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.

Biofuels have received a great deal of attention globally, and many countries have embarked on producing biofuels, given the volatility and the recent all-time high of world oil prices.

The transport sector contributes almost a fifth of the current global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), and its share is likely to increase in the future. The US, Brazil, and a number of European and other countries worldwide have introduced various support schemes for biofuels.

We use three rounds of a rich panel data set to investigate the determinants of household fuel choice and energy transition in urban Ethiopia. We observe that energy transition did not occur following economic growth in Ethiopia during the past decade.

Dependency of urban Ethiopian households on rural areas for about 85 percent of their fuel needs is a significant cause of deforestation and forest degradation, resulting in growing fuel scarcity and higher firewood prices.

This paper uses the input-output methodology known as structural decomposition analysis to discuss Namibian energy use. And the paper makes an additional contribution to the literature on structural decomposition analysis by showing that the hybrid units approach, which has frequently been used in other structural decomposition analyses and in other types of energy studies, is in fact unsuitable at least for this type of analysis.