Gas tax set to push households back to wood fuel
Friday, May 22, 2020 0:01
By EDWIN OKOTH
Close to 75 percent of households still rely on wood and charcoal to cook.
FILE PHOTO | NMG
The reintroduction of value-added tax (VAT) on cooking gas will reverse gains made in weaning households off dirty fuel, energy sector players have said.
The stakeholders, among them the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, said a more expensive liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would push many households to biomass sources like wood and charcoal.
The Energy ministry, in a recent survey that found close to 75 percent of households still rely on wood and charcoal to cook, recommended more effort to push for a clean cooking solution to save the environment and improve health.
Energy secretary Charles Keter told the November 2019 Clean Cooking Forum reducing Household Air Pollution (HAP) brought about by cooking using inefficient cooking solutions remains a key health risk to populations, which needs to be addressed by faster uptake of clean cooking solutions in the country.
