Keywords

1 Introduction

Cooking is a necessary part of living; every day, billions of people spend time and financial resources preparing food. Cooking activities bear different social meanings across the world. The way societies cook depends on their culture and the accessible crops. In Africa, a large proportion of the population is still dependent on small-scale agriculture for crops production (FAO, 1997). In addition, many households, especially in rural areas, rely on biomass fuels such as fuelwood, charcoal, agricultural waste and animal dung in cooking (World Bank Group, 2014). In many countries, these fuels account for about 60% of the residential sector’s energy consumption (Malla & Timilsina, 2014). This reliance on biomass energy contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions and air pollution (UNICEF, 2019).

In 2018, more than 2.6 billion people worldwide relied on traditional biomass fuels for cooking. Household air pollution, mostly from cooking smoke, is linked to around 2.5 million premature deaths annually]. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80% of the population still rely on biomass fuels that include firewood and animal dung for cooking (IEA, 2020a, b, c). USAID (2016) estimates that 55.5% of Senegalese households use fuelwood for cooking, and 11% use charcoal.

Finding clean energy cooking solutions for Senegal is critical in simultaneously addressing deforestation, indoor air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Some initiatives have been tested over the last years to address the challenge. These initiatives include the promotion of improved cookstoves. Bensch and Peters (2019) found that improved stoves can save around 30% of firewood use in Senegal, equivalent to 27 kg of firewood saved per week and per household.

To promote a safer cooking system in Nigeria, a study piloted the use of ethanol cooking fuel in 30 households for a period of 6 months. The results show a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions estimated between 15 to 20%. In addition, to emissions reduction, the experience saved an equivalent amount of firewood and charcoal that was replaced by ethanol fuel (Ozier et al., 2018). Many other solutions aimed at reducing reliance on biomass fuel and traditional cooking devices have been tested in other regions of the world (Muok, 2018 & Diédhiou et al., 2017).

This chapter aims to document some of the experiences that effectively led to decoupling cooking energy demand and deforestation. Learning from these experiences, we propose a contribution to the development of a sustainable cooking energy agenda in sub-urban areas of Senegal.

2 Methodological Approach

The study is based on a systematic review of publications on cooking energy solutions applied in different sub-Saharan African countries. There is an extensive literature on the deployment of clean cooking solutions in different countries of the region. This study combines the lessons learned from these experiences and the results from an assessment of the study environment to propose a consistent agenda for transition to sustainable cooking energy in Senegal.

We exemplified the situation in Senegal to assess the impact of these cooking solutions on people’s living standards. Most of the impact assessments found in the literature are based on stand-alone pilot projects (Ozier et al., 2018) and (Muok, 2018). The study documents the impact of improved cookstoves using the results of a GIZ project on jatropha as cooking fuel that was piloted in rural areas of Senegal (Bailis et al., 2003).

3 Discussion of Findings

3.1 Energy Demand for Cooking

In 2018, the total final energy consumption in Senegal was equivalent to 2545 thousand tons oil equivalent (IEA, 2020a, b, c). The residential sector represents about 43.5% of this energy consumption, which makes it the sector with the highest energy demand. Biomass fuel consumption was 895 thousand tons oil equivalent (ktoe). This biomass fuel includes firewood, charcoal and waste, which are mainly used for cooking and heating in small transformative activities in rural areas. The main source of cooking energy for rural households is firewood (49%), followed by charcoal (27%). These two fuels are mainly used for cooking, and a relatively small proportion is used in small transformative activities (Tchanche, 2018). In 2018, the proportion of the Senegalese population that still relied on traditional biomass fuel for cooking was estimated at 70% (IEA, 2020a, b, c). According to a study for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (Niang, 2000), the share of energy fuels for cooking in households is as follows:

  • Traditional wood: 551 kg/year per household or 52 kg/year per person

  • Charcoal: 614 kg/year per household or 58 kg/year per person

  • Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG): 131 kg/year per household or 14 kg/year per person

In the specific context of urban areas, a study conducted by the national agency for energy savings (AEME) estimated that 28% of households, which are mainly located in sub-urban areas, still use charcoal for cooking (AEME, 2019).

This demand for fuelwood and charcoal affects green lands in sub-urban areas and contributes to deforestation in charcoal-producing regions that are predominantly located in the southern part of the country. This charcoal production and use in households emit greenhouse gases and cause indoor pollution that primarily affects women and children.

3.2 Carbon Emissions from Cooking Energy

The greenhouse gas emissions associated with fuelwood and charcoal are presented in Table 13.1. These emissions are compared with emissions from other fossil fuels (GIZ, 2019).

Table 13.1 Estimation of GHG emission trends in Senegal
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Combustion of wood is often labelled as carbon neutral, considering that the carbon dioxide (CO2) released during the process is equivalent to the CO2 previously sequestered. Nevertheless, according to Laganière et al. smokestack (Laganière et al., 2015), CO2 emissions during wood combustion can be 2.5 times higher than emissions from natural gas and 30% higher than emissions from coal per unit of energy produced.

Regarding indoor pollution associated with fuelwood and charcoal consumption, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that on average and depending on the type of device, charcoal releases the largest amount of carbon dioxide with 2559 g/kg, followed by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Firewood, with 1610 g/kg, is the least carbon intensive of the three fuels (WHO, 2014). However, liquefied petroleum gas contributes to efforts to combat deforestation, and therefore increases carbon sinks. The liquefied petroleum gas promotion programmes were launched back in the 1970s in Senegal. In 2018, LPG accounted for 29% of cooking fuels and is projected to reach 36% by 2030 (IEA, 2019). An increase of the LPG shares in cooking fuels was observed despite the gradual removal of direct subsidies on the fuel since 2010; the only subsidy maintained being the value-added tax (VAT) waiving (Ministere en charge des Energies, 2018).

3.3 Energy Solutions for Clean Cooking in Senegal

3.3.1 Domestic Biogas

Biogas production in rural communities is one of the answers to the problems associated with high reliance on traditional biomass, such as deforestation and land degradation. The Senegal National Biogas programme launched in 2009 capitalizes on many achievements with a large national geographic coverage. Today, many rural households have bio-digesters for the production and use of biogas for cooking and lighting purposes with cow dung as fuel. This experience had both social and environmental impacts. Biofuels reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can contribute to achieving self-sufficiency in energy, among other things.

The Senegal National Biogas project targets the installation of 10,000 households across the countrys various rural communities. The domestic bio-digesters have a capacity of 12 to 18 m3 depending on the size of the household and produce about 3.5 m3 of gas per day. In 2016, 1300 bio-digesters were installed. The objective of the second phase covering the period 2015–2030 is to build 60,664 bio-digesters. The two phases should reduce greenhouse gas emissions with saved 293,392 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year saved and a total of 1,975,264 tonnes CO2-equivalent by 2030 (Fig. 13.1) (Ministere en charge des Energies, n.d.).

Fig. 13.1
figure 1

Estimation of CO2 emissions reduced with the Senegal National Biogas Project

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3.3.2 Improved Cooking Stoves

The improved cooking stove is a cooking device with higher energy efficiency compared to the traditional stove, thanks to a better heat transfer to the pot by convection and radiation. The difference between the traditional cooking stoves and the improved ones is presented in Fig. 13.2 (Bensch & Peters, 2019). The promotion of improved cooking stoves aims to: (1) reduce the pressure of the demand for firewood on the forest massifs, (2) improve the quality of indoor air, (3) reduce the share of the cooking energy bill in the budgets of households, and (4) reduce the time spent in firewood collection (Institut de la Francophonie pour le Developpement Durable, 2019).

Fig. 13.2
figure 2

Examples of traditional and improved cookstoves. Source: GIZ (2019)

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The improved cookstoves save between 30% and 45% fuel compared to the traditional fireplace and reduce smoke pollution (Putti et al., 2015). This translates into a reduction in deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. This saving in the Senegal context means that consumption of biomass fuel could decrease by an average:

  • Firewood: 200 kg/year per household

  • Charcoal: 230 kg/year per household

In terms of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction using emission factors provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the equivalent reduction of GHG in Senegal is as follows:

  • Firewood: 322 kg/household

  • Charcoal: 588 kg/household

These results confirm that improved cooking stoves can play an instrumental role in reducing pressure on forest resources and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Senegal.

4 Conclusion

Cooking in Senegal is still highly dependent on traditional biomass that includes charcoal and firewood. This dependence is more important in rural communities. However, there are still households in sub-urban areas that rely on wood and charcoal to prepare their daily meals. The widespread dissemination of domestic bio-digesters and improved cooking stoves in a market-based approach targeting the overall value chain, from technology design to sale, is an opportunity to create jobs and preserve ecosystems and contributes to improve the health of women and children. These solutions also contribute to curb the degradation of forest resources and enhancing their carbon capture and sequestration potential. The limited access to clean cooking energy in Senegal (about 30% in 2018) can improve significantly with the upscale of programmes for dissemination of improved cookstoves in sub-urban areas and bio-digesters in rural areas. By 2030, domestic biogas can reduce emissions by 1,975,264 tonnes eq-CO2. The improved cooking stoves can reduce wood consumption and CO2 emissions by 30 to 45%. Both results contribute to Senegal’ intended contribution to climate change mitigation.