Research Database

The aim of this article is to analyse the current situation of access to energy (in relation to SDG 7) and energy usage behaviour in households in two provinces in Cambodia, namely Pursat and Kampong Cham. The analytical framework is based on the energy ladder model and the energy stacking model as a starting point for assessing the current household energy profiles. A quantitative survey carried out in late 2015 in 970 households revealed differences in access to electricity between urban, electrified rural, and non-electrified rural districts. In urban areas, households are using multiple (3–4) energy sources compared to rural areas (2–3). The use of electricity through batteries in the non-electrified rural areas remains notable (43%) despite no access to the national grid. The dependence on traditional biomass, especially firewood, remains high (91% of all respondents) for all the sampled households, especially so in rural non-electrified households. The study confirms that households’ energy mix is composed of various energy sources, even when modern energy sources are available as opposed to complete fuel switch. The results also show that electricity use does not automatically lead to increased household income, but is much more complex process than discussed in existing research. The article further discusses the possible causes behind the phenomenon, proposes recommendations for better-informed energy policy, and provides important insights towards sustainable energy transition in Cambodia in the future.

The government efforts to maintain national energy stability program through the increase energy supply and saving must be supported by all levels of society. Several energy observers and experts stated that the contribution of the domestic or household sector in the activities of energy saving program is quite significant because the percentage of household customers are relatively high. This paper analyzes the potential of providing research data on the percentage of electricity savings in the domestic or household sectors towards saving electricity nationally. The results of the study show that electrical devices commonly used in households still have the potential to be saved. Electrical devices that are often used at households and have great saving potentials are air conditioners and refrigerators. If each household customer saves 30% of electricity consumption, then the national electricity supply that can be saved will be around 5,679 GW, equivalent to 83.3 trillion rupiah. The saving program resulted in savings of electricity consumption of around 6% of all household consumers or around 2.9% of total national electricity consumption.

Subsidizing energy has been widely used but is economically unfavorable. The Malaysian government has shown strong intention to reduce energy subsidies recently, but face challenges to prepare policy instruments to manage the impact. This study develops a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with breakdown of households by income level to evaluate the potential impacts of removing energy subsidies on the Malaysian economy. It is shown that removing petroleum and gas subsidy would improve economic efficiency and increase GDP up to 0.65%. Budget deficit would be largely reduced after removing the petroleum subsidies, especially when the saved subsidy cost is not budgeted for other expenditure. Households would be worse off in most scenarios due to higher price level, but some compensation policy could make the lowest income group no worse than baseline, without harm the economy. The reduction in carbon emissions ranges 1.84–6.63% in different scenarios. The simulation results suggest Malaysia to completely remove all fuel subsidies and use the saved funding to cut budget deficit or spend on education, health and other service sector. It is also necessary to set a compensation scheme to minimize public resistance and make sure such scheme is affordable.