Energy Access, Efficiency, and Poverty : How Many Households Are Energy Poor in Bangladesh?
Access to energy, especially modern sources, is a key to any development initiative. Based on cross-section data from a 2004 survey of some 2,300 households in rural Bangladesh, this paper studies the welfare impacts of household energy use, includ...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100604131716 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3818 |
| Summary: | Access to energy, especially modern
sources, is a key to any development initiative. Based on
cross-section data from a 2004 survey of some 2,300
households in rural Bangladesh, this paper studies the
welfare impacts of household energy use, including that of
modern energy, and estimates the household minimum energy
requirement that could be used as a basis for an energy
poverty line. The paper finds that although the use of both
traditional (biomass energy burned in conventional stoves)
and modern (electricity and kerosene) sources improves
household consumption and income, the return on modern
sources is 20 to 25 times higher than that on traditional
sources. In addition, after comparing alternate measures of
the energy poverty line, the paper finds that some 58
percent of rural households in Bangladesh are energy poor,
compared with 45 percent that are income poor. The findings
suggest that growth in electrification and adoption of
efficient cooking stoves for biomass use can lower energy
poverty in a climate-friendly way by reducing carbon dioxide
emissions. Reducing energy poverty helps reduce income
poverty as well. |
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