Use of liquefied petroleum gas in Puno, Peru: Fuel needs under conditions of free fuel and near-exclusive use

Abstract

Reducing the burden of household air pollution could be achieved with exclusive adoption of cleaner fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). However, we lack understanding of how much LPG is required to support exclusive use and how household characteristics affect this quantity. This paper used data from 90 participants in the Cardiopulmonary outcomes and Household Air Pollution (CHAP) trial in Puno, Peru who received free LPG deliveries for one year. Households with a mean of four members that cooked nearly exclusively (>98%) with LPG used an average of 19.1kg (95% CI 18.5 to 19.6) of LPG per month for tasks similar to those done with the traditional biomass stove. LPG use per month was 0.5kg higher for each additional pig or dog owned (p=0.003), 0.7kg higher for each additional household member (p<0.001), 0.3kg higher for households in the second-lowest compared to the lowest wealth quintile (p=0.01), and 1.1kg higher if the household had previously received subsidized LPG (p=0.05). LPG use per month was 1.1kg lower during the rainy season (p<0.001) and 1.7kg lower during the planting season (p<0.001) compared to the cold and harvest seasons, despite the fact that LPG was not typically used for space heating. LPG use decreased by 0.05kg per month over the course of one year after receiving the LPG stove (p=0.02). These results suggest that achieving exclusive LPG use in Puno, Peru requires that rural residents have affordable access to an average of two 10kg LPG tanks per month. Conducting similar investigations in other countries could help policymakers set and target LPG subsidies to ensure that households have access to enough LPG to achieve exclusive LPG use and the potential health benefits.