Energy conservation literacy among households in Sub-Sahara Africa

Abstract

Purpose Energy conservation literacy within households is a contemporary and topical issue globally. However, scant research has been conducted on energy-saving literacy amongst Ghanaian households. To substantiate the problem, this paper aims to examine energy conservation literacy and behaviours among Ghanaian households in the Greater Accra Region. Design/methodology/approach The study assessed household electricity use and explored determinants of household energy conservation behaviours. Data was collected through a survey administered to households within the target region and analysed using descriptive statistics and Spearmen’s rank correlation. Findings Results showed electricity conservation among households is greatly influenced by the number of household occupants, household income levels, and the quality and quantity of appliances. The study also found that conservation behaviours are positively correlated to the number of occupants, household income levels, the quantity of electrical appliances, age of household members, number of rooms and level of urbanization within the home’s geographical region. Cumulatively, the findings suggest households held positive attitudes towards efficient energy practices. Enigmatically, the use of energy-conserving alternative technologies was not widely used by households; hence, this factor does not significantly affect household energy conservation. Research limitations/implications Although limited to Ghana’s capital region, the findings can be used to inform policy and regulations at the regional and national levels in designing an efficient and effective mechanism to reduce the country’s overall energy use. Practical implications Premised upon the findings, the study recommends an intensification of education and awareness-creation on various energy-saving regulations and initiatives and thorough education on the usage of standardized (approved) refrigerators to promote the consistent adoption of energy conservation measures among households. Originality/value This study pioneers investigations into the influence of household demographic variables on overall electricity conservation behaviours exhibited by Ghanaian households

Investigation of urban versus rural energy and water conservation behavior in Prishtina, Kosovo

“…However, while urban respondents exhibit a stronger attitude toward conservation intention because of nobleness to conserve, level of awareness and level of education, rural respondents show weaker attitudes because of various factors such as low level of education and awareness. The theoretical implication is that the energy conservation behavior intention, which is based on the pro-environmental attitude is more prevalent in the urban population (Marzouk, 2019; Sun et al , 2018; Owusu-Manu et al , 2022). Nevertheless, the practical implication of the present finding is that attitude toward conservation can be developed amongst people in Kosovo through proper education campaigns, energy bill incentives and credit incentives, especially for populations coming from rural areas.…”

“…The TPB covers an individual’s social and non‐volitional behavior and has a strong explanatory power (Hassan et al , 2016; Chen, 2013). To this end, various scholars include demographic variables into the equation of energy and water conservation intention (Barr et al , 2005; Frederiks et al , 2015; Hori et al , 2013; Khare, 2015; Knuth et al , 2018; Vicente-Molina et al , 2018; Greaves et al , 2013; Lee and Tanusia, 2016) such as income level and level of urbanization (Owusu-Manu et al , 2022). While Frederiks et al (2015) link the energy conservation behavior with the family size as part of the equation of the TPB, Knuth et al (2018) included the family size in the equation of the theory to predict the water conservation behavior, including the income size as argued by Ramsey et al (2017).…”

Energy Conservation at Home: A Critical Review on the Role of End-User Behavior

“…Determinants for occupants for the adoption of energy-saving practices can vary from values to knowledge, from personality traits to income, from subjective norms to age, up to dwelling ownership and features. Regardless of the determinants that are detected and examined in specific studies, all agree that several concurring factors may lead to a change in household behaviors [44,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69].…”

Energy-saving behavior of the population formation in the education system

“…Қауымдастықтардың энергия үнемдеу мінез құлқына өңіраралық және өңірлік зерттеулер мақалаларда жүргізіледі Owusu-Manu т.б. [20], Wang және Watanabe [28], Valerio-Ureña және Rogers [29], Kaya т.б. [30].…”