Restoring Balance: Bangladesh's Rural Energy Realities

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Restoring Balance: Bangladesh’s Rural Energy Realities

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Table 2.2. Annual Household Consumption (physical quantity) Energy Use Heating Energy Source Biomass (kg) Fuelwood Tree leaves Crop residue Dung cake/ stick Sawdust Non-biomass Kerosene (liter) Grid electricity (kWh) Dry-cell battery (piece) Candle (piece) LPG/LNG (liter) Natural gas (Tk) Storage cell (kWh)

Cooking

Parboiling

Other

Cooling

Lighting

Amusement

All Uses

1,064.84 470.67 538.86 503.68

28.60 29.99 164.41 16.07

92.77 0.85 2.72 4.16

— — — —

— — — —

— — — —

1,186.21 501.51 708.18 523.90

8.36

0.02

0.02

—

—

—

8.40

1.76

—

0.07

—

27.16

—

28.98

0.25

—

4.00

49.50

80.74

9.34

143.83

—

—

—

—

—

—

15.01

—

—

—

—

15.86

—

15.86

0.05

—

—

—

—

—

0.05

9.59

—

—

—

—

—

9.59

—

—

—

—

0.14

0.41

0.55

Source: BIDS Survey (2004).

ure for biomass in the current study’s household survey is 8.6 GJ per person; this figure translates into an average annual growth rate of 3.2 percent, outstripping even population growth rate.2 This finding highlights the critical role that biomass continues to play in the rural energy balance; today it is just as important, if not more so, than 25 years ago.

Energy for Cooking The energy required for basic household cooking—including the parboiling of rice— mirrors, in large part, the country’s overall rural energy situation; yet one observes major regional differences (see Table 2.3). For example, in Khulna and Chittagong, regions home to major forests, consumption levels are higher. Indeed, nearly 67 percent of Chittagong’s cooking energy is derived from fuelwood, indicating that plentiful availability leads to greater use. Not surprisingly, Rajshahi, the division least endowed with forest resources,