Ethanol as a household fuel in Madagascar
Practical Action
Financial and economic assessment
The project analysed the potential economic impacts of ethanol as a household fuel; considering
both the impacts on individual households and also focusing on the wider impacts of the
production of ethanol using sugarcane micro-distilleries with the sale of by-products, over a 30-
year period to full market penetration.
The following is a summary of the
main conclusions from the project
assessment:
Household analysis
Ethanol is a clean-burning fuel to
compete with LPG, but since the
majority of the current Malagasy
population uses firewood or
charcoal, ethanol will have to attract
a significant proportion of this
population to have a large impact;
currently only 1.6% of the country’s
population in urban areas can afford
an annual supply of LPG at
US$300. Figure 10 shows the
relationship between annual fuel
cost and the proportion of the
population that can afford the fuel:
Figure 11: Relationship between annual cost of fuel (Y) and
percentage of population that can afford it (X)
Stove
Total Cost (US$) Life (years) Annual Cost (US$)
Wood
25
55
Charcoal
2.4
0.5 4.8
LPG 50
5 10
Ethanol
50
10 5
Table 3: Total and annual expected costs of different stove types.
Households may be using a less desirable fuel even if they would be willing to pay somewhat
more for a more convenient fuel, as they cannot afford the next price step.
Additionally, the upfront cost of purchasing a stove may be prohibitive for much of the
population.
Based on the household surveys conducted in Ambositra and Vatomandry, on average
households save approximately 1.8 hours each day in cooking and cleaning time through the
use of an ethanol stove. This estimate was based on an average of two variables; the
difference in time that the stove was alight during the 24-hour monitoring periods at
baseline and Round 3, and the cook’s perceived reduction in time spent cooking and on
cooking-related cleaning since the start of the project. The estimated time saved is valued
based on a rural average wage rate of US$1.92 per day
The study was unable to gain sufficient data to make conclusions regarding the economic impact
of the potential health benefits.
Micro-distilleries
If ethanol production is to be scaled up in Madagascar, then micro-distilleries can be constructed
in rural settings close to the feedstock sources, and can produce high-grade household fuel
ethanol to supply local markets. Single micro-distilleries operating as discreet business units can
compete in a local or regional stove fuel market if the system is closely tied to a feedstock source
that is competitive and if the processing unit is efficient. The benefit of the micro-distillery is that
it enables ethanol production to be carried out on the same scale in which most other biomass
energy is procured.
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