Nairobi households and their energy use: An economic analysis of consumption patterns

This paper describes and analyses the results of an urban household energy survey conducted in Nairobi, Kenya, during 1981. Aggregate data on fuel and energy demand are examined in light of the problems facing urban areas in developing countries such as the increases in petroleum prices in the 1970s and the depletion of non-commercial energy resources such as wood. The paper provides a disaggregation of urban household fuel demand by income group. Using regression analysis, the results confirm that there is a high income elasticity for electricity (approximately 1.6), while charcoal exhibits a negative income elasticity of -0.23. Gas energy consumption is primarily explained by price movements.