We are kicking off* a new project around Phnom Penh, in peri-urban areas that may be ready to transition from cooking with biomass to cooking with electricity, leapfrogging LPG. The trial is motivated by HAPIN and by interest in determining barriers to cooking with electricity, as has been done for LPG and for many so-called improved or advanced stoves. More on the project and the team later.

We found, while visiting a peri-urban village about an hour from Phnom Peng, 250g LPG “cans.” These were being used in single burner stoves in the homes where we saw them. They look pretty unsafe, as you see below. There is anecdotal evidence of accidents, but we were unable to find any specific data on the rate of explosion.

The cans contain a small amount of fuel (170g, I think), and thus the per-can cost is relatively low. Among some households we spoke with, they mentioned not being able to afford larger fuel cylinders of 5, 10, or 15 kg, but purchasing one or two of the small cans daily to meet cooking needs. The monthly cost per meal with these small cans exceeds that of the larger cylinders, but for households reliant on daily income and with no savings, this was a “clean” solution. Clean, not safe, but indicative potentially of the need to provide a way to pay energy services in small tranches (and perhaps to work on group savings).

*Wild few weeks. TBA on this and all other federally funded work.