Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38799418›Full record

ArticleEnergy for sustainable development : the journal of the International Energy Initiative2024

Impact of randomly assigned "pay-as-you-go" liquefied petroleum gas prices on energy use for cooking: Experimental pilot evidence from rural Rwanda.

Rebecca Witinok-Huber, Kayleigh P Keller, Egide Abimana, Cleophas Ahishakiye, Howard H Chang, Christian L'Orange, Dale T Manning, Richard Mori, Eddy Frank Muhirwa, Liliane Muhongerwa and 10 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Energy for sustainable development : the journal of the International Energy Initiative, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Rebecca Witinok-HuberDepartment of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Kayleigh P KellerDepartment of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Egide AbimanaMeshPower Ltd. Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Cleophas AhishakiyeMeshPower Ltd. Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Howard H ChangDepartment of Statistics, Rollings School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Christian L'OrangeDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Dale T ManningDepartment of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Richard MoriMeshPower Ltd. Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Eddy Frank MuhirwaMeshPower Ltd. Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Liliane MuhongerwaMeshPower Ltd. Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Theoneste NtakirutimanaCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Elisa PuzzoloDepartment of Public Health and Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Casey QuinnDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Ghislaine RosaDepartment of Public Health and Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Ky TannerDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Bonnie N YoungDepartment of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Daniel ZimmerleEnergy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Egide KalisaCollege of Science and Technology, Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
John VolckensDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Maggie L ClarkDepartment of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

Funding

Sustainable Household Energy Adoption in Rwanda (SHEAR): Promoting Rural Health with Solar and Natural GasR01ES029995 · NIEHS · COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI CLARK, MAGGIE LYNN, VOLCKENS, JOHN · 2019 to 2025
$4.0M
NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES029995
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The disease burden related to air pollution from traditional solid-fuel cooking practices in low- and middle-income countries impacts millions of people globally. Although the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel for cooking can meaningfully reduce household air pollution concentrations, major barriers, including affordability and accessibility, have limited widespread adoption. Using a randomized controlled trial, our objective was to evaluate the association between the cost and use of LPG among 23 rural Rwandan households. We provided a 2-burner LPG stove with accessories and incorporated a "pay-as-you-go" (PAYG) LPG service model that included fuel delivery. PAYG services remove the large up-front cost of cylinder refills by integrating "smart meter" technology that allows participants to pay in incremental amounts, as needed. We assigned three randomized discounted prices for LPG to each household at ~4-week intervals over a 12-week period. We modeled the relationship between randomized PAYG LPG price and use (standardized to monthly periods), analyzing effect modification by relative household wealth. A 1000 Rwandan Franc (about 1 USD at the time of the study) increase in LPG price/kg was associated with a 4.1 kg/month decrease in use (95% confidence interval [CI]: -6.7, -1.6; n=69 observations). Wealth modified this association; we observed a 9.7 kg/month reduction (95% CI: -14.8, -4.5) among wealthier households and a 2.5 kg/month reduction (95% CI: -5.3, 0.3) among lower-wealth households (p-interaction=0.01). The difference in price sensitivity was driven by higher LPG use among wealthier households at more heavily discounted prices; from an 80% to 10% discount, wealthy households used 17.5 to 5.3 kg/month and less wealthy households used 6.2 to 3.1 kg/month. Our pilot-level experimental evidence of PAYG LPG in a rural low-resource setting suggests that further exploration of subsidized pricing varied by household wealth is needed to ensure future policy initiatives can achieve targets without exacerbating inequities.

Indexed as

Clean cookingEastern Rwandaenergy demandhousehold energy transitionLPG

Identifiers

PMID38799418
PMCPMC11126215

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.