Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh
Biomass fuel could effectively address the existing energy crisis in developing countries, including Bangladesh, yet its potential remains largely overlooked in scholarly and policy discussions. The objective of this study was to understand the people's perception of fuelwood, LPG, and cow dung...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-06-01
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| Series: | Sustainable Futures |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188824000029 |
| _version_ | 1797359899862106112 |
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| author | Biplob Dey Romel Ahmed Jannatul Ferdous Md Abdul Halim Mohammed Masum Ul Haque |
| author_facet | Biplob Dey Romel Ahmed Jannatul Ferdous Md Abdul Halim Mohammed Masum Ul Haque |
| author_sort | Biplob Dey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biomass fuel could effectively address the existing energy crisis in developing countries, including Bangladesh, yet its potential remains largely overlooked in scholarly and policy discussions. The objective of this study was to understand the people's perception of fuelwood, LPG, and cow dung as well as to identify factors influencing the choices of solid cooking fuels and the extent of daily fuelwood consumption in Maheshkhali, a secluded island off the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, characterized by its diverse landscapes. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey and focus group discussions and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, binomial logistic regression, and ordinary least squares regression (OLSR) to identify key determinants. Our findings suggest a pronounced preference for biomass fuel, as indicated by the odds ratio and user perceptions grounded in the central capability approach. The OLSR results indicate that cooking time, quantity collection, the number of school-going children, and educational score explain 82.5% of the total variance in fuelwood consumption, making them major driving factors. The household survey revealed a stark reliance on biomass fuel, with 87% of families using it exclusively, while only 4% rely solely on LPG. Fuelwood collection, primarily a task for women and children, also involved men who spent approximately five hours to traverse 1.5 km to collect 23 kg of biomass per trip. The strong biomass preference for fuel, in terms of central capability, underscores the challenges in motivating users to cleaner alternatives like LPG. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:31:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6d67de7d6d2b4d7a87069c19581dd557 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-1888 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:31:36Z |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainable Futures |
| spelling | doaj.art-6d67de7d6d2b4d7a87069c19581dd5572024-01-10T04:39:22ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882024-06-017100152Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, BangladeshBiplob Dey0Romel Ahmed1Jannatul Ferdous2Md Abdul Halim3Mohammed Masum Ul Haque4Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh; Center for Research in Environment, iGen and Livelihood (CREGL), Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh; Department of Tropical and International Forestry, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen 37077, GermanyDepartment of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh; Center for Research in Environment, iGen and Livelihood (CREGL), Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh; Corresponding author.Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshDepartment of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh; Institute of Forestry and Conservation, John H Daniels Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B3, CanadaDepartment of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshBiomass fuel could effectively address the existing energy crisis in developing countries, including Bangladesh, yet its potential remains largely overlooked in scholarly and policy discussions. The objective of this study was to understand the people's perception of fuelwood, LPG, and cow dung as well as to identify factors influencing the choices of solid cooking fuels and the extent of daily fuelwood consumption in Maheshkhali, a secluded island off the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, characterized by its diverse landscapes. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey and focus group discussions and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, binomial logistic regression, and ordinary least squares regression (OLSR) to identify key determinants. Our findings suggest a pronounced preference for biomass fuel, as indicated by the odds ratio and user perceptions grounded in the central capability approach. The OLSR results indicate that cooking time, quantity collection, the number of school-going children, and educational score explain 82.5% of the total variance in fuelwood consumption, making them major driving factors. The household survey revealed a stark reliance on biomass fuel, with 87% of families using it exclusively, while only 4% rely solely on LPG. Fuelwood collection, primarily a task for women and children, also involved men who spent approximately five hours to traverse 1.5 km to collect 23 kg of biomass per trip. The strong biomass preference for fuel, in terms of central capability, underscores the challenges in motivating users to cleaner alternatives like LPG.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188824000029FuelwoodPerceptionCentral capabilitiesEnergyBiofuelBangladesh |
| spellingShingle | Biplob Dey Romel Ahmed Jannatul Ferdous Md Abdul Halim Mohammed Masum Ul Haque Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh Sustainable Futures Fuelwood Perception Central capabilities Energy Biofuel Bangladesh |
| title | Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh |
| title_full | Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr | Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh |
| title_short | Biomass or LPG? A case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in Maheshkhali Island, Bangladesh |
| title_sort | biomass or lpg a case study for unraveling cooking fuel choices and motivations of rural users in maheshkhali island bangladesh |
| topic | Fuelwood Perception Central capabilities Energy Biofuel Bangladesh |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188824000029 |
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