Transition Dynamics and Future Pathways of Clean Cooking and Heating Fuels in Sri Lankan Households: A Socio-Technical and Policy Perspective

Abstract

The adoption of clean cooking and heating fuels is essential for advancing public health, climate mitigation, and sustainable development goals in developing countries. Despite high electrification rates (over 95%), traditional biomass still accounts for between 60 and 75 percent of cooking energy in Sri Lankan households, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, with 50–70% of homes using multiple fuels, fuel stacking remains a common practice that reflects complex socioeconomic and cultural relationships. This study integrates findings from national surveys, policy papers, and empirical investigations to analyze home energy use in Sri Lanka through a socio-technical systems framework. The study identifies ongoing obstacles to clean fuel transitions, such as supply chain constraints, cultural preferences for biomass-based cooking, poverty, limited education, urbanisation, and restricted energy access. The findings demonstrate that households with higher incomes are significantly more likely to choose cleaner fuels such as electricity and LPG, even though rural residents remain at a disadvantage in terms of access and pricing. Clean cooking programs in Sri Lanka have demonstrated limited effectiveness. This outcome arises from insufficient cooperation among the energy, health, and environmental sectors, as well as from fragmented policy approaches. Drawing on the collected data, this study assesses strategies to accelerate the transition to clean cooking, including expanding access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), promoting electric cooking, and improving biomass technologies. The implementation of targeted financial mechanisms, integrated regulatory frameworks, and context-specific behavioral interventions is essential to achieve a substantial reduction in biomass reliance by 2030. By critically examining transition processes within a socio-technical and regulatory framework, this review questions the conventional energy ladder paradigm and emphasises the persistence of hybrid energy consumption patterns. The findings offer policymakers valuable insights and advance the broader discourse on clean cooking transitions in low-income country contexts.