Household collection and use of biomass energy sources in South Asia

Lack of access to clean, affordable and adequate energy and large scale use of solid fuels such as firewood and cow dung cake is one of the reasons for a lower quality of life in developing countries. It is observed that majority of households in the world that uses solid fuels are located in south Asian countries. The objective of this paper is to examine the pattern of household energy uses, and identify and analyze the factors influencing household choices of energy, sources of fuelwood collection, and family members involved in fuelwood collection. The paper uses primary data collected from three Asian countries: India, Bangladesh and Nepal. A multivariate model is employed to analyze the data. Age, gender and education levels of a household head influence a household's choice of energy sources. Wealthy households are found to use clean energy sources such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity, whereas poorer households tend to use solid fuels such as fuelwood and dung cake. Sources of fuelwood collection are largely influenced by a family's labor supply, education, and household wealth status. Females and children are employed by households for fuelwood collection. Nepal and Bangladesh engage mostly female members for fuelwood collection. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.