Published In

Energy for Sustainable Development

Document Type

Pre-Print

Publication Date

11-2023

Subjects

Air Pollution, Air -- Pollution--Chile, Air -- Pollution -- Case studies

Abstract

We estimate the key private benefits from a program to improve ambient air quality during winter in central Chile by replacing inefficient wood-fired home heating stoves with more efficient pellet stoves. We are interested in the private benefits to households because they represent the additional value of the program and likely drive private adoption. Combining electronic stove surface temperature and air pollution monitoring with household surveys, we estimate the effects of adoption on household fuel expenditures, indoor temperatures, and indoor air pollution concentrations (PM2.5). We also explore heterogeneous effects of the program by income group and energy poverty status. Our results suggest that, after controlling for observable characteristics of individuals and dwellings, users of pellet stoves on average enjoy 14% lower indoor PM2.5 concentrations compared with those who have traditional stoves. Lower-income and energy-poor households receive much greater than average improvements in indoor air pollution than those with higher-incomes, driving the overall sample estimate and indicating that the program is progressive in this dimension. While those who use more efficient pellet stoves have more stable indoor temperatures than those using traditional stoves, we find no differences in mean temperatures. The improved heating stove has significantly higher operating costs, and we find that these costs are most salient for low-income and energy-poor households.

Rights

© Copyright the author(s) 2023

Description

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Energy for Sustainable Development. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Energy for Sustainable Development

DOI

10.1016/j.esd.2023.101323

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/41001

Included in

Economics Commons

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