Household energy conservation patterns: evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

Household energy conservation represents one area where the links between human behaviour and environmental problems are identifiable. This paper investigates the main determinants of household energy conservation pattern in Ibadan city, Nigeria using micro level data of 540 households across the three residential neighbourhoods (low, medium, high). Findings from the study show that socio- economic variables such as marital status, income, educational background and age were able to explain differences towards energy conservation behaviour. In addition, results suggests that majority of households were not conscious about the environmental consequences that may arise from increasing household energy demand. For a developing country like Nigeria,where household energy demand accounts for more than half of the total national energy demand, any policy framework on sustainable energy consumption must take in to account the human attitude and behaviour.