Energy Basket Model : A Tool for Examining Household’s Choice of Cooking Fuels and Their Switching Pattern

The theoretical literature on households’ choice of cooking fuels and their switching pattern was mainly dominated by the energy ladder hypothesis and fuel stacking model, where the former stated that households switch from the usage of dirty fuels to clean fuels along with a rise in income, while the latter maintained that households did not make full switching of the cooking fuels, and rather went for partial switching as they move up the energy ladder. However, in real-life propositions, both theories are relevant, and hence, it called for a new alternative energy fuel model, including the features of both energy ladder and fuel stacking under a combined shed. The present study tried to fill this research gap by developing a new approach called the ‘energy basket model,’ which incorporated the features of both energy ladder and fuel stacking models within a single framework and looked into the switching possibilities among different fuel combinations in both upward and downward directions. This newly developed model would serve as a key tool for understanding households’ choice of cooking fuels and their switching patterns.