Photo: SEI

Household energy

Around 2.4 billion people use biomass fuels - wood, charcoal and animal dung - for their domestic energy needs. These are typically burned in inefficient stoves or on open fires, with serious consequences for health and the environment. SEI identifies and designs actions to help households transition to cleaner technologies and energy sources.

A network of multi-coloured gas pipes and black barrels in an open dirt clearing, with trees in the background.

Methane action for people and planet from discovery to solution: the Angera Declaration, what are the implications for Africa?

Journal article / The authors present an African perspective on the Angera Declaration: a methane action statement signed by over 150 scientists around the world.

10 July 2026 / About Cities, Food and agriculture, Household energy, Pollution, Short lived climate pollutants and Transport

Indoor air quality

Collection / Explore SEI's research on indoor air quality, its impacts on health and wellbeing, and how tackling air pollution is a win for both climate and human health.

About Adaptation, Household energy, Pollution, Public policy and Wellbeing

Cooking fuels and household air pollution in resource-constrained urban environments: a field assessment

Journal article / Household cooking contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and short-lived climate pollutants, especially where charcoal, kerosene are widely used.

11 February 2026 / About Household energy, Pollution and Short lived climate pollutants

Local leadership is the key missing ingredient in the UK’s retrofit revolution

Perspective / The UK should shift from national, top-down retrofit schemes to locally led delivery, explains SEI’s Luke Gooding in an Inside Housing op-ed.

4 February 2026 / About Household energy and Wellbeing

In South Africa, two Shangaan women cook around a fire.

Impacts of improved cookstove interventions on personal exposure to carbon monoxide and particulate matter in Zambia

Journal article / This journal article explores the effects of different cooking fuels, stoves and greater environment on users' air pollution exposure.

21 September 2025 / About Energy access, Household energy, Pollution and Short lived climate pollutants

Inclusive Citizen Science: the story of our research group

Feature / Learn how our group has evolved over 18 years to focus on improving best practice in citizen science and inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability.

27 March 2026 / About Ecosystems, Household energy, Participation, Pollution and Wellbeing

Grid access and electricity for refugees

Other publication / In a Q&A with the journal Nature Energy, Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen outlines key issues affecting electricity access for the world's growing refugee population.

6 May 2026 / About Energy access and Household energy

Rooftop solar PV – a promising solution for the energy crisis in Thailand

Perspective / The war in Iran and ensuing energy crisis has exposed the vulnerability of Thailand’s energy system – how does solar rooftop PV offer an opportunity?

28 May 2026 / About Fossil fuels, Household energy, Mitigation and Renewables

Traditional way of making food on open fire in old Indian kitchen in a village

Powering health with energy in low-income and middle-income countries

Journal article / Access to clean, reliable energy is a cornerstone of public health, yet energy poverty continues to undermine health and equity in many lower income countries.

25 March 2026 / About Fossil fuels, Household energy, Pollution, Short lived climate pollutants and Wellbeing

Underconsumption in the Anthropocene? Past, present and future of energy poverty in Sweden

Project / This project traces how experiences of energy poverty in Sweden have changed since the 1950s to inform more critical, sufficiency-oriented energy policymaking.

2026 - 2029 / About Energy access, Household energy, Sustainable lifestyles and Wellbeing

SEI as an antenna organization for the EU Commission’s Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH)

Project / SEI serves as Sweden’s antenna to EPAH, linking local communities and national expertise to EU energy poverty policy.

2025 - 2028 / About Energy access, Household energy and Wellbeing

FAO’s 1.5°C roadmap for food systems falls short

Journal article / A Comment in Nature Food details the shortfalls in the FAO's food systems roadmap to eliminate hunger without breaching the 1.5°C climate change threshold.

18 March 2024 / About Climate policy and Household energy

A woman bends to tend a metal pot on a metal cooking stove, with bright orange headkerchief and pink dress under a paisley blue-and-white shawl.

The adoption of renewable energy is transforming women’s lives in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands

Perspective / By reducing cooking time and fuel collection burdens, energy-efficient wood-burning stoves and biogas have empowered women.

13 November 2024 / About Household energy, Pollution and Sustainable lifestyles

The quiet triumph of COP28: clean cooking

Feature / We speak with SEI US clean cooking expert Rob Bailis on how COP28 delivered for an issue that affects climate and development alike.

7 February 2024 / About Energy access, Finance, Forests, Household energy, Pollution, Short lived climate pollutants and Wellbeing

Applying a data-driven gender lens to air pollution policies in the ASEAN region

SEI report / Policymakers should consider socio-economic and sociopolitical dimensions that mediate air pollution impacts, such as gender and how it intersects with factors.

26 May 2023 / About Behaviour and choice, Household energy and Pollution

Q&A: Bridging gender and just energy transitions

Feature / Gain insight into the gendered impacts of energy transitions and how to address them in this Q&A with SEI Research Associate Laura Del Duca.

18 April 2023 / About Climate policy, Energy access, Fossil fuels, Household energy, Mitigation, Participation and Renewables

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Glowing pendant light bulbs hanging in front of a softly blurred green background.

Home Upgrade Champions event in York

Event on 14 July in York / Find out how York and North Yorkshire residents can become Home Upgrade Champions and support local conversations about home energy upgrades.

19:00 BST