Abstract: More than 2 billion people living in Low and Middle-Income Countries lack access to clean cooking fuels. Reliance on solid fuels (e.g., coal and biomass) causes pervasive environmental and health repercussions, affecting women and children disproportionately. Despite the interventions by governments and international organizations to improve access to and encourage the transition to clean cooking fuels, overall, the progress has been slow and limited due to supply and demand side challenges, including financial constraints, inadequate infrastructure, and limited awareness. An extensive body of research has shown that even households that adopt clean cooking fuels often use them alongside or in combination with solid fuels, rather than completely transitioning to exclusive use of clean fuels. This practice, known as “fuel stacking,” limits the potential benefits of energy transition. Understanding the barriers to, and factors that facilitate clean energy transition is essential. The seminar will highlight the complexity of this issue and provide empirical evidence of the factors influencing household adoption of and transition to Liquified Petroleum Gas, and the potential benefits in rural India.

Speaker's Bio: Dr Dawit D. Guta is an Assistant Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). Before joining UNBC, he was a postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He also held an Assistant Professor position at Addis Ababa University, a postdoc position at the University of Bonn, and a lecturer at Ambo University. Dawit holds a PhD in Development Economics from the University of Bonn. His research focuses on energy economics and policy, environmental valuation, technology adoption, impact evaluation, energy sector modeling, bioenergy and food security, firm productivity analysis, and other topics.

Global Fridays gratefully acknowledges funding from the Faculties of Indigenous Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities.