predictors of wellbeing in comparison to Non-LPG-Users. The prevalence of chronic diseases was found high among Non-LPG Users in comparison to LPG Users. We suggest that ensuring universal coverage of LPG as cooking fuel should be one of the national priorities to supply poor rural households with clean fuel. Funding; Funding: Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India. Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: This study approved by the institutional ethics committee at ICMRRegional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar. We obtained consent from all participants.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: In 2020, cooking with polluting solid fuels was estimated to be responsible for 3,255 premature deaths and 172,643 DALYs in Rwanda. The Rwandan government has set an ambitious target of halving the proportion of the population using solid fuels in traditional stoves to 40% by 2024, mostly through scaling up adoption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for clean cooking. We report here modelling conducted for the Rwandan government to estimate the health impacts of this transition with different scenarios of LPG household adoption in years 2024 and 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals). METHODS: Three demand scenarios are modelled: the “Business as Usual” (BAU) scenario, and two interventional scenarios (Low and High Intervention Scenarios). BAU projects current demographic, market and industry trends unabated to 2024 and 2030. LIS adds the effects of policies and measures to improve access to LPG. HIS includes more aggressive assumptions regarding LPG availability and promotion, including increased consumer awareness through campaigns about the advantages of LPG cooking as compared with wood fuels. Health impacts of each scenario are estimated. RESULTS:In 2020, 5.6% of Rwandan households were estimated to be using LPG. This proportion is projected to increase to 10.4% in 2024 and 24.0% in 2030 under BAU; to 11.7% in 2024 and 31.2% in 2030 under LIS; and to 13.2% in 2024, and 38.5% in 2030 under HIS. Depending on the level of LPG adoption, the cumulative number of averted deaths was estimated to range between 2,590 and 7,656 between 2021 to 2030, and the cumulative number of averted DALYs was estimated to range from 135,716 to 403,664. CONCLUSIONS:To achieve the Rwandan government’s aspirational target of LPG adoption will require aggressive policies and interventions, but will in turn have significant health gains both in terms of reduced mortality and morbidity through reductions in exposure to household air pollution. KEYWORDS: household air pollution, LPG adoption, health impacts, Rwanda

Universal access to cleaner cooking fuels (including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) is a key target of Sustainable Development Goal 7. Currently, approximately 40 million Kenyans rely on polluting cooking fuels (e.g. charcoal, wood). While the Kenyan government aims to rapidly scale up use of LPG for cooking by 2030, COVID-19 restrictions and a 16% value added tax (VAT) re-introduced on LPG in 2021 have likely hampered progress in LPG uptake. We aimed to quantify the effect of these economic shocks on food and energy security in Langas informal urban settlement in western Kenya. We further evaluated whether households most adversely affected by COVID-19 restrictions were more likely to be socioeconomically impacted by the VAT re-imposition. A cross-sectional survey (n = 1542) assessed changes in cooking fuel patterns, food security and livelihoods of primary cooks due to these two economic shocks. While under COVID-19 restrictions, 75% (n = 1147) of participants reported income declines and 18% (n = 164) of participants using LPG (n = 922) switched their primary cooking fuel to charcoal, wood or kerosene. Households reporting lower income while under COVID-19 restrictions had 5.3 times (95% CI:[3.8,7.4]) the odds of experiencing food insecurity as those with no change in income. Unemployment and food insecurity under COVID-19 restrictions were substantially higher among informal sector workers (70% and 60%, respectively) compared with business/government employees (45% and 37%, respectively). Following the VAT re-introduction, 44% (n = 356) of households using LPG consumed less, and 34% (n = 276) cooked more frequently with polluting fuels. Individuals switching away from LPG under COVID-19 restrictions had 3.0 times (95% CI:[2.1,4.3]) the odds of reducing their LPG consumption due to the VAT re-introduction as those maintaining use of LPG. COVID-19 restrictions and the VAT re-introduction disproportionately negatively affected informal sector workers’ livelihoods. A zero-rating of VAT on LPG can help alleviate deepened inequities in LPG access in Kenya.

Breathing Room: Cleaner Fuels for Home Cooking in LMICs.

Internal and external migration can have a profound impact on rural asset accumulation in most Third World countries. In many African, Asian, and Latin American countries the bulk of the labor force still lives in the countryside. In these countries the large difference between expected rural and urban or foreign incomes, coupled with the risk-reducing functions of migration, causes workers to migrate, either to urban centers or abroad. The remittances—defined as the money or goods sent home by migrant workers—can have a large effect on the accumulation of assets in these rural areas. For example, an inflow of external remittances to rural households at the upper end of the income distribution could increase land accumulation by the rich. In general terms the effect of remittances on asset accumulation in a rural Third World economy depends on answers to three questions: (a) Who migrates? (b) How much net income do migrants remit? and (c) What are the marginal effects of these remittances on household consumption and investment? Because of data limitations, in this article I propose to examine only the first and the third questions; other researchers have addressed the second issue. In the past surprisingly little attention has been focused on the question of the marginal effects of remittances on household consumption and investment in the rural Third World. This inattention has been due to three considerable methodological problems. The first is fungibility; because remittances are like any other form of cash income, it is difficult to associate this income source with any particular changes in household expenditure behavior. The second problem relates to the multiple-round effects of remittances on the local economy. For example, an inflow of remittances into a rural area may lead to a surge in expenditures in housing, which may, in turn, create new income and employment opportunities for the poor and unskilled. Unfortunately, however, few studies have

Background/Aim: Over three billion people, mostly living in low and middle income countries (LMICs), are exposed to household air pollution from reliance on polluting fuels (e.g. wood, charcoal). There is a dearth of information on barriers to adoption and sustained use of clean cooking fuels, (e.g. liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) in remote locations in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional demographic and fuel use survey was completed by approximately 1500 household cooks from peri-urban Mbalmayo in Central Cameroon. Stratified random sampling was conducted to identify approximately 200 clean (LPG) and 200 polluting (e.g. wood) cooking fuel users who completed in-depth surveys on individual and household characteristics that were potentially associated with cooking behavior and fuel choice. Results: Among households using solid fuels (n=196), the main reported barrier to LPG adoption included the initial cost of LPG equipment (n=87; 59%). Concerns over LPG safety were a significant concern in both users and non-users of LPG (n=366; 83.6% perceived LPG to be dangerous). Decision making over choice of cooking fuel was approximately equally split between the main cook (typically women) and the head of household (usually men); men were in charge of decision making regarding cooking fuel adoption among 41.4% (n=121) LPG users and 56.2% (n=82) of biomass users. Stacking was universal (100%) amongst LPG users, with 70% LPG use. Free secondary fuel and a distance 20-30minutes from retail point reduced LPG use by 20% and 10% respectively. Household head unemployed (O.R 2,057, p-value .000), No formal education (O.R 15.200,p-value .006), and Cost (O.R 2.489, p-value 0.000) were all associated with the non-adoption of LPG. Conclusions: Addressing safety concerns through education, and financially supporting households (e.g. through microfinance) will considerably scale LPG adoption in peri-urban Cameroon. Policies to facilitate LPG adoption should be targeted to both genders. Key words: LPG, clean cooking, adoption

The object of research is the multifunctional synthesis technology Avenir Gaz (of various levels of complexity), intended for converting transport diesel engines into spark-ignited gas internal combustion engines (ICE) for operation on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Investigated problem: the creation of an affordable synthesis technology in terms of complexity and price, which allows converting operating diesel engines into gas internal combustion engines operating on cheaper and environmentally friendly gas fuel - LPG. Main scientific results: Avenir Gaz synthesis technology (two levels of complexity, qualified as levels "A" and "B") for converting diesel engines into gas internal combustion engines is developed and created. It is shown that the conversion of diesel engines according to the Avenir Gaz synthesis technology is carried out on the basis of the developed electronic microprocessor control systems. And the basis of the control systems is the developed and manufactured two electronic microprocessor control units Avenir Gaz 37 (hereinafter – ECU Avenir Gaz 37). ECUs in accordance with the levels of complexity of synthesis technology are qualified as – ECUs Avenir Gaz 37 "A" and Avenir Gaz 37 "B". It is shown that Avenir Gaz synthesis technology of level "A" allows converting diesel engines into gas internal combustion engines with LPG supply through a gas-air mixer into the inlet pipeline. At the same time, the Avenir Gaz 37 "A" ECU, using the signal from the Hall sensor of the distributor, limits the maximum speed of the gas engine, thereby ensuring its safe operation. And the synthesis technology Avenir Gaz 37 of level "B" allows converting diesel engines into gas internal combustion engines providing group or sequential injection of LPG by electromagnetic gas nozzles (injection system of the Common Rail type) into the intake manifold in the area close to the intake valve. Area of practical use of the research results: converting diesel vehicles, including agricultural machinery (powerful wheeled and tracked tractors, combines, etc.) into spark-ignited gas combustion engines operating on LPG. An innovative technological product: Avenir Gaz synthesis technology, which allows converting the transport diesel engines in operation into gas internal combustion engines for operation on LPG. Scope of application of the innovative technological product: naturally aspirated and supercharged diesel engines with the number of cylinders from one to six, in-line and V-shaped, with a uniform alternation of working strokes.

More than 90% of Rwandans rely on polluting solid fuels to meet their cooking needs. The negative impacts on health, climate, and the environment have led the Rwandan government to set a target of halving that number to 42% by 2024. A National Master Plan to promote scale up of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been developed to define (i) the necessary market conditions, (ii) public and private sector interventions, and (iii) the expected societal impacts. Findings are reported from modelling scenarios of scaling LPG use towards the 2024 policy target and the 2030 target for “universal access to clean modern energy” (SDG7). Household LPG use is projected to increase from 5.6% in 2020 to 13.2% by 2024 and 38.5% by 2030. This level of adoption could result in a reduction of 7656 premature deaths and 403,664 disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs), as well as 243 million trees saved. Reductions in carbon dioxide and black carbon emissions equivalents (CO2e and BCe, respectively) are estimated to reach 25.6 million MT and 14.9 MT, respectively, by 2030. While aggressive policy intervention is required, the health, environmental, and developmental benefits are clear. Implementation of the Rwanda National LPG Master Plan will provide a model for other sub-Saharan African countries to address the priorities for cessation of reliance on solid fuels as an energy source.

Due to the issue of combustion stability when using natural gas and the problem of knocking when using both natural gas and hydrogen, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is then a good candidate to use for the dual‐fuel concept since it has been proven to be a good solution to limit the pollutants and the excessive use of fossil resources in the aim to support and advance the African Union's and UN's sustainable development goals. In this paper, the effect of load as well as the air + gas/fuel ratio on the performance, emission, and combustion characteristics of a dual‐fuel diesel–LPG engine, single‐cylinder, four‐stroke, direct injection diesel engine with a rated power of 3.5 kW at a speed of 1500 rpm has been carried out. Experiments have been performed in dual‐fuel mode for a range of loads from 0 to 12 kg and a range of volume flow of LPG from 1 to 5.5 L/min, and the results were compared with those obtained from the single‐fuel mode. Results show that the dual‐fuel mode gives better performance and fewer pollutants than the single‐fuel mode. For example, at low load, Brake thermal efficiency, the indicated thermal efficiency, and mechanical efficiency increased by 83.79%, 24.36%, and 41.77%, respectively, and by 57.48%, 19.84%, and 24.37% at high load when we moved from the single‐fuel mode to the dual‐fuel mode. The smoke, carbon monoxide, and NOx decreased by 24.3%, 94.2%, and 96.2% respectively at low load and by 62.3%, 89.8%, and 91.4% at high load. And, no knocking came up during this research compared to natural gas or hydrogen dual‐fuel engines.

The global shift towards sustainable energy systems positions the adoption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as a critical objective. However, a significant disparity exists between these international efforts and the persistent dominance of traditional biomass fuels, such as firewood and charcoal, in Tanzanian households. This study examines the socio-economic determinants of LPG adoption for cooking in urban Tanzania, focusing on Kalangalala Ward, Geita Municipal Council. Grounded in the framework of UN Sustainable Development Goal 7, the research seeks to identify pathways to affordable and clean energy access. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 87 respondent’s households, food vendors, and key informants through structured interviews, questionnaires, and observation using a checklist. A logistic regression analysis identified several factors with a statistically significant positive influence on LPG adoption (p &lt; 0.05): higher household income, greater awareness of LPG benefits, advanced education levels, positive attitudes towards LPG, and the availability of suppliers. Conversely, major adoption barriers included the high initial cost, ongoing refill expenses, safety concerns, and cultural preferences for traditional fuels. Notably, proximity to a refilling station (within 1 km for all respondents) was not a significant factor (p &gt; 0.05). The study concludes that while awareness of LPG's benefits is high, financial barriers are the primary constraint. It is recommended that policymakers and stakeholders develop strategies to lower the upfront and recurrent costs of LPG to foster its consistent use and support a sustainable energy transition in the region.

The achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is hampered by slow adoptions of new technologies. The Improved cook-stove has been designed to offer many benefits that lead to the achievement of food security, and the green, renewable and affordable fuel dimensions of the SDGs. However, there is low adoption of improved cook-stoves among the rural populations in Kenya. The rural population still rely on traditional cook-stoves. This study therefore sought to analyse how the traditional cook­ stove is not fully contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals as it should. The Research Questions of the study were: What are the socio - economic realities of the communities in the use of cook stoves? What are the aspects in the traditional cook-stoves that do not allow it to fully contribute towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in Uasin Gishu County? The study utilised Qualitative research approach and it is a case study of U asin Gishu County in Kenya. There were 20 respondents for the study who were selected using purposive sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data was collected using interviews and observation data generation tools. The data was then analysed qualitatively using the thematic data analysis. The study reviewed the theoretical and empirical literature on the traditional cook-stoves. The secondary data was then analysed to determine how the traditional cook-stove is a barrier to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). From the study findings, the study concludes that to a large extent the traditional cook-stove is a barrier to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) especially in issues related to poverty, health, energy, climate change and sustainable forest management. It is anticipated that the study will be significant in emphasising the adoption of improved cook-stoves and the use of Biogas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or other alternative cooking energy. The study will also have policy implications for energy and environment conservation in Kenya as well as promote the achievement of Sustainable Developments Goals.