Dear Andrew CP Thanks for the heads up.
This situation prevails in a number of countries and the reasons are the same. It is obviously going to increase the use if biomass. Something Cecil found is that most people using subsidised LPG still use biomass as well. It is not an 'either-or' situation. They use progressively more LPG as HH income rises but even the rich use biomass for party cooking (big fired and pots). We need more advanced designs and more producers. Regards Crispin >From BB9900 -----Original Message----- From: "Andrew C. Parker" <[email protected]> Sender: "Stoves" <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 23:49:53 To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves<[email protected]> Reply-To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <[email protected]> Subject: [Stoves] LPG subsidy to be removed in Ecuador I have been reading that the Ecuadorian government plans on removing the subsidy on bottled gas for residential cooking, as soon as the generators come online at some new hydroelectric projects. This will create considerable hardship for poor and rural households and may result in a switch to firewood and charcoal (and possibly kerosene, which was the primary urban cooking fuel before the gas subsidies kicked in decades ago) on a grand scale. Truth is, despite the ecological benefits, the subsidies are economically unsustainable (a major portion of the budget), especially with a state-owned refining infrastructure that is incapable of meeting demand. There have been numerous and well publicized shortages (which has been a great embarrassment to the current government). Many people have already returned to firewood cooking in rural areas. I can't see everyone running out to buy new electric ranges, and I don't think the new generating capacity can match a massive shift to electric cooking. NGO's, both foreign and domestic are frowned upon and it is very tedious and expensive to donate anything (there is a special license required and a not insignificant import duty on donated goods), so academic cooperation and capitalist approaches may be the best option for getting people there access to efficient stoves, or using their gas stoves more efficiently (finned pots?). There is no shortage of capable, intelligent, educated and enterprising Ecuadorians (though many get out if they can), so, if they see the need, they will try to fill it. If they have access to current information and expertise, they can do it better and perhaps more appropriately (though that is subjective). There is probably enough ag waste to fuel rural kitchens, but if urban households switch to biomass, it will get really ugly, which would be a shame for such a beautiful country. Just a heads-up. I don't know how it will play out over time. _______________________________________________ Stoves mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/ _______________________________________________ Stoves mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/stoves_lists.bioenergylists.org for more Biomass Cooking Stoves, News and Information see our web site: http://stoves.bioenergylists.org/
