Green House Gases Reduction Benefits from LPG:
According to the studies, fuelwood (firewood) releases 1,500 g of carbon dioxide per Kg of dry matter, charcoal making releases 1,593 g of carbon dioxide per Kg of dry matter and charcoal combustion releases 2,740 g of carbon dioxide per Kg of dry matter. (Department of Forestry, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique). On the other hand, LPG releases 943 g of carbon dioxide per Kg of LPG (Forest Research, UK).
According to Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in Tanzania, 1,653 Kg of firewood is consumed per household per year and an average of 45.5 Kg of charcoal is consumed per month per household. According to the census conducted in 2022 by Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics, there was a total number of 14,297,206 households in Tanzania. Assuming all households used firewood, the total carbon dioxide produced could have been about 35 million Tons (1,653 x 14,297,206 x 1,500) and for charcoal could have been about 34 million Tons (45.5 x 14,297,206 x (1,593 + 2,740)).
According to Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) in Tanzania, in 2022, LPG consumption was about 160 million Kg, and this represented less than 5% of population/households, meaning that, all households could have consumed at least 3.2 billion Kg (160,000 divide by 5%) of LPG. If instead therefore, all households would have consumed LPG in 2022, the amount of carbon dioxide produced could have been at least 3 million Tons (3,200,000,000 x 943).
To summarize the calculation above, the ratio of quantity of carbon dioxide produced by all households consuming either LPG or charcoal or firewood per year in 2022; would be 3 million Kg: 34 million Kg: 35 Million Kg respectively (3:34:35 = 1:11:12). In layman language, it simply means that; LPG produces 11 times less carbon dioxide than charcoal and 12 times less carbon dioxide than firewood, hence it is relatively more environmental friendly in producing less green house gases than charcoal and firewood!
Deforestation Reduction Benefits from LPG:
Apart from having health benefits, substituting LPG to the use of charcoal and firewood will reduce deforestation and improve climatic condition. In Tanzania the current estimation of deforestation is 469,420 hectares per year (MNRT). Below is a look on how LPG contribute to environmental conservation. Table below indicates biomass estimate per hectare in some Africa countries forests (FAO).
From the table above it shows that Mozambique forests have Moist-Dry Season climatic condition with average of 125 tons of biomass per hectare. In the year 2022 Tanzania consumed 160,000 metric tons of LPG and assuming, Tanzania has almost the same climatic and forests condition as Mozambique, this means, consumption of 160,000 metric tons of LPG in 2022 saved about 3342 hectares of forests, taking note that only about 5% of Tanzanians used LPG as source of cooking energy.
Caution: This analysis is based on the research information presented and should not be regarded as a general conclusion. Depending on other research the calculated quantities may differ from those presented here.
