Over 2.5 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean cooking facilities.
Instead, they have to rely on biomass like firewood, kerosene or coal. This is concerning because these are fuels with high carbon dioxide emissions and household air pollution, caused mainly by cooking smoke, which leads to around 2.5 million global premature deaths every year.
The figures are even worse in Sub-saharan Africa (SSA). Although Asia accounts for 60% of the global population without access to clean cooking fuels, much higher than SSA’s 38%, SSA is the only region where the number of people without clean cooking fuel continues to rise significantly.
Key takeaways:
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Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where the number of people without access to clean cooking fuel continues to rise significantly. This is because our population is growing faster than clean energy supply.
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Liquified petroleum gas or cooking gas is the most available clean cooking fuel for Nigerians, but only 5% of Nigerians have access. The major issues are lack of infrastructure and affordability, as identified by the government’s 2017 National gas policy.
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However, Nigeria’s national gas policy is not enough to address the issues blocking gas supplies in Nigeria, as a few key elements are missing in the policy.
