Household fuels - economics, health and safety

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Household fuels - economics, health and safety

• Philip Lloyd George Tatham
• Energy Research Institute Independent
  consultant
• plloyd_at_freemail.absa.co.za georget_at_jaywalk.com
  

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Vision

• Everyone should be able to cook and keep warm
  without threats to their health and well-being

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Goal and Objective

• Our goal is to understand the economics of the
  energy needs of rural households, in the light
  of
• The external costsa arising from health and
  safety
• The problems of delivery
• Our objective is to help decision-makers develop
  policies which will minimise the total costs

a) External costs described later
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Todays Situation I

• Electricity has reached most urban and semi-urban
  households
• Low-income households use an energy mix in which
  electricity plays a minor role
• In low income homes, the thermal needs cooking
  and space heating are met by fuels with high
  external costs

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Todays Situation II

• The reason we concentrate on the thermal needs is
  because these are the ones which use most energy

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Todays Situation III
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Todays Situation II

• The reason we concentrate on the thermal needs is
  because these are the ones which use most energy
• Most households need lt 1000MJ/month
• This is equivalent to lt 9kWh every day
• But as electricity is often efficient than other
  energy sources, 3-5 kWh would be enough

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Cooking 100 000s households
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Heating 100 000s households
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Summarising today

• In households which cannot afford or are out of
  reach electricity, thermal needs are met by
• Wood and paraffin
• Except, in areas close to mines, by coal.
• The average low-income house needs 1000
  MJ/month, equivalent to lt10kWh

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How the fuels compare

• We now look at each fuel, and compare the pros
  and cons of each
• The external costs largely arise from the cons
• They are the costs born by society rather than by
  the user, and not included in the cost of the fuel

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Wood

• Primary fuel in KZN, E Cape Northern P
• Low cost
• Renewable
• Cheap appliances

• Inefficient
• Emits particulates (smoke) respiratory illnesses
• Burns
• Labour cost
• Deforestation

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Paraffin

• 600 000 t/a
• Major in KZN, E Cape, Gauteng, NW, Free State
• Significant in W Cape, Northern, Mplanga
• Cheap appliances
• Energy swops
• Multipurpose

• 145 000 children drink, 55 000 sick, 4000 die
• 46 000 fires, 50 000 burns, 65 000 homes
• 63 of burns from appliances exploding
• Incendiary
• Use of IP probably causes severe respiratory
  problems
• Cross-contamination

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Paraffin Appliance I
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Paraffin Appliance II
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Paraffin Appliance III
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Paraffin cost chain
Street
Price controlled to stockist level street price
varies up to diesel price
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Paraffin external costs
lt600 million litres sold to domestic market

• Poisoning
• Burns
• Houses

• R500m/a
• R1170m/a
• R1300m/a
• Total R3000m/a

• External costs gt R5/l
• If respiratory effects proved, external cost
  could increase significantly

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Coal

• Major in Gauteng, KZN, Free State, Mplanga
• Distribution creates jobs
• Multipurpose, including refuse incineration(but
  less than paraffin)

• Appliances costly /or inefficient
• Smoke dirt
• Ash disposal
• Respiratory disease
• Asphyxiation, 500/a

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Coal appliance
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Coal appliance II
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Coal distribution
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Coal cost chain
Street
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Coal external costs

• Approximately 3 million in close proximity
• Asphyxiation by CO 500 deaths/a
• Respiratory effects probably shorten lives of 35
  000 by 15 years
• Total costs R3450m/a
• 1 million tons sold annually
• External cost R3450/t

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Gas

• Small player, used particularly for cooking, in
  most provinces
• LPG main thermal fuel in other developing
  countries
• Very very safe
• Low emissions

• Costly market imperfections!
• Relatively costly appliances
• Large investment in cylinders deposit
• Does not allow swops

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Gas cost chain
Street
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Gas external costs

• Implication in fires and burns 2 of that of
  paraffin
• No respiratory or poisoning effects
• Total external cost ltR60 million/a
• 96 million litres (62000t) LPG to low income
  market (2000)
• External cost of ltR0.70/litre

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Dung other biomass

• Widespread significant in most provinces,
  particularly for heating
• Cheap

• Some particulates

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Summary of costs
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Available Options I

• Make 5kW cheap electricity available for an hour
  or so each day
• Would load Eskom demand excessively
• Gas-fired stations could resolve this
• Requires yet further extensions to grid
• Possible cost R15bn plus R500 million/a for 5
  years

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Available Options II

• Enforce rigorous standards for safe paraffin
  appliances, with subsidy to assist purchase
• Difficult to police change
• Would have little impact on e.g. poisoning
• Probable costs R2bn capital, R350m/a for 5 years

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Available Options III

• Reduce external costs of coal by enforcing use of
  LSF
• Under active study by DME
• Only applicable to lt20 of population
• Costs R250 million capex, R50 million/a for 5
  years

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Available Options IV

• Use international LPG experience
• Increase tax on paraffin
• Control price of LPG, after review of LPG pricing
  structure
• Facilitate manufacture of safe cheap LPG
  appliances subsidise purchase
• Grow distribution via BEE
• Some capital may be needed to capture existing
  excess LPG
• Total costs of ltR1bn and R200m/a for 5 years

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Available Options V

• Fix specifications for subsidised housing
• Improve thermal efficiency
• Ceilings
• Face north
• Provide chimneys
• In both paraffin coal heated houses CO levels
  of gt1000 ppm have been measured dung/biomass
  heating probably has same effect
• Cost lt 5 increase in house cost
• Reduces lifetime cost dramatically

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Recommendations

• The electricity option is probably ruled out for
  several years because of lack of NG and probable
  NG pricing
• The paraffin appliance option seems to costly,
  will not stop child deaths, etc
• LSF work should continue to be supported

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Recommendations continued

• Build on international experience of LPG in
  developing economies
• There are exciting possibilities if this option
  is supported. They include
• Creating lots of jobs in the distribution chain
• Enabling growth of many SMEEs
• Review building codes for subsidised housing

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Thank you for your attention!