Librería Samer Atenea
Kálamo Books
Librería Elías (Asturias)
Librería Kolima (Madrid)
Librería Proteo (Málaga)
We assessed the consumption of wood-based energy, particularly charcoal, in households and determined its impact on the household budgets of families in the commune of Kisenso, a suburb of the city-province of Kinshasa. The results show that the proportion of the household budget spent on charcoal is high. An individual spends 105 Congolese francs per day; this amounts to 630 Congolese francs (900 Fc is equivalent to 1 US dollar) per day for a household of six people. This is a ruinous expense, given the meagre purchasing power of the people of Kinshasa, and indeed of Congolese people in general. The environmental impacts are significant, as each person consumes 269 grams of charcoal per day. The estimated demand for the municipality of Kisenso in 2009 was close to 57.99 tonnes per day. The findings also showed that 94 per cent of households use charcoal for cooking, mainly because of its high calorific value (7,000 kcal per kg).
