Demand And Supply Dynamics Of Wood Energy In Schools In Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

In Kenya, the transition from National to County level energy planning has experienced various challenges, one of them being the lack of reliable baseline data upon which such plans can be based. This is evident because the last comprehensive biomass study done by the Ministry of Energy was in 2002, which is too old for effective and efficient biomass energy planning. This study provides this data by analyzing the demand for and supply of fuelwood in secondary schools within the County of Trans-Nzoia. Furthermore, the study highlighted the important role that the wider adoption of energy-efficient institutional stoves would play in the sustainable management and conservation of forestry resources in the County. A questionnaire surveywith65 randomly selected schools, actual weighing of the daily fuelwood consumption estimates and general site observations were carried out. From the study, the mean daily fuelwood consumption was 159.2±91.75kgper school and 0.524 kg per student. As it will be discussed later in the thesis, these consumption rates varied when considering the type of cookstove used and the number of students being cooked for. Eucalyptus species, Grevelea robusta, Acacia species and Croton species were the commonly harvested tree species for fuelwood, with farmlands and forests being the main areas of harvest. In these schools, parents supplied majority of the fuelwood as fees in kind. Regarding improved cookstoves adoption rates, 68% of the sampled schools had adopted the stoves. However, only 26% of these schools used them exclusively, while 42% combined them with either a traditional or semi-improved cookstove or both. On the benefits of using an improved cookstove, a typical school saved about 0.34kgper student daily and 91.8kgper student annually. This fuelwood saving was equivalent to a financial saving of Ksh.138 per student annually. The results present a potential baseline data that could be used for energy planning and forest resource management purposes in Trans-Nzoia County.