[Stoves] the price of bottled gas

Thu May 9 14:02:05 CDT 2013

Dear Andrew and Crispin:

Andrew thanks for sharing. Here is an IMF report that might be of interest
on fuel subsidies:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10202.pdf

I have also read about smuggling of cylinders across borders (even when no
subsidy is present).

I have read that some countries with fuel subsidies are trying to re-target
the subsidies to the families that need it. Here is an example in El
Salvador:
http://www.pro-savings.org/en/projects/prosavings-el-salvador-fedecredito

Crispin:

We came across this issue in our survey design in Guatemala of which we
surveyed 300 households. We used almost 10 of our 50 questions to try and
capture that data. We looked at:

1. Primary Fuel
2. Secondary Fuel
3. Percentage used of each fuel (this was a bad question)
4. How are the fuels used differently
5. How much money do you spend on each fuel per week (LPG & wood...question
only for households purchasing wood or LPG)
6. How long does a 25lb tank of LPG last
7. How much wood is purchased or collected per week, and if you purchase
wood how much to you pay for the quantity you purchase.

Some of the questions we asked will have to be changed for further surveys
in order to collect better data. This is an important topic to discuss when
completing survey design so that data can be accurately collected.

Thanks,

Christina

On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 10:53 AM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
crispinpigott at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Andrew
>
> The same situation exists in several countries. Senegal has exactly the
> same problems you describe below.
>
> One problem with subsidies is that parliament will allocate a certain
> budget for subsidising a certain total fuel volume. After some time the
> total sold exceeds the anticipated total and there is a shortfall in the
> subsidy. This can happen with the whole petroleum sector or just for LPG.
>
> The inevitable consequences are that people retrn to more traditional
> fuels.
>
> An important finding in the Indonesian surveys conducted recently (more to
> come) is that many homes that answered 'LPG' to the question as to what
> their primary cooking fuel is, have been using wood for water heating -
> often using more total energy in biomass than LPG. The shift back to wood
> is rapid. It is used for a greater range of tasks than before. The shift is
> not easy to notice because they continue to use LPG.
>
> This is instructive for survey designers. We need to know what the range
> of fuels is, how many MJ of each is used per month and what it is used for.
> The differentiated cost is also important.
>
> Thanks
> Crispin
> From BB9900
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Andrew C. Parker" <acparker at xmission.com>
> Sender: "Stoves" <stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Date: Thu, 09 May 2013 11:16:37
> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves<stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Reply-To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
>         <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] the price of bottled gas
>
> I thought these developments in Ecuador might be of interest to the list.
> It highlights the difficulties of maintaining subsidies on bottled gas.
> For the Spanish deficient, the articles discuss the scarcity of subsidized
> gas in certain provinces of Ecuador that is forcing some to cook with wood
> to feed their families.  Reasons for the scarcities are usually black
> market reselling of gas to unauthorized users, such as restaurants, taxis,
> cars, buses, etc., smuggling of gas to Colombia, and production
> shortages.  (Ironically, Ecuador, a member of OPEC, is often forced to
> purchase LPG from Colombia at market rates to meet demand for subsidized
> bottled gas)
>
> <
> http://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2013/05/08/nota/910461/imbabura-obligados-cocinar-lena-debido-escasez-gas
> >
> <
> http://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/2013/05/08/nota/910451/venta-cilindros-es-irregular-rios-esmeraldas
> >
>
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-- 
Christina Espinosa
University of the Pacific '10
School of International Studies
c_espinosa1 at u.pacific.edu
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