Myanmar Energy Consumption Surveys Report

• Editorial: Asian Development Bank
• Año: 2017
• ISBN:
  9789292579449
• Categoría: Technology & Engineering
• Categoría: Power Resources

A household energy consumption survey in 11 regions across Myanmar shows that firewood is mainly used for cooking (73%) and candles and torches for lighting (65%), followed by electricity for cooking (13%) and battery for lighting (17%) while the demand for modern energy sources is rapidly increasing. This report presents the results of 2014 household energy consumption surveys that helped develop a more accurate picture of historical energy consumption by fuel source. This publication shares the survey results, considering the scarcity of available energy data and statistics in Myanmar especially at the household level. The data herein may prove useful in making more informed decisions by those involved in Myanmar's energy and social sectors.

1

Introduction

Under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) technical assistance (TA) for Myanmar on Institutional Strengthening of National Management Committee in Energy Policy Planning, surveys on the use of energy in various sectors were conducted over the year 2014. The energy surveys were focused on end-use energy consumption, which is consistent with the perspective of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy that end-use energy consumption data has the greatest level of uncertainty.

The energy consumption surveys were intended to enhance the understanding of energy consumption trends in Myanmar, which in turn would enhance the level of confidence in the quality of the data that is used to inform the energy demand forecasts that underpin the energy master plan (EMP).¹ The surveys were used to develop more accurate historical energy balances, which become the baseline for the energy sector projections.

Following an assessment of data availability within the ministries, other previous survey work in Myanmar and a general consideration of where the energy survey work could best assist this project, the following energy consumption surveys were conducted:

•   Rural and urban household energy consumption; and

•   Private industry energy consumption.

The rural and urban household energy surveys were identified to be the highest priority since they correspond to the area for which the least amount of information is available. The private industry energy consumption survey was identified as the next priority area as there was also limited information generally available on the energy consumption of private industries.

1.1   Report Purpose and Structure

The purpose of this report, which was initially prepared as part of the EMP report, is to present the urban and rural household survey results and the related statistics for reference purposes. The report also presents the results of a private industry energy consumption survey. The surveys were conducted in 2014.

This report has been organized as follows:

•   Section 2 provides a summary of previous survey work conducted in Myanmar. The purpose is to highlight the main insights from these previous surveys for rural and urban household energy consumption trends in Myanmar.

•   Section 3 sets out the methodology that we have adopted for the household energy consumption survey.

•   Section 4 provides a statistical summary of the household energy data that was collected.

•   Section 5 discusses the private industry energy consumption survey approach.

•   Section 6 provides a statistical summary of the private industry energy data that was collected.

•   Appendix A provides a copy of the household energy survey form that was used.

•   Appendix B provides the detailed tables of the household energy survey results.

•   Appendix C summarizes some key data from a previous survey of Myanmar.

•   Appendix D provides a copy of the private industry energy survey that was used.

2

Review of Previous Household Surveys in Myanmar

A number of surveys have been recently undertaken in Myanmar that provide insight into energy consumption trends. It is important to briefly review the nature and scope of these surveys as the household survey that we have conducted can be thought to essentially complement these surveys and enhance our overall understanding of present energy consumption trends in Myanmar.

Two recent and relevant surveys that have been undertaken include (i) The Livelihoods for Food Security Trust (LIFT) baseline survey, a joint funding effort by multiple donors² conducted in 2012 to provide a comprehensive assessment of rural households in general,³ and (ii) a MercyCorps Poverty Survey, which focused on the issue of fuel-efficient stoves (FES), and was conducted in 2011.⁴

2.1 The Livelihoods for Food Security Trust Baseline Survey

LIFT is a multidonor fund with a mandate of increasing food availability and incomes of the poor and vulnerable population in Myanmar and contributes resources to support Myanmar’s objective of graduating from its least developed country status.

LIFT baseline survey’s objective was to gain a better understanding of trends in the rural households of Myanmar. LIFT conducted a survey covering 4,000 rural households to seek information concerning fuel use for cooking and lighting by residence zone and income deciles.

Objective. The LIFT baseline survey was aimed at collating quantitative and qualitative information on livelihood and food security matters on households before and after LIFT interventions compared against control villages. In effect, it will provide insight into the effectiveness of LIFT programs deployed across representative surveyed households with respect to livelihood and food security outcomes. The survey was to cover three agroecological zones in the Delta II and Countrywide subprograms and Giri-affected areas of Rakhine State.⁵

Methodology. The surveyed locations included the hilly, dry, and delta or coastal agroecological zones of Myanmar. A total of 4,000 households were chosen from 252 villages with probability proportional to their number of households. Specifically, 800 households were randomly selected from each of the three zones (coastal or delta, hilly, and dry), 800 from Rakhine (Giri-affected areas), and 800 randomly from all areas as a control.⁶ By income, the respondents were grouped into deciles (10 categories), ranging from earning less than MK 25,000 to over MK 300,000 per household per month.

Key findings. The following summarizes the key findings of the survey.

• Overall, only 7% of the sample households were connected to the electricity grid, ranging from a maximum of 16% of households in the hilly zone to less than 1% of households in the Giri-affected areas. Similarly, households from the hilly zone were most likely to be connected to a village generator (15.6%) or have their own generator (3.8%). By contrast, households in Giri-affected areas were most likely to use candles for lighting (55%) and households in the delta or coastal zone most likely to use a kerosene or oil lamp (60%). Households in the dry zone were the second most connected to the grid (11%) but most likely to share a generator with other households (11%).

• As it can be expected, access to electricity either from the grid or generators (other than village generators) was correlated with the level of household average monthly income. In general, the larger the household average monthly income the more likely the household had electricity from the grid, had its own generator, or shared a generator with other households. Conversely, the poorer the household the more likely it used candles or lamps for lighting.

• Sources of cooking fuel were similar between regions with a very high reliance on fuel wood. The use of fuel wood ranged from a low of 90% of households in the delta or coastal zone to a high of 99% of households in Giri-affected areas.

• Firewood collection and sale was an important source of income for poor households. In some cases, especially the Giri-affected villages, the community had to travel long distances to collect fuel wood. These results suggest that community forestry, agroforestry, and FES may be important areas for support in some locations.

Appendix C has tabulated a number of extracts from the LIFT baseline survey.

2.2 MercyCorps Energy Poverty Survey (2011)

The MercyCorps Energy Poverty Survey objective was to conduct a survey of village households’ energy consumption and obtain an understanding of the market for FES’s. The survey was conducted on 396 households from 18 villages (22 households each) in 22 village tracts of Laputta Township. The main findings of the survey are summarized for cooking, firewood collection, and lighting in the subsections that follow.

2.2.1 Cooking

The key findings for cooking are:

• The majority of households (88%) use wood, either with open fire or “three-stone” method (69%) or with a FES (19%) for cooking and heating water. 10% use plain rice husk (not compressed into bricks). Other fuel types used by some households are charcoal (1%) and electricity grid (1%).

• The most preferred type of fuel for cooking is wood with FES (42% of total respondent households), followed by wood with open fire (22%), electricity grid (18%), charcoal (11%), and rice husk (5%).

• The reasons, stated by the households, for preferring wood-burning FES are as follows: (i)...