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Examining fuel choice patterns through household energy transition index: an alternative to traditional energy ladder and stacking models

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Abstract

The transition toward cleaner fuels is considered an essential component to achieve sustainable economic development due to its environmental and health-related implications. However, the disarray among academicians on the explanatory power of existing models of energy transition has restrained its practical implementation. This study develops an alternative to explain energy transition at the household level by proposing “6Es” framework to rank various fuels and formulate a household energy transition index. This index includes the virtues of both the energy ladder and the energy stacking models. Multinomial logit model has been employed to test the traditional energy ladder hypothesis, and OLS has been used to estimate household energy transition index at the aggregated level as well as at the disaggregated provincial level in Pakistan. Contrary to the previously developed indices, the estimated results of the energy transition index significantly explain the changes in fuel consumption. The results indicate that income is not the only factor that affects energy transition. Household-specific factors such as prices, size, education, profession, and area also play an imperative role. Our estimates suggest that rural households are 22 percent more likely to consume primitive fuels. The findings suggest that prices of primitive fuels affect energy transition index in rural areas. Variable such as education and female bargaining power are positively linked with energy transition.

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Notes

  1. Household energy profile refers to the combination of energy services, energy devices and energy carriers used by the households to power up their daily routine (Kowsari and Zerriffi 2011).

  2. Policy perspectives such as Renewable portfolio standards regulate energy markets in such a way that generation companies are required to generate more energy from renewables and provide subsidy to renewables to compete with fossil fuels (Holt 2016; Li et al., 2019).

  3. According to HIES (2011–2012), at aggregated national level, 22 percent of household fuel budget comprised of primitive fuels. Alarmingly, this share increased to 29 percent in 2016. In rural areas, this share increased to about 50 percent in 2016 from 38 percent in 2012 (HIES, 2015–2016).

  4. Stacking up the ladder measure formulated by (Choumert-Nkolo et al., 2019) articulated that for cooking fuels, prices do not matter. However, studies for example (Kapsalyamova et al., 2021; Waleed and Mirza 2020) have showed that households respond to prices, particularly, for primitive fuels in rural areas.

  5. Calorific power is the amount of energy contained in a fuel; it is computed by measuring the amount of heat produced in the process of combustion.

  6. Stacking up the ladder index developed by (Choumert-Nkolo et al., 2019) and Household Energy Transition Index developed by this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Jalalpur Jattan road, Gujrat, Pakistan

    Khalid Waleed & Faisal Mehmood Mirza

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  1. Khalid Waleed
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  2. Faisal Mehmood Mirza
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Correspondence to Khalid Waleed.

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Appendices

Appendix

Appendix A

See Tables 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

Table 11 Estimates of multinomial logit model [PUNJAB]
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Table 12 Estimates of multinomial logit model [KPK]
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Table 13 Estimates of multinomial logit model [Sindh]
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Table 14 Estimates of multinomial logit model [Balochistan]
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Table 15 Estimates of multinomial logit model [Punjab]
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Table 16 Estimates of multinomial logit model [KPK]
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Table 17 Estimates of multinomial logit model [Sindh]
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Table 18 Estimates of multinomial logit model [Balochistan]
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Appendix B

See Tables 19, 20, 21, 22.

Table 19 Estimates of household energy transition index [Punjab]
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Table 20 Estimates of household energy transition index [KPK]
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Table 21 Estimates of household energy transition index [Sindh]
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Table 22 Estimates of household energy transition index [Balochistan]
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Waleed, K., Mirza, F.M. Examining fuel choice patterns through household energy transition index: an alternative to traditional energy ladder and stacking models. Environ Dev Sustain 25, 6449–6501 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02312-8

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