income-related aspects of energy use - amazon web services · 2018. 5. 14. · income-related...

Income-related aspects of energy use

Bill Cowan and Nthabiseng MohlakoanaEnergy Research Centre, UCT

19 August 2004


• Nthabiseng Mohlakoana was going to do this presentation.– Her sister has just given birth, and Nthabi has

gone to Gauteng to help her.• I’ll report mainly on recent research that we

have been doing together in Khayelitsha.


• The broader topic:-

•VERY DIFFICULT TOPIC

•ALSO VERY IMPORTANT

ENERGY USE(especially among poorer households)

INCOME

• Later, Mark & colleagues will discuss modellingapproaches (for linking economic development and energy transitions).

• I will give some examples, from field research, to show why these issues are complicated.

ENERGY USE(especially among poorer households)

INCOME

Two main angles:

1. Higher incomes enable a transition to better forms of energy use.

2. Better energy provision leads to increased incomes and economic development.

– The second is of vital interest to• Policy-makers• Everyone concerned with poverty alleviation and

sustainable development

Two main angles:

1. Higher incomes enable a transition to better forms of energy use.

2. Better energy provision leads to increased incomes and economic development.

– Unfortunately, based on our types of research…• Some evidence for No.1• Little evidence for No.2

Examples of straight causations are usually simplistic

• “Electrification causes economic development”

• “Renewable energy creates jobs”

A more cautious approach…

• Often the causation is put in a (safer) negative way, e.g.– Many aspects of modern development are not

possible without electricity– Lack of suitable forms of energy can be a

constraint to development

VIDEO CLIP ILLUSTRATIONS

Observations from a recent survey in Khayelitsha

• Khayelitsha is a large and varied (but mainly low-income) housing area about 30km from Cape Town

• Main “surprise” from the survey:– Transition to a fairly full use of electricity

DOES seem to be taking place

The sample:

• We selected four areas, with different housing types, and access to services– Unserviced shacks (not formally electrified)– Serviced shack area (electrified)– Basic low-cost housing area (new “RDP”

houses, electrified)– Older-established “core” houses (electrified)

• Total sample: about 225 households

Income levels

2862000Core houses

2331630RDP houses

2331630Serviced shacks

1431000Unserviced shacks

Median USD/month

Median R/month

Reported household income

Poverty levels?• A “household poverty threshold” level for the Cape Town

area has been calculated as about R2090/month.(Prof JF Potgieter, UPE, for year 2003.)

52%Core houses66%RDP houses66%Serviced shacks86%Unserviced shacks

Percentage of households below this poverty threshold level

Indications of energy transition (towards fairly full electricity use)

Conventional wisdom(based on earlier research studies)

• Low-income electrified households do not use electricity for their main cooking activities.

Survey findings (but never trust particular survey results)

• 68% of sampled households with a normal electricity supply are using electricity for most of their cooking.



• Even after electrification, low-income households use a mixture of multiple fuels.


• Only a minority (33%) of households reported more than one cooking-energy mode.



• One of the barriers to electricity use is that poor households do not own electric stoves.


• 65% of the entire sample (74% of electrified households) own electric stoves.



• The ownership of other electric appliances is also limited, which is a constraint to obtaining larger benefits from having electricity.


• This remains generally true, although there are quite high ownership rates for TVs (63%) and refrigerators (58%).

In judging energy transition (towards fairly full electricity use) ….

• It is important to look at the range of energy-related services which are being catered for.

• Not just “staple needs” like lighting, cooking and (in some areas) space heating.

Appliance use in the Khayelitsha survey

4%

8%

12%

12%

12%

13%

14%

15%

33%

39%

40%

50%

54%

57%

58%

63%

65%

70%

75%

82%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Imbhawula

Fan

Gas stove

Electric heater

Washing machine

Microwave

Telephone (landline)

Video

Paraffin lamps

Music system

Paraffin heater

Cellphone

Radio

Paraffin stove

Fridge

Television

Electric stove

Electric kettle

Iron

Electric lights

Percentage ownership

• Khayelitsha seems to be an area where South African energy policies are working quite well.

• Subsidised electrification• Blanket coverage• Free Basic Electricity allowance (50 kWh/month)

• There is still a great problem/challenge to cater for fringe urban settlements.

• And fires remain a grim problem.

What are the income relationships?Average

electricity consumption

Average income

(median)

2502000Core houses

1501630RDP houses

1701630Serviced shacks

1001000Unserviced shacks

kWh/monthR/month

Income correlations

• However, the data show only modest correlations between income and electricity consumption– E.g. (overall) R = 0.27

• Even lower for households cooking with electricity, e.g. R = 0.2

There are many inter-correlations…

• E.g. between– Income levels– Housing types– Appliance ownership– Energy use– Length of time electrified

Among the electrified households

• Found the best indicator of a “fairly full transition to electricity” was ownership of a refrigerator.

Fridge owners and others (electrified households)

1.52.5Number of females in household

1425 R/month2516 R/monthIncome

3.44.6Household size

4.9 years8.4 yearsTime electrified

OthersFridge owners

Fridge owners and others (electrified households)

142 kWh224 kWhMonthly electricity consumption

73 R/month126 R/monthTotal monthly energy expenditure

OthersFridge owners

• Interestingly, no correlation between• Number of years electrified, and• The use of electricity for main cooking tasks

• Makes sense, from a price point of view:– Since the FBE allowance, electricity is cheaper

for cooking than paraffin (at current prices)– Electric stoves are fairly cheap– Electric cooking is attractive even for newly-

electrified households• Perceptions of safety:

• 78% say paraffin is dangerous• Only 8% say electricity is dangerous

But paraffin dangers remain…

• Paraffin probably remains slightly cheaper for space heating.

• 40% use paraffin heaters.• Only 14% own electric heaters.

Quick summary points

• People are quite clear about what fuels they prefer to use.– To cook: 92% prefer electricity– Space heating: 75% prefer electricity– All other services: 99 to 100% prefer electricity

• From this survey, they seem to be making acute price-conscious decisions.

• FBE makes a difference.

income-related aspects of energy use - amazon web services · 2018. 5. 14. · income-related...

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