Journal article
Voucher-based liquefied petroleum gas subsidies achieve nearly exclusive clean fuel use when affordable delivery is available
Energy for sustainable development, v 88, 101820
Oct 2025
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Fuel subsidization can promote clean fuel adoption and reduce household air pollution. We investigated whether a voucher-based system could be as effective as a home-based fuel delivery program in achieving exclusive use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) within a randomized controlled trial in Puno, Peru.
In the first year of the trial, we delivered unlimited LPG to intervention homes, while comparison group participants continued baseline cooking practices. In the second year, comparison group participants received vouchers covering the cost of two 10 kg LPG tanks per month but did not receive tank delivery. We assessed voucher use and compared LPG use between the voucher and home delivery schemes. We conducted qualitative interviews with 15 women to understand perceptions and use of the vouchers and LPG. Data were collected in 2020 but remain relevant given the unchanged LPG system in Peru.
Voucher use was high (97.6 % of vouchers were used). Participants receiving vouchers used LPG for 94.3 % of cooking minutes, which was only slightly lower than the percent of cooking done with LPG by participants who received free home delivery (98.2 %) (p < 0.001). Voucher participants cooked with biomass for 84.7 min per week, within the range estimated as acceptable for meeting the World Health Organization interim air quality targets (<1–3 h per week). Facilitators of voucher and LPG use included the ease and speed of cooking with gas, availability of LPG delivery in the region, access to several nearby LPG distributors, owning a second back-up LPG tank, and reinforcement of exclusive LPG use by study fieldworkers.
A voucher-based system for providing subsidized LPG, paired with a reliable LPG infrastructure and behavioral motivation, effectively achieved near-exclusive clean fuel adoption. Findings can guide the design of LPG subsidization programs, which are increasingly important amid rising global LPG prices.
•Voucher-based LPG subsidies achieved near-exclusive clean fuel adoption in Peru.•Reliable LPG infrastructure and behavioral motivation were also necessary.•Vouchers must sufficiently cover the cost of fuel needed for daily energy demands.•Findings can inform LPG subsidy design to realize the benefits of clean fuel use.
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Details
- Title
- Voucher-based liquefied petroleum gas subsidies achieve nearly exclusive clean fuel use when affordable delivery is available
- Creators
- Kendra N. Williams (Corresponding Author) - Johns Hopkins UniversityJosiah L. Kephart - Drexel UniversityMagdalena Fandiño-Del-Rio - Johns Hopkins UniversityLaura Nicolaou - Johns Hopkins UniversityMarilú Chiang - PrismaStella M. Hartinger - Universidad Peruana Cayetano HerediaKirsten Koehler - Johns Hopkins UniversitySteven A. Harvey - Johns Hopkins UniversityWilliam Checkley - Johns Hopkins University
- Publication Details
- Energy for sustainable development, v 88, 101820
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- Clean Cooking Alliance of the United Nations Foundation: UNF-16-810 NIH Research Training Grant: D43TW009340 NIHNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Mental Health, National Heart, Lung, Blood InstituteNational Institute of Environmental Health SciencesGlobal Established Multidisciplinary Sites award from the Center for Global Health at Johns Hopkins UniversityNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the NIH: T32ES007141 NHLBI of the NIH: T32HL007534 David Leslie Swift Fund of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins UniversityCOPD Discovery Award from Johns Hopkins University
was additionally supported in part by the Clean Cooking Alliance of the United Nations Foundation UNF-16-810 (Principal Investigator: Checkley) . K.N.W. and J.L.K. were supported by NIH Research Training Grant D43TW009340 (MPIs: Buekens, Checkley, Chi, Kondwani) funded by the NIH through the following institutes and centers: Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Mental Health, National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. J.L.K., K.N.W., and M.F.-D.-R. were supported by a Global Established Multidisciplinary Sites award from the Center for Global Health at Johns Hopkins University (PI: Checkley) . J.L.K. was further supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the NIH under Award Number T32ES007141 (PI: Wills-Karp) . K.N.W. was supported by the NHLBI of the NIH under Award Number T32HL007534 (PI: Wise) . M.F.-D.-R. was supported by the David Leslie Swift Fund of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Our Global Non-Communicable Disease Research and Training field center in Puno, Peru, also received generous support from Mr. William and Bonnie Clarke III and the COPD Discovery Award from Johns Hopkins University.r was additionally supported in part by the Clean Cooking Alliance of the United Nations Foundation UNF-16-810 (Principal Investigator: Checkley) . K.N.W. and J.L.K. were supported by NIH Research Training Grant D43TW009340 (MPIs: Buekens, Checkley, Chi, Kondwani) funded by the NIH through the following institutes and centers: Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Mental Health, National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. J.L.K., K.N.W., and M.F.-D.-R. were supported by a Global Established Multidisciplinary Sites award from the Center for Global Health at Johns Hopkins University (PI: Checkley) . J.L.K. was further supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the NIH under Award Number T32ES007141 (PI: Wills-Karp) . K.N.W. was supported by the NHLBI of the NIH under Award Number T32HL007534 (PI: Wise) . M.F.-D.-R. was supported by the David Leslie Swift Fund of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Our Global Non-Communicable Disease Research and Training field center in Puno, Peru, also received generous support from Mr. William and Bonnie Clarke III and the COPD Discovery Award from Johns Hopkins University.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Drexel FIRST (Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends); Urban Health Collaborative; Environmental and Occupational Health
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001574470700001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105015597943
- Other Identifier
- 991022097940104721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Energy & Fuels
- Green & Sustainable Science & Technology