24/12/03
Africa attempts to surmount clean cooking obstacles
Financial backing and carbon credits could be vital for making LPG more
affordable as a clean cooking fuel, writes Elaine Mills Cape Town, 3 December
(Argus) — Sub-Saharan Africa still has many of the same intractable challenges
to overcome if it is to come close to achieving universal clean cooking access,
delegates heard at LPG Week in Cape Town, South Africa. But government support,
public-private collaboration, grassroots movements and carbon credits could pry
open markets. The IEA is spearheading momentum behind the drive to clean cooking
adoption in sub-Saharan Africa, expecting 45pc of the transition to be to LPG. A
global transition would result in a net reduction of 1.5bn t of CO2 equivalent
by 2030, of which sub-Saharan Africa alone would account for 900mn t, it says.
"We can't imagine a more important global initiative in terms of our objectives
of development, poverty alleviation, health and prosperity," the IEA's head of
sustainable transitions, Daniel Wetzel, said during the World Liquid Gas
Association event. Sub-Saharan Africa consumes less than 4kg/capita of LPG per
year, according to South Africa's Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.
This compares with north Africa's 35kg/yr, including Morocco, which has the
highest in the world at 73kg/yr, Argus Consulting data show. The IEA estimates
Africa requires investment of $4bn/yr to facilitate clean cooking. The
continuing challenge for LPG penetration in southern Africa is "affordability,
availability and acceptability", the International Finance Corporation's (IFC's)
regional industry manager for manufacturing, Bambo Kunle-Salami, said. An
average household needs to spend about $300-400/yr on LPG, while GDP per capita
is just over $1,000/yr, he said. Government backing is essential, as "no LPG has
grown on its own organically or reached desired levels [without] government
intervention", the UN-backed Global LPG Partnership's East Africa director,
Elizabeth Muchiri, said. Subsidies can solve cost barriers but many African
governments cannot afford them, Kunle-Salami said. It might also encourage
cross-border smuggling, so if used they must be targeted to low-income homes
with a clear end goal, he said. Some countries have struggled to scale back
their LPG subsidies, Wetzel said. But the IEA expects LPG prices to drop sharply
later this decade as global demand peaks, allowing markets to reduce subsidies
and emerging markets to expand. Kenya has distributed subsidised cylinders to
low-income homes, scrapped LPG taxes and introduced mandates on new homes to
include LPG infrastructure, Muchiri said. Some banks and retailers have offered
microfinancing and pay-as-you-go smart meters on cylinders, she said. Ghana has
also provided free cylinders and stoves to those most in need, its National
Petroleum Authority director Akua Kwakye said. A cylinder recirculation model
was introduced so consumers do not own the cylinders, which improves safety and
reduces costs, she said. Logistics and their cost impact are a significant
problem in Africa, Kunle-Salami said. "In a healthy market [logistics costs]
should be 10-20pc, but in many African countries it is as high as 40-50pc," he
said. A lack of storage infrastructure to protect from supply shocks is another
issue. This requires significant investment that needs private-public
collaboration, Wetzel said. But centralised solutions can only go so far — only
grassroots initiatives create trust and acceptance, he added. Credits where
they're due The IEA thinks carbon credits have huge potential in making LPG more
affordable as a clean cooking fuel owing to the emissions savings and certainty
of the verification. Such schemes might yield higher-quality credits than many
other carbon-offsetting projects, Wetzel said. Many of the firms IFC finances
struggle to understand, let alone access, the carbon market, Kunle-Salami said.
But agreements on Article 6 at the UN's Cop 29 climate summit on establishing a
global carbon market, and inclusion of clean cooking at the G7 and G20 summits,
provide more hope such credits can become important, delegates heard. Nigeria
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