Urban households in Ethiopia use multiple fuels as they get richer

Using three rounds of survey data that cover a decade, we analyze household preferences for energy types and energy choice in urban Ethiopia. We find that, during 2000-2009, households in major cities of Ethiopia used multiple fuels as their income increased. Increased fuelwood prices encourage consumption of cleaner fuels, such as electricity, while increased kerosene prices encourage solid fuel consumption. Better educated households are more likely to consume cleaner fuels. While increased incomes are associated with consumption of cleaner fuels, households did not entirely shift to consumption of modern fuels as their income increased. This suggests that an energy transition did not take place following economic growth during the study period.