Regional heterogeneity in household fuel stacking and energy transitions: Microdata Insights from Pakistan
Keywords:
Energy Transition, Fuel Stacking, Subnational Divergence, Household Energy, HIES, PakistanAbstract
This paper investigates regional disparities in energy transitions and fuel stacking behavior across households in Pakistan. For this purpose, Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) from 2004-05 to 2018-19 has been used. Results indicate that although electricity consumption has increased substantially over time, complete transition to cleaner fuels has not been achieved. Instead of moving up the energy ladder, households are stacking different traditional fuels, such as firewood, dung cake, and agricultural waste, along with the cleaner fuels. Regional analysis shows that the urban households are transitioning to cleaner fuels, while rural households are still relying on traditional fuels. Within provinces, urbanized and economically developed provinces like Punjab and Sindh are experiencing a transition to cleaner fuels, whereas households in KP and Balochistan are trapped in a dual energy paradigm by spending significant proportions on both types of fuels. Therefore, this study concludes that to bridge the gap created because of the divide across regions and provinces, policymakers must take steps beyond simply increasing access to electricity at the regional level to achieve sustainable transition to cleaner fuels.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nasir Bashir, Prof. Dr. Faisal Mehmood Mirza (Author)
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