The Emergence of Large-Scale Bioethanol Utilities: Accelerating the Energy Transition for Cooking

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

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Abstract: The use of bioethanol in cooking is not new, but until recently its application has been confined exclusively to small scale projects. However, a new bioethanol cooking utility in Kenya has now reached mass market adoption, serving more than 950,000 households with cooking fuel since launching in late 2019. Its success was made possible by a significant investment in technology to facilitate safe, convenient and affordable fuel distribution. It is funded by climate finance which is based on bioethanol fuel replacing charcoal used for cooking, a leading cause of African defor-estation. This development has been so recent that it has not widely been discussed in the academic literature. More broadly, the health, environmental and economic impacts of bioethanol for cooking have not been systematically assembled in one place. This article details what is known about the impact of bioethanol for cooking, how and why bioethanol for cooking was able to suddenly reach commercially viable scale in spite of the challenges it faced. It also discusses implications for further scaling of clean cooking fuel solutions.