Ethanol: towards a viable alternative for domestic cooking in Ethiopia

The document argues that ethanol has high potential as a cooking fuel in Ethiopia, particularly in urban areas, but requires regulatory reform and stronger government commitment to attract private sector investment and overcome barriers like kerosene subsidies.

• There is significant demand for ethanol as a cooking fuel across all Ethiopian regions, with the potential to replace kerosene in 100% of urban households and charcoal in up to 50% of rural households.
• Small-scale ethanol production is economically feasible in the Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region, using feedstocks such as sugar cane, sugar beet, corn, and multi-purpose sweet sorghum without conflicting with food production.
• Switching to ethanol offers financial benefits for urban households, with estimated annual savings of ETB 136 when switching from charcoal and ETB 450 when switching from kerosene.
• Private sector investment is currently deterred by low profit margins, caused by an unrealistic government-set retail price of ETB 13.99 per litre and competition with government-subsidised kerosene.
• Rural adoption of ethanol is hindered by lower average incomes and the availability of cheap or free gathered fuelwood, necessitating government incentives such as direct subsidies.
• To operationalise ethanol as a household fuel, the document recommends establishing a national bioethanol programme and revising the Ethiopian Biofuel Development and Utilization Strategy to allow feedstock production on non-degraded land.

APA

Lambe, F., Jürisoo, M., & Wikman, A. (2015). Ethanol: towards a viable alternative for domestic cooking in Ethiopia. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-Lambe-Ethanol-Ethiopia.pdf

Chicago

Lambe, Fiona, Marie Jürisoo, and Anna Wikman. Ethanol: towards a viable alternative for domestic cooking in Ethiopia. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2015. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-Lambe-Ethanol-Ethiopia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lambe |first1=Fiona |last2=Jürisoo |first2=Marie |last3=Wikman |first3=Anna |title=Ethanol: towards a viable alternative for domestic cooking in Ethiopia |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-Lambe-Ethanol-Ethiopia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lambe2015ethanol, author = {Lambe, Fiona and Jürisoo, Marie and Wikman, Anna}, title = {{Ethanol: towards a viable alternative for domestic cooking in Ethiopia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-Lambe-Ethanol-Ethiopia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }