Rural Armenians have close connections to their forests. They recognise that forests limit soil erosion and protect mountain slopes from landslides during heavy rains. The cycle of trees transpiring humidity to form clouds helps irrigate their fields. Forests also offer up berries, nuts, fruits and medicinal plants and herbs they value highly. They can also see the vicious cycle playing out already – as forests shrunk, so does the volume of ‘ecosystem services’ at their fingertips.
In turn, they largely support government efforts to protect the forests by placing bans on fuelwood harvesting. But they also see that such efforts are largely ineffective. In reality, forest management practices are weakly enforced, corruption is widespread and illegal deforestation for heating fuels is rampant.
Experts watching the situation say that, for these rural residents, fuelwood won’t be a viable energy source for much longer – at least, not legally. The harvesting bans place extreme pressure on communities to switch fuels. Unfortunately, each alternative brings its own problems.
Fuel options and their impacts
Rural Armenians have had to be ‘resourceful’ about energy sources for centuries. But as the country forges ahead with efforts for a clean energy transition, the challenge is particularly intense in these communities – not least because poor quality homes drive up actual energy demand for heating. A quick survey of options demonstrates that there are no perfect solutions.
Dung from livestock, while a cheap fuel, has health and social consequences. The heating devices in most homes have chimneys that send most of the harmful smoke out the roof. But many old pipes are leaky and allow smoke to escape into living spaces, ultimately causing bodily damage, particularly to respiratory systems and eyes.
Dung is also subject to competing demands in that it is an important fertiliser for farming.
But dung supply is also under threat. In recent years, with prices for livestock having dropped, farmers are raising fewer animals – causing a shortage of dung in some communities. In farming communities that prioritise its use as a fertiliser over fuel, the potential for biofuels may be limited.
On average, men in rural Armenia spend ~50 days per year collecting and storing dung for fuel.
Natural gas is preferred for heating water, but a past target to extend the grid nationally was never achieved – and a large share of rural homes remains unconnected. For those with a connection, rising prices mean they try keep use of gas to an absolute minimum.
Now, with an eye to meet EU and UN climate and energy targets, the government of Armenia is unlikely to extend the gas grid, seeking to avoid both higher emissions and criticism for ‘locking in’ to a dirty fuel.
Given the expense of heating, most people in rural Armenia go to great lengths to simply avoid using fuel. In winter, they try to reduce heating needs by closing off ‘extra’ rooms. For months on end, entire families will ‘live’ in the room (or rooms) heated by the woodstove. Day and night, to try to stay warm, they wear extra clothing indoors. Some even report altering their sleep schedules. But being chronically cold at home has serious health impacts, particularly for young children and the elderly.
If wood, dung and money all run out, some families resort to burning garbage or fabric waste to keep warm. In addition to human health impacts, the toxic smoke from these materials can damage home interiors, leading to the need for expensive repairs.
Staying warm and well fed carries health costs, particularly for women and children who stay close to home in rural Armenia. It is well known that cooking over open fires with solid fuels is linked to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide1 and other noxious smokes or particulate matter.
Boosting awareness and uptake of better practices
Old habits die hard in rural Armenia…including when it comes to energy. And long-held gender roles come into play. Traditionally, men collect fuelwood and prepare dung, while women are responsible for most other energy tasks. Within homes, women spend much more time – up to six hours per day – preparing fuels, maintaining heat, heating water and cooking. Feeding logs into the stove to maintain heat keeps women house-bound and robs them of opportunities to get an education or participate in paid work.
A particularly troublesome problem is the taboo of challenging the wisdom of the village elder. While science has proven otherwise, men who rely on traditional knowledge often argue that ‘wet fuelwood burns better’, based on the fact that such wood burns longer. In fact, some 60% of the available energy goes to vapourising the humidity, leaving less for space/water heating or cooking. Some change in drying wood and dung before use is evident, but typically it is men convincing other men, while women who use these sources daily are expected to heed the advice of men.
Awareness of energy efficiency is growing, thanks to aggressive campaigns by the government and other entities. But most of Armenia’s building stock dates from between 1950 and 1990, when efficiency standards were much less rigorous – meaning they are ‘energy hogs’. In rural areas, many homes are even older and more problematic: a recent survey found that just one-third had any thermal insulation at all.
Investing in energy efficiency is essential to lowering use of heating fuels, but affordability and energy literacy remain substantial barriers. Starting with ‘what they can afford’, many people opt for LED light bulbs or installing higher-efficiency windows – while uninsulated walls account for the largest share or heat loss and their improvement would offer the largest gains.
Uptake of solar systems is on the upswing in remote regions of Armenia, with rooftop solar thermal water heaters particularly successful (PV panels for electricity generation are less common). As upfront costs are prohibitive, low-cost financing solutions are critical.
Collaboration for a just, clean energy transition
In the face of steadily increasing energy prices, rising domestic energy demand and climate change, Armenia needs to tackle three interrelated challenges: boost renewable energy capacity, improve energy efficiency and increase energy security.
As regards the first, the government aims for 2 259 GWh of renewable electricity and 33 GWh of renewable heating through geothermal heat pumps and solar thermal by 2025.2 In parallel, universities and NGOs are partnering with rural communities to find ways to install renewables to enhance local energy security.
GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit /German Agency for International Cooperation) Armenia is among the organisations already piloting innovative energy projects. Recognising the importance of sustainable, local energy sources, GIZ Armenia finances affordable and environmentally friendly straw briquettes to rural communities. Produced locally with small machines, the briquettes can be used with minimal training. GIZ Armenia is also piloting a project to bring energy efficient heaters to the poorest households.
Initiatives such as the Sustainable Energy Academy at the American University of Armenia, funded by the Heinrich Boëll Foundation, has engaged rural communities to identify energy solutions most appropriate to them. Examples of projects include installation of solar thermal heaters at a bed and breakfast or energy efficient lighting in a school gym and community outreach on energy efficiency issues.
To learn more about energy in Armenia, listen to our two-part podcast series:
This blog was written by Alyssa Bougie, M.Sc. graduate from the University of Hohenheim, whose thesis focused on energy cultures in rural Armenia, with help from Alen Amirkhanian of the American University of Armenia, Prof. Dr. Claudia Bieling of University of Hohenheim, and Marilyn Smith (EnAct).
EnAct is grateful to the following agencies for financing and support for reporting on the energy story of Armenia.
