LPG fuel subsidies in Latin America and the use of solid fuels to cook

• Published in: Energy policy Vol. 107; pp. 188 - 196
• Main Authors: Troncoso, Karin, Soares da Silva, Agnes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2017; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Access; Aspiration; Clean energy; Clean fuels; Clean technology; Cooking; Disease; Electricity; Energy; Energy policy; Environmental health; Fuels; Health care policy; Health risks; Indoor air pollution; Latin America; Liquefied petroleum gas; LPG; LPG fuel subsidies; Natural gas; Petroleum; Policy making; Premature mortality; Prices; Public health; Risk factors; Socioeconomic development; Socioeconomic factors; Solid fuels; Subsidies; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Urbanization; Caribbean area; Latin America; LPG fuel subsidies; Indoor air pollution; Latin America
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.04.046

The use of solid fuels (USF) for cooking is a key environmental health risk factor, affecting more than 2.8 billion people globally. The Sustainable /Development Goal seven (SDG7) aspires to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. This will require transition toward modern cooking fuels such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electricity. In Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC), 90 million people still rely on solid fuels for cooking. Access and price have been identified as the main factors that limit substitution of solid fuels by clean fuels.
In this paper, we present an exploratory analysis of the effects of subsidy policies for LPG in reducing USF in LAC countries when controlling for indicators of socioeconomic development and urbanization. In LAC, subsidies to LPG have substantially contributed to accelerate the transition from USF to clean fuels for cooking. Targeted subsidies should be considered as a policy option to implement the SDG7 on clean energy. Making clean energy accessible to all has the co-benefits of preventing diseases and premature deaths. Understanding the transition processes from USF to cleaner fuels made by LAC countries can better inform policy making in other regions.
•Economic access to clean fuels is vital to meet SDG 7.•Universal fuel subsidies to LPG have been used in many countries in Latin America.•This study analyzes the relation between fuel subsidies to LPG and solid fuel use.•Fuel subsidies seem to have helped transit the urban poor from the use of biomass to LPG.