An Appraisal of Household Cooking Fuel Consumption and their Carbon related Emission in Zaria Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

An increase in energy consumption largely from fossil fuel combustion is often accompanied by a significant increase in CO2 emissions which contributes to climate change. This study assesses energy consumption and its related green gas emission from household cooking activities in selected areas of Zaria metropolis. One hundred (100) well-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the households within the study area and 83% response rate was received. The questionnaire sourced information associated with respondent’s profile and household characteristics, choice and type of cooking fuel, frequency of cooking activities, etc. the quantity of fuel used to boil 3.5 litres of water was determined for each fuel type which were used to the estimation of carbon emitted. Results show that most household (63.86%) prefer to use kerosene for cooking because of the stove type (16.9%) they use and the cost of the fuel (53%). wood has the highest carbon emission of 1170.57g/J. It takes time 9.43 minutes and consumed 354.29g of firewood to boil the water while Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumed 11.43g of fuel in 5.43 to emit 34g of carbon. Electricity from the national grid took 7.43 minutes and consumed 0.44Kwh with no emission at the point of use. LPG indicates to have less carbon emission and takes lesser cooking time compared to firewood which is in line with the respondent opinion. It is recommended that advocacy to discourage the use of firewood as cooking fuel should be intensified even though it is the cheapest energy source.

Keywords: Carbon emission, Cooking fuel, Household, Zaria metropolis, LPG