Role of Gender Participation in Household Energy Technology to Achieve Sustainability: A case of Kathmandu

Abstract

Introduction: Sustainability has become a global topic for quality of life on energy efficiency consideration. This study aims to evaluate the sustainability level of household energy consumption from the gender lens.Material and Methods: 623 households above the age of 18 years were surveyed on energy use behavior in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects to evaluate sustainability level. The study was based on interviews, observation, and air quality tests. CO2 of the urban kitchen was tested in 12 households measured in ppm.Results: The study revealed that the lower-income group uses a larger share of their monthly income for household energy needs having unclean cooking fuel. The use of electrical appliances and income has a moderate correlation (r=.48). Social indicators demonstrate that female participation in energy decisions is higher only in female-headed and nuclear families. Environmental indicators exhibit that Kathmandu urban households are eager to use electric cooking, but they have insufficient knowledge, information, and less affordability for new technology. It resulted that the city's sustainability level is still low (56 scores) from a gender perspective.Conclusion: The study concluded that innovative technical interventions are essential to combine with the subsidy policy to reduce inequality between low and high energy household shares. The increased women’s participation in energy technology supports getting a clean environment reducing the nation's financial burden of importing fuel.