Kenya plans to promote the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in a bid to encourage green energy in the country, a government official said on Friday.
Andrew Kamau, principal secretary for petroleum at Kenya's Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, told journalists in Nairobi that currently over 70 percent of the country's population live in rural areas and rely on charcoal and firewood for cooking, heating and lightning and this has negatively affected the forest cover.
"Kenya is promoting use of LPG as part of plans to transition to green energy sources," Kamau said.
He noted currently less than 5 percent of households in Kenya use LPG and the government set a target of increasing the figure to 42 percent.
Kamau noted that the government is concerned about the respiratory diseases caused through cooking with firewood.
"Our data shows that more than 21,000 Kenyans die from inhaling smoke emitted by wood and charcoal stoves used during cooking," he added.
According to the petroleum ministry, Kenya currently consumes approximately 300,000 metric tons of LPG per annum.
Editor:Iris
