Cooking gas consumption rises to reduce kerosene use by 32pc
Business
By
Macharia Kamau
| Feb 27, 2025
The consumption of cooking gas in Kenya increased by 15 per cent in 2024 as households continued to ditch dirty fuels such as kerosene, whose usage dropped by 32 per cent.
The use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) went up to 414,880 metric tonnes over the 12 months to December last year from 360,590 metric tonnes in 2023, according to new data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
This is even as kerosene consumption dropped to 37,120 metric tonnes last year from 54,620 metric tonnes in 2023.
This could be a pointer to increased adoption of cooking gas among households as they transition from polluting fuels such as kerosene and charcoal.
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The growth in consumption of LPG was also despite an increase in prices last year, which peaked at Sh3,300 in April for a 13-kilogramme refill but has since been on the decline to under Sh3,000 currently. The uptake of cooking gas has been on the rise in the last decade, growing 177 per cent from 150,000 metric tonnes in 2014 to last year's level of 414,880 metric tonnes.
The growth was partly propelled by the 2009 LPG regulations that allowed consumers to refill cooking gas at any LPG marketer.
The cooking gas retailers would then pass on the cylinders to the brand owners for servicing and refilling. This system was, however, disbanded as it was seen as fueling illegal refilling of cylinders.
The growth has also partly been fuelled by its consideration as a clean cooking fuel, reducing household air pollution, unlike the alternatives that Kenyans have such as kerosene, charcoal and firewood.
A majority of Kenyans, according to the Energy Ministry, still rely on firewood (55 per cent) and charcoal (12 per cent) as primary fuel for cooking.
The government hopes to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2028 largely driven by the adoption of cooking gas.
The State has an ambitious goal of distributing subsidised cooking gas cylinders and also setting up cooking gas infrastructure in public institutions such as schools and hospitals.
The distribution of the six-kilogramme gas cylinders and accessories has, however, been dogged by controversies, including their quality as well as shortage of funds.
To also boost the uptake of cooking gas, the government has lowered Value Added Tax (VAT), with the Finance Act 2023 zero rating cooking gas from an earlier VAT of eight per cent.
The petroleum sector agencies have also been looking to consolidate the importation of cooking gas and do it as it has done with other petroleum products in the past.
Under the Open Tender System (OTS), one oil marketing company was competitively selected to import the fuel on behalf of the industry. This system has however been replaced by the Government to Government system.
While there has been talk of importing LPG through OTS, the country has faced the challenge of a lack of adequate storage facilities. The large facilities in place at the moment are also privately owned.