Opportunities for transition to clean household energy in Panama. Application of the WHO Household Energy Assessment Rapid Tool (HEART)

Overview

This publication is available in Spanish only. You can access the Spanish version here. 

The use of solid fuels for cooking is a large-scale public health problem in the Americas and an environmental risk, affecting almost 90 million people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that in 2016 the burning of polluting fuels for cooking and heating in the Americas caused more than 83,000 premature deaths, and a loss of 2.3 million years of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

In 2020, Panama had 12% population (2% urban population, 31% rural population) depending on firewood and other polluting fuels for cooking. The problem affects disproportionally the indigenous population that have very limited access to clean fuels (less than 8% of the indigenous population have access to the grid and only about 4% have access to LPG ). This, together with their very low purchasing power represents the main barrier to adopting clean fuels for cooking and lighting.

This publication is available in Spanish only. You can access the Spanish version here.