The potential market for LPG as a clean cooking fuel is much larger than many people realize, according to the latest brief of the World Bank's energy experts on Monday.
The brief prepared by experts Richenda Van Leeuwen, Alex Evans and Besnik Hyseni showed that experience shared among a number of countries shows that when made accessible, affordable and available LPG can be adopted by millions of the rural poor as their primary cooking fuel.
The report showed that Indonesia, Brazil and Senegal are already experiencing the benefits and India is an emerging example, showcasing what developing countries can achieve.
The experts stressed that some in the development community dislike LPG because it is non-renewable.
"But as it is an unavoidable byproduct of oil and natural gas production and oil refining, a global LPG surplus exists," the report said.
The experts brief declared that some of the surplus is vented or flared at oil and gas production sites, wasting this valuable fuel resource and spewing carbon back into the atmosphere.
"Using it for clean cooking makes sense. The environmental footprint of LPG is negligible compared with biomass and other fuels because of its very efficient and complete combustion and its sustained performance in field use over time," it noted and added, "LPG emits negligible amounts of black carbon and other short-lived pollutants that contribute to global warming."
- Cameroon sets benchmark
The report referred to Cameroon's first national LPG master plan launched in 2016 to increase the share of LPG in household cooking from about 12 percent in 2014 to 58 percent by 2030.
The significant deforestation that Cameroon experienced drove the country to act. This was caused in part by the widespread use of firewood and charcoal as cooking fuel, the report warned.
The World Bank experts also added that some €400 million in investments over the next 15 years—for cylinders, importation facilities, refilling plants, and distribution will support this scale-up in LPG.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr