Household Motivation toward Liquefied Petroleum Gas for Cooking Purposes

Abstract

In Nigeria the population of households that use biomass and solid fuel for cooking is very high. These fuels have been described as 'dirty' because of their inefficient combustion. Unfortunately, the high dependence on these fuel types causes economic, social, and environmental problems. Therefore, there is a need to motivate the households using these fuels to adopt a cleaner fuel, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). This paper examined the factors that motivated current households using LPG in Lagos State to adopt LPG for cooking purposes. Online data were collected from 879 households in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State - Lagos Mainland LGA, Agege LGA, Oshodi-Isolo LGA, and Surulere LGA. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The three hypotheses of the paper were tested with a multiple regression statistical method. Results indicated that LPG availability, household incomes, and household education level significantly motivated most of the households that have adopted LPG in the State. It was concluded that regular supply of LPG, growing household income, and high household education can motivate households in the State currently cooking with biomass and solid fuel to switch to LPG. The paper presented the practical implications of the findings