Energy transitions and the charcoal dilemma in Tanzania

This briefing examines the current strategies for energy transitions from charcoal to clean energy in Tanzania. Transition to clean energy is not a financial or technical issue but includes socio-cultural ones, which require comprehensive education and awareness campaigns to change perceptions. The transitions of Tanzania toward clean cooking fuels face various challenges, including expensive Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electricity costs that prevent people from using them, cultural resistance to change and inadequate institutional support for policy execution and deforestation caused by charcoal consumption. The briefing suggests multiple solutions to overcome these challenges through subsidized LPG, electricity access, pay-as-you-go financing systems, public education campaigns and the creation of a Clean Energy Transition Authority (CETA) and environmental protection through reforestation. The successful energy transition in Tanzania needs both technological adoption and complete social, economic, and institutional changes. While the National Cooking Energy Strategies outline a promising path towards a sustainable future, their success will depend on overcoming substantial challenges, ensuring inclusive participation, and maintaining a long-term commitment to change, considering that energy transitions are spatial-temporal and do not require a “one-size-fits-all” approach.