Urban Households’ Biomass Energy Fuel Stacking and Its Implications for Sustainable Development Goal Seven: The Case of Jimma Town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Sustainable development goal seven aims to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030, but its progress and energy stacking conditions have not been evaluated. This study aims to assess the urban household energy profile and link its state to sustainable development goals. This study employs a cross‐sectional study design on 265 households selected by systematic random sampling from a town called Jimma in Ethiopia and collects the data using interview‐based semi‐structured questionnaires. The study obtains information from all the selected households. The results show that more than 80% of the households have a grid electricity connection, but more than 85% of the households regularly use firewood and charcoal for cooking. On average, households use about 1236 kg of firewood and 630 kg of charcoal per year. Most households report power interruption, inability to afford electricity costs, and personal preferences for relying on biomass energy for cooking. Over 98% of the households use electricity for lighting, but few use it for appliances. This shows an inherent challenge attributed to the cooking energy services provided by biomass energy sources despite the accessibility of electricity. This shows the significant impacts of biomass energy stacking which connection to electricity alone cannot solve.

Does Education Predict Women’s Use of Unsustainable Biomass Cooking Technologies? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

“…This global issue raises the specter of an environmental poverty trap-the vicious circle of dependence on traditional biomass, increased climate stress, forest degradation and deforestation. Evidence of such a trap has already been documented in the context of SSA, where 0.5% of forest cover is lost every year, the highest rate in the world (Tucho et al 2022;Keenan et al 2015). Moreover, unlike in other developing regions, mitigation, and adaptation efforts in SSA have slowed and even reversed, and, as a result, the level of dependence on this natural resource remains higher than the world average, at more than 80% depend on this fuel for cooking (Karimu andDramani, 2021, D'Sa andMurthy 2010).…”

“…Yet, it remains a very important source of livelihood for the poor in developing countries (Mainimo et al 2022, Singh 2019, Birundu et al 2017, Bailey 2008. In developing countries, particularly in rural areas, this natural resource, collected for commercial purposes or mainly used for household cooking, provides a livelihood for an estimated 2.5 billion people (Tucho et al 2022, Bolaji 2012, Barbier, 2010.…”