Job title:
Fellowship Recipient
Department:
Energy and Resources Program
Bio/CV:
Article on cookstove research in Tanzania.
Research interests:
Fellowship: Rocca Dissertation Research
Fellowship Year(s): 2022
Project/Theme Title: Nudging Towards a Deeper Understanding of Household Energy and Affordability in Development
Abstracts: Sustainable Development Goal 7 calls for “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all”1. Affordability is one of the largest barriers to providing energy access to the 2.6 billion people relying on solid, smoky fuels1. My dissertation work examines how households afford (or fail to afford) clean fuels 2 and then evaluates the impact of an intervention aimed at achieving higher rates of adoption and consistent use. First, I comprehensively review clean cooking affordability literature, which suggests that micro saving programs may be an effective and understudied means to increase household clean fuel consumption. I conduct a step-wedge randomized control trial (SW-RCT) in rural Tanzania to evaluate household adoption and consumption of liquified petroleum gas before and after enrollment in a savings bank. My second and third dissertation projects respectively address the quantitative treatment effect estimates and the qualitative observation and interview results of this SW-RCT. 1. IEA, IRENA, UNSD, WB, WHO. Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2019. Washington DC; 2019. www.worldbank.org. 2. Ramana Putti V, Tsan M, Mehta S, Kammila S. The State of the Global Clean and Improved Cooking Sector. Washington D.C.; 2015.
Fellowship: Rocca Dissertation Research
Fellowship Year(s): 2021
Project/Theme Title: Nudging Towards a Deeper Understanding of Household Energy and Affordability in Development
Language: Swahili
Abstracts: Sustainable Development Goal 7 calls for “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all”1. Affordability is one of the largest barriers to providing this access to the 2.9 billion people relying on solid, smoky fuels1. My dissertation work examines how households afford (or fail to afford) clean fuels 2 and then evaluates the impact of an intervention aimed at achieving higher rates of adoption and consistent use. First, I comprehensively review clean cooking affordability, which suggests that micro saving programs may be an effective and understudied means to increase household clean fuel consumption. I propose to conduct a step-wedge randomized control trial (SW-RCT) in rural Tanzania to evaluate household adoption and consumption of liquified petroleum gas before and after enrollment in a savings bank. My second and third dissertation projects will respectively address the quantitative treatment effect estimates and the qualitative observation and interview results of this SW-RCT.
Fellowship: Rocca Pre-dissertation Research
Fellowship Year(s): 2020
Project/Theme Title: Coupling Outreach & Financial Mechanisms in LPG Adoption in East Africa
Abstracts: The issue of clean cooking lies at the nexus of environmental engineering, environmental health, pollution, energy access, gender and household dynamics and international development. In Tanzania, approximately 96% of the population relies on polluting or “unclean” fuels for cooking, resulting in the deaths of 20,353 citizens annually 1. However, moving away from firewood and charcoal has proven challenging due to low adoption of improved stoves. There are a multitude of reasons for low adoption, including poorly designed stoves, high cost and low applicability to local cuisine, problems of fuel access, among other factors. My proposed research is to build upon my previous pilot which investigated whether the presence of a locally trained worker, a Community Technology Worker (CTW), could help facilitate Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) adoption in rural Tanzania. This expansion project will evaluate and compare rates of adoption of LPG gas between households within the CTW model who have a financial mechanism (a saving bank option) and those who do not. This research tests the hypothesis that that the households enrolled in a saving bank mechanism and have the CTW will have higher rates of adoption than those simply with the CTW. Within this classic experimental design, I will utilize a mixed methodology of structured surveys, key informant interviews, and household interviews. This research will further the field’s understanding of the importance of community support, the role of financial mechanisms within clean stove adoption, and propose a new holistic pathway for rural energy access.