Consumption, preference, and access of biomass fuels at Ziway town, Ethiopia

Although biomass fuel is principally traditional, it remains the major source of household energy and needs critical consideration in its development. Due to population growth and the consequence of deforestation, biomass fuels become scarce both physically and economically. This paper tries to assess households’ energy consumption patterns, price trends, and people’s preference of tree species for woodfuel in Ziway town and its preurban areas. One hundred and twenty households, 60 each from urban and preurban, were randomly selected for the household survey. Biomass fuel inflow rate into the town was also recorded for 15 consecutive days. The results show that the per capita biomass fuel consumption for a preurban household was 943 kg/yr and it was 726 kg/yr for an urban household, of which the lion’s share was taken by firewood. Acacia albida was the top-ranked species for woodfuel by the respondents. Ninety-seven percent of the respondents claimed that access and supply of biomass fuels show a decreasing trend: price increasing. Indeed, most of the respondents use inefficient stoves and did not add value to the biomass fuels. People obtain woodfuel mostly from common property resources and the inflow rate to Ziway town for 15 consecutive days was 826.3 tonnes. Ensuring a sustainable energy supply, while minimizing negative environmental impacts, is key for sustainable urban development in developing countries, particularly in emerging towns. The study suggests the need for intervention in the development of improved stoves and woodfuel value addition so as to save the wood and energy loses during household energy consumption.