Hourly Firewood Consumption Patterns and CO2 Emission Patterns in Rural Households of Nepal
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Literature Review
1.2. Objectives
2. Methods
2.1. Study Area and Climate
2.2. Selection of Houses
2.3. Household Characteristics
2.4. Data Collection
2.5. Calculation for Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Firewood Consumption Rate
3.1.1. Relationship between Family Size and Firewood Consumption
3.1.2. Relationship between Livestock Rearing and Firewood Consumption
3.2. Hourly Firewood Consumption Patterns
3.3. Relationship between Cooking Time and Rate of Firewood Consumption
3.4. CO2 Emission and Concentration
3.4.1. Hourly Variation of CO2
3.4.2. Relationship between CO2 Emission and Concentration
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- People living in rural areas fulfil their daily energy need by using firewood, and the rate of per-capita and household firewood consumption was found to be 1.8 kg/(capita·day) and 12 kg/(family·day), respectively.
- Household firewood consumption was positively correlated with family size and the number of livestock reared. The per-capita firewood consumption was negatively correlated with family size.
- The average cooking time was found to be 8.7 and 9.9 h/day for small and big households, respectively. Regardless of household size, people consumed firewood at the same rate (1.3 kg/h). However, bigger households spent more time cooking to fulfil their daily energy needs.
- High emissions of indoor CO2 in the morning and evening hours due to high firewood consumption may pose a serious health risk to the rural population. Therefore, intensive awareness programs and installation and use of mechanical ventilation devices in the morning and evening would improve the air quality and health conditions of the rural population.
- Household CO2 concentration was positively correlated with CO2 emissions due to firewood burning, and daily CO2 emissions were 14.26 kg CO2 e/(household·day). Clean cooking fuels and efficient cooking technologies would help minimize household CO2 emissions.
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Family Size | Firewood Consumption [kg/(Family·Day)] | ||
---|---|---|---|
Morning (5:00–10:00) | Day (10:00–15:00) | Evening (15:00–22:00) | |
3 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
4 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
5 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
6 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
7 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
9 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
10 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12 | 7 | 2 | 11 |
Average | 6 | 1 | 5 |
References | Periods | Country | Study Area | Climate, Altitude | Firewood Use [kg/(Capita·Year)] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
This study | 2002 | Nepal | Dhading | Temperate | 663 |
Fox [8] | 1981 | Nepal | Gorkha | Temperate | 570 |
Shrestha [11] | 2003 | Nepal | Gorkha, Dhading | Temperate | 464 |
Bhatta and Sachan [10] | 2000–2001 | India | Uttranchal | 1500–2000 m | 720 |
Webb & Dhakal [25] | 2002–2003 | Nepal | Dhading | Temperate | 683 |
Kandel et al. [26] | none | Nepal | Dolakha | Temperate | 612 |
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Tika Ram, P.; Hom Bahadur, R. Hourly Firewood Consumption Patterns and CO2 Emission Patterns in Rural Households of Nepal. Designs 2020, 4, 46. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/designs4040046
Tika Ram P, Hom Bahadur R. Hourly Firewood Consumption Patterns and CO2 Emission Patterns in Rural Households of Nepal. Designs. 2020; 4(4):46. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/designs4040046
Chicago/Turabian StyleTika Ram, Pokharel, and Rijal Hom Bahadur. 2020. "Hourly Firewood Consumption Patterns and CO2 Emission Patterns in Rural Households of Nepal" Designs 4, no. 4: 46. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/designs4040046