Abstract
Rwanda is adopting a new concept of using an alternative energy source as a cooking fuel, where more than the majority of the population live in a rural area and use wood for all heating needs. Biomass in the form of firewood and charcoal plays a significant part in Rwanda's economy. This accounted for 83 per cent of Rwanda's energy consumption in 2020. Biomass technology can be converted into fuel through some different processes, including solid fuel combustion, digestion, pyrolysis, fermentation and catalyzed reactions. With the government engaging in improving the health and protection of the environment, it becomes mandatory to look for alternative fuels not harmful or way to improve the methodology and the quality of stoves used in the country. In this study, the impacts of using biomass energy were assessed and mitigation measures were also proposed. The result shows that reducing reliance on unsustainable use of wood fuel and adds ongoing efforts in Rwanda to transition from the traditional use of biomass to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or other improved cooking technology for fuel in a sustainable way. Along with this, the use of biomass for fuel is having harmful effects through health impacts and emissions. The article fills an important gap on the energy literature on Rwanda, as it gives detailed info on the cooking sector.
Highlights
Rwanda relies on fuelwood for heating and cooking
Rwanda heavily relies on traditional biomass, for instance, wood, charcoal, dung, with more than 83 percent of households using firewood and demand for biomass energy continues to be a major driver of deforestation
Continued consumption of traditional biomass fuels contributes to poor health among users due to excessive products of incomplete combustion and smoke emissions in the poorly ventilated houses common in rural areas [2]
Summary
Rwanda relies on fuelwood for heating and cooking. Fuelwood in Rwanda accounts for at least 80.4 percent of energy consumption and as a result, there is significant deforestation across the country. Population growth is intensifying deforestation and causing more environmental degradation For this reason, in 2020 the government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Land and forestry has begun a campaign to reduce the use of firewood for cooking while promoting other technologies such as gas and energy saving stoves to limit deforestation. Rwanda heavily relies on traditional biomass, for instance, wood, charcoal, dung, with more than 83 percent of households using firewood and demand for biomass energy continues to be a major driver of deforestation. Rwandans still rely on biomass in big percentages and the government of Rwanda needs an investor who is capable of replacing firewood-the traditional cooking energy which is putting the country forests under pressure. The institutional framework of the energy sector in Rwanda is shown in figure 2
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