KATHMANDU: More than half of Nepal’s households still rely on firewood for cooking, according to the final results of the National Census 2021.
The data reveals that 51% of the country’s 6.66 million households regularly use firewood for cooking.
Although the number of households using firewood has decreased by 13% compared to the previous census in 2011, when the figure stood at 64%, the shift towards cleaner energy remains slow. The census also shows that 44.3% of households now use liquefied petroleum (LP) gas for cooking.
Household energy use varies significantly across Nepal’s geographical regions. While about 20% of households use modern energy sources like electricity and LP gas, traditional sources, including firewood, agricultural residues, and animal dung, remain dominant for nearly 80% of households.
The disparities are especially stark when it comes to electricity access. While 99% of Tarai households have access to electricity from the national grid, only about 32% of households in the Himalayan region are connected.
As a result, residents in the Himalayan and hilly regions remain heavily reliant on forest resources for cooking fuel.
A 2022 survey by the International Development Association (IDA) supports these census findings, showing that 80% of rural households and 44.6% of urban households still use firewood as their primary cooking fuel.
In contrast, LP gas is used in 89% of urban households and 57.3% of rural households. The study also highlights that agricultural residues and animal dung are used for cooking in 17.4% of rural households and 5.4% of urban households, while electricity is used for cooking in 7.3% of rural households and 14% of urban households.
Firewood remains the primary source of household energy, accounting for 84.9% of total energy consumption. The census further reveals that 96% of households in the Himalayan region, 65.5% in the hilly region, and 79% in the Tarai region still rely on firewood for cooking.
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