6 The Status and Future of Charcoal in the Energy …
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of decoupling them from the deep-rooted dependence on biomass (GoU,
2015; Owen, van der Plas, & Sepp, 2012; Ghilardi, Mwampamba, &
Dutt, 2013).
However, most new generation of electricity in Africa is preceded
by many older existing projects. (REA, 2020; Kihwel, Hur, & Kyaruzi,
2012). The low consumption rates of electricity in Africa’s households,
overshadowed by charcoal, as a fuel for cooking, are the main concealer
of both the existence and the increasing availability of electricity, hence
the pretext of the notion of ‘energy poverty’ (see Nabukalu & Gieré,
2019). Indeed, charcoal’s dominance over electricity in household energy
consumption misleads energy policy, where the basis of investment
strategies is that more electricity will supplant biomass (see Owen, van
der Plas, & Sepp, 2012). Where grid connections exist, some of the
reasons for low electricity consumption include:
• Consumer preference for inexpensive, although not necessarily better,
alternatives such as charcoal and firewood.
• End-user equipment, such as ovens and microwaves that require electricity, have limited capacity to serve large households, and they
require costly maintenance and spare parts
• Charcoal is more ubiquitous and, unlike electricity, is not susceptible
to outages and blackouts
• Charcoal is preferably linked to the taste of food (see also Drazu,
Olweny, & Kazoora, 2015; Bailis, Rujanavech, Dwivedi, Chang, &
de Miranda, 2013)
• An abundance of primary energy alternatives, such as sunlight, which
may adequately perform specific tasks (e.g. drying of agricultural products or linen) without being transformed into secondary energy or
electricity.
The increasing demand for electricity in Africa should, therefore,
be critically assessed alongside barriers to its sustainable consumption
because of the impending futility, such as economic indebtedness of
these nations, where they borrow money from international reserves to
produce more electricity, which may not be consumed. Besides electricity’s failure to compete with existing energy commodities based on
213
of decoupling them from the deep-rooted dependence on biomass (GoU,
2015; Owen, van der Plas, & Sepp, 2012; Ghilardi, Mwampamba, &
Dutt, 2013).
However, most new generation of electricity in Africa is preceded
by many older existing projects. (REA, 2020; Kihwel, Hur, & Kyaruzi,
2012). The low consumption rates of electricity in Africa’s households,
overshadowed by charcoal, as a fuel for cooking, are the main concealer
of both the existence and the increasing availability of electricity, hence
the pretext of the notion of ‘energy poverty’ (see Nabukalu & Gieré,
2019). Indeed, charcoal’s dominance over electricity in household energy
consumption misleads energy policy, where the basis of investment
strategies is that more electricity will supplant biomass (see Owen, van
der Plas, & Sepp, 2012). Where grid connections exist, some of the
reasons for low electricity consumption include:
• Consumer preference for inexpensive, although not necessarily better,
alternatives such as charcoal and firewood.
• End-user equipment, such as ovens and microwaves that require electricity, have limited capacity to serve large households, and they
require costly maintenance and spare parts
• Charcoal is more ubiquitous and, unlike electricity, is not susceptible
to outages and blackouts
• Charcoal is preferably linked to the taste of food (see also Drazu,
Olweny, & Kazoora, 2015; Bailis, Rujanavech, Dwivedi, Chang, &
de Miranda, 2013)
• An abundance of primary energy alternatives, such as sunlight, which
may adequately perform specific tasks (e.g. drying of agricultural products or linen) without being transformed into secondary energy or
electricity.
The increasing demand for electricity in Africa should, therefore,
be critically assessed alongside barriers to its sustainable consumption
because of the impending futility, such as economic indebtedness of
these nations, where they borrow money from international reserves to
produce more electricity, which may not be consumed. Besides electricity’s failure to compete with existing energy commodities based on