2012 Articles

Sustainable Household Energy for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Asfaw, Araya; Demissie, Yissehak

This paper presents the household energy consumption trends and alternatives for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study shows that, during the decade that the study was conducted, household energy consumption per capita increased by 17% from 6GJ. Traditional fuels accounted for about 80% of the consumption. Household energy expenditure per person tripled from $10 to $30. The energy consumption trend is highly correlated with fuel price; in 1995, charcoal was the most expensive fuel (app. $7 per GJ), followed by LPG and electricity (app. $5 per GJ). Kerosene was sold at about half the price of charcoal, while fuelwood was the least expensive (app. $1 per GJ). In 2005, charcoal prices increased by about 20%, while fuelwood price declined by more than 10%. The price of electricity doubled while that of kerosene tripled and LPG quadrupled. Despite the rise in price, electricity consumption shot up by a factor of twenty, and kerosene declined by half. During the decade, traditional fuel use increased by 10% while modern energy use increased by 50%. The paper also considers the potential explanations and policy implications of the trends in the data.