Firewood Electrification in Chile : Effects on Household Expenditure and Energy Poverty

The use of firewood for heating is massively extended in the south of Chile, producing levels of particulate matter, above international and national standards, that are harmful for human health. To face this problem, one replacement alternative, that also minimizes the use of fossil fuels, is the firewood electrification. That means, supplying the same heat requirements through electricity, taking advantage of the large adoption of renewable energy in Chile. However, since electricity is much more expensive than firewood, this solution may have significant costs. To determine those costs, heating consumption profiles were constructed for different thermal zones and socioeconomic level in the south of Chile (56% of the territory and 33% of the population). These profiles were transformed into electricity profiles, considering temperature vectors and efficiency curves of real heat pumps. Finally, based on residential tariffs, the additional household expenditure and the energy poverty levels were determined.The results show that, if firewood is electrified, at least 1.1 million households (around 3.3 million people) would spend more than 10% of their monthly income to satisfy their energy requirements during at least six months of the year, reaching worrisome values between 20% and 57% during winter for the most vulnerable homes