Kosova's household energy efficiency and fuel supplies

Abstract

Purpose

The Kosova Government is promoting energy efficiency and the purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to the efforts being made, in the form of a household survey which visited 2,370 homes in the capital city Prishtina.

Design/methodology/approach

Student teams from the American University in Kosovo (AUK) conducted the survey under faculty guidance and their collected data provide valuable information.

Findings

The survey indicates that Kosova's progress on energy efficiency is not far behind the EU requirements.

Research limitations/implications

The AUK survey results are from the most densely populated area of Prishtina and so these results will be of special interest to the city planners.

Practical implications

The survey indicates that an average of 7.58 m³ of wood is consumed per home annually. From the data for all homes, 78 per cent heat one to three rooms and for the medium‐size category it was 83 per cent. For all homes in the phase 1 survey, 62 per cent spend between 10‐30 per cent of family income on electricity. The weighted average of the electricity costs in a medium‐size home is €63 each Winter month. The government therefore needs to effectively implement appropriate incentives or subsidies to promote a wide household energy efficiency program. Using an average wood cost of €35 to €40/m³ and the 1.525 million m³/year total consumption, the total wood revenue is €60.6 million.

Social implications

There also needs to be thousands of smaller personal investments for household high efficiency wood stoves. Both types of investments will reduce Kosova's environmental problem of particulates from ash.

Originality/value

The combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 surveys are expected to provide the most comprehensive household energy survey ever conducted in the Balkans.

Citation

Bowen, B.H., Myers, J.A. and Nixha, A. (2011), "Kosova's household energy efficiency and fuel supplies", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 545-563. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506221111186369