Hourly Firewood Consumption Patterns and CO2 Emission Patterns in Rural Households of Nepal

Abstract

Nepal has low per-capita energy use and a majority of its rural residents use firewood as their primary energy source. Excessive use of firewood in improperly ventilated buildings degrades the indoor environment and health condition of the inhabitants. This study aims to assess the influence of hourly firewood consumption patterns on CO2 emissions and resulting concentrations in rural households in Nepal. A field survey was conducted for 24 h in 16 households during winter. The results suggest that most of the households tend to use more firewood during the morning and evening hours. Family size and number of animals reared by the households were positively correlated with firewood consumption, whereas family size was negatively correlated with per-capita firewood consumption. Per-capita firewood consumption was found to be 1.8 kg/(capita·day). Household firewood consumption and CO2 emissions were 12 kg/(family·day) and 14.26 kg CO2 e/(household·day), respectively. The larger households spent more time for cooking, while their consumption rate was similar (1.3 kg/h) to that of smaller households. High indoor CO2 emissions in the morning and evening hours due to high firewood consumption may pose severe health risks to the inhabitants. Therefore, intensive awareness programs and pollution control programs are suggested for improving indoor air quality and health condition of the rural population.

Domestic Energy Consumption and Its Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Insights from Koulikoro Urban Community, Sudano-Sahelian Zone of Mali in West Africa

“…Annual amount per person (pns) of firewood used was 438 kg pens -1 year -1 and 141 kg pns -1 for charcoal in Koulikoro urban community. The same scenario of firewood consumption per person was observed in Nepal (Ram and Bahadur, 2020). However, spenditure in firewood was highest in large household group size and it was 2 times higher than in small household category size which recorded the lowest (Figure 10).…”

Understanding the Key Determinants of Residential Firewood Consumption in Australia: A Nationwide Household Survey

“…In terms of timing, as shown in Figure 3, the use of firewood for indoor space heating among the sample of survey respondents was consistent with previous research conducted in Australia [5], which found that firewood consumption was most common during the cooler months of the year, particularly May to September (peaking in July during the winter period). Research conducted in Nepal has also found that the consumption of firewood tends to be higher during the winter months [8]. In addition, as shown in Figures 3-5, the self-reported timing (i.e., months in the year), frequency (i.e., days per week), and duration (i.e., hours per day) of firewood consumption differed across geographical locations.…”

“…For example, developing more specific guidelines or instructions that help householders to accurately identify and report different wood species used for residential firewood, as well as more precise methods for converting between volume and weight for each species, could help to minimise the risk of measurement error, self-report biases, or other inaccuracies in retrospective reporting. Future studies could also consider implementing weight survey methodologies similar to those used in other international studies (for an example from Nepal, see [8,24]), where the weight of a firewood bundle is measured before and after firewood was burned. In addition, if the intention is to record and track firewood over an extended period (i.e., more longitudinal or repeated measures research), study participants could potentially use the weight survey method to keep a diary or written record of the amount of firewood consumed over a specific timeframe (e.g., during winter months).…”

“…Identifying the key determinants (or 'predictors') of residential firewood consumption and improving current estimates of how much firewood Australian households use is important for multiple reasons-not only to establish the relative impact of different energy sources on household energy costs and carbon emissions, but also to identify opportunities and solutions for reducing such costs and emissions in the future [2,3]. In addition, there are concerns over firewood appliances being a major source of air pollution, especially in winter months, with the potential for serious negative impacts on human health [4][5][6][7][8]. In turn, a deeper understanding of residential firewood usage could also bring valuable insights to help reduce such health and well-being risks for individuals and communities alike.…”

“…More specifically, some of the key determinants of firewood consumption identified in previous research [9,[11][12][13][14]19] have included geographical location (rural vs. urban areas; colder vs. warmer climate), dwelling type (free-standing houses vs. apartments or units), dwelling age (older vs. newer homes), household size (larger vs. smaller households), age of occupants (older vs. younger head of household) and household income (lower vs. higher incomes). The purpose of firewood use (i.e., whether firewood is used for indoor space heating vs. other domestic activities) and the availability of other energy sources have also been identified as important factors when investigating firewood use in developing nations (for examples, see [7,8,22]). While this international research is useful for theorising about the likely determinants of residential firewood usage in Australia, the external validity and generalisability of such findings to the nation's local context has not been rigorously tested in recent years.…”