Energy access & health
LPG for Cooking
The use of liquefied petroleum gas as a cleaner-burning household cooking fuel to replace wood, charcoal, dung and kerosene, reducing household air pollution.
Definition
LPG for cooking refers to the use of liquefied petroleum gas (a propane-butane mixture) as a household cooking fuel in place of polluting solid fuels and kerosene. WHO classifies LPG as a clean fuel for health at the point of use; around 2.1 billion people still cook with polluting fuels, and household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 2.9 million deaths in 2021.
References
2.1 billion without clean cooking, 2.9 million deaths, LPG classed as clean fuel
infant mortality reductions from national LPG transition
Overview
What it means
Switching from open fires and rudimentary stoves to LPG sharply cuts indoor particulate matter and carbon monoxide, reduces time spent collecting firewood (mostly by women and girls), and eases pressure on forests. Large national programmes — such as Indonesia's kerosene-to-LPG conversion — have been linked to measurable reductions in infant mortality.
How it is used
Governments run subsidised LPG distribution and cylinder programmes; the WHO household fuel combustion guidelines set emission targets that LPG stoves can meet. LPG is debated as a "transition" fuel versus leapfrogging to electric cooking.
Why it matters
Clean cooking sits at the intersection of health, gender equality, forests and climate (SDG 7); LPG is the most scalable near-term clean fuel in many low-income settings, despite being a fossil fuel.
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