Why kerosene isn’t widely used anymore — and where it still is

Kerosene has largely disappeared from everyday household use in many countries because cleaner, safer, and cheaper alternatives—like electricity, natural gas, LPG, and heat pumps—became widely available; it also faces health, fire-safety, and environmental concerns and tighter regulations. But it hasn’t vanished: kerosene remains the backbone of jet fuel, powers some space launch vehicles, heats homes in certain regions, and is still used for cooking and lighting where modern energy access is limited.

What changed: from household staple to niche fuel

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, kerosene was a lighting and heating mainstay. Electrification displaced kerosene lamps, while natural gas, heating oil, propane, and, more recently, efficient electric heat pumps replaced kerosene heaters and stoves in many places. As infrastructure expanded and policy prioritized cleaner energy, kerosene’s role in homes shrank to backup or off-grid contexts.

Main reasons for the decline in everyday use

The factors below explain why kerosene fell out of mainstream household use, especially in higher-income countries and urban areas.

• Safety and fire risk: Portable kerosene heaters and lamps involve open flames or hot surfaces, increasing the risk of burns, house fires, and carbon monoxide incidents. Many landlords, insurers, and building codes restrict or discourage their use.
• Indoor air pollution: Kerosene combustion can emit fine particles (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and carbon monoxide. Wick lamps and simple stoves are particularly sooty, contributing to respiratory and cardiovascular risks. Public health guidance increasingly advises against indoor kerosene use for cooking or lighting.
• Cleaner, cheaper alternatives: LEDs eliminated any rationale for kerosene lighting. For heat and cooking, natural gas, LPG, and especially high-efficiency electric heat pumps have become more economical and convenient in many markets. Users also prefer the lack of odor, soot, and maintenance.
• Infrastructure and convenience: Piped gas, reliable grids, and widespread appliance availability made kerosene unnecessary for most households. Avoiding fuel storage and handling is a strong convenience and safety advantage.
• Regulations and policy: Emissions standards, energy-efficiency rules, and removal of consumer kerosene subsidies in several countries accelerated the switch to other fuels. Some jurisdictions restrict portable kerosene heaters in multiunit housing or public buildings.
• Climate concerns: As a petroleum product, kerosene produces CO2 and, in low-grade devices, black carbon. Climate policy and corporate decarbonization targets favor electrification and lower-carbon fuels.

Taken together, these safety, health, economic, and policy trends steadily pushed kerosene out of routine household roles, even as it remained important in specialized sectors.

Where kerosene is still used

Despite its household decline, kerosene continues to play critical roles in transportation, industry, and specific regional markets.

• Aviation: Modern jet fuel (Jet A/Jet A-1) is a kerosene-range distillate and remains the global standard. “Sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF) is designed as a drop-in replacement for kerosene-based jet fuel; mandates such as the EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation start blending SAF from 2025 and ramp up over time, but conventional kerosene remains dominant today.
• Space launch: RP-1 (a refined kerosene) is used with liquid oxygen in several active rockets, including SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Rocket Lab’s Electron, and in long-running families like Soyuz. Newer launchers are trending toward methane or hydrogen, but kerosene vehicles are still flying.
• Heating: In Japan, efficient sealed-combustion kerosene space heaters are common in winter. In the UK and parts of Ireland, “paraffin/28-second oil” (kerosene) is widely used in off-grid boilers. In North America and Scandinavia, kerosene is used for some space heaters, winter diesel blending, and emergency or off-grid heat.
• Cooking and lighting in low-income settings: Where electricity or LPG access is limited, kerosene is still used, though adoption of LPG and solar lighting has cut demand sharply in many countries over the past decade.
• Industrial and specialty uses: Kerosene serves as a solvent/degreaser, in metalworking, for testing and maintenance of turbine engines, and in certain camping heaters and lamps.

In short, kerosene persists where its energy density, established equipment, or existing supply chains still make it practical—especially in aviation—while household use continues to fade.

Regional nuances

Patterns of kerosene use vary by country, shaped by infrastructure, climate, policy, and consumer preference.

• United States and Canada: K-1 kerosene is available but niche, used for portable heaters, Amish households, emergency backup, and winter fuel blending. Most homes rely on electricity, natural gas, propane, or #2 heating oil; codes in some jurisdictions limit kerosene heaters indoors.
• Europe: Aviation uses kerosene widely; off-grid homes in the UK and Ireland often heat with kerosene-fired boilers. EU policy is pushing heat pumps and phasing down new fossil-fuel boilers, which is expected to reduce kerosene heating over time.
• Japan: Portable and built-in kerosene space heaters are common and culturally accepted, with efficient, flued designs. Nonetheless, high-performance heat pumps are spreading as electricity decarbonizes.
• India: Government programs expanded LPG connections and reduced kerosene subsidies, shrinking kerosene’s role in lighting and cooking as rural electrification advanced. Some fishing, lighting, or remote uses persist.
• Africa: Cheap solar LEDs have rapidly displaced kerosene lamps in many communities, and LPG access is improving, though kerosene remains in use where alternatives are scarce or costly.

The trajectory is broadly toward electrification and LPG where feasible, with kerosene receding fastest in urban and higher-income markets and lingering longest where infrastructure gaps remain.

Is kerosene being “phased out”?

There is no global ban, but policy and markets are steadily curbing household kerosene use. Building codes, health guidance, and appliance efficiency standards favor electricity and gas. In aviation, regulations are accelerating SAF blends (for example, EU mandates begin in 2025 and scale up), but those fuels are still kerosene-like in performance and typically compatible with existing engines. In rocketry, kerosene engines remain in service while new vehicles pivot toward methane for performance and reusability. The overall outlook: continued decline in domestic kerosene use, with long-term reductions in fossil-derived kerosene where decarbonization policies expand.

What replaces it?

As kerosene retreats from everyday roles, these technologies and fuels are taking its place.

• Lighting: LEDs on reliable grids and low-cost solar home systems for off-grid households.
• Space heating: Electric heat pumps (air-source and ground-source), electric resistance backup, natural gas or LPG where available, and district heating.
• Cooking: LPG and piped natural gas in many regions; electricity (including induction) and, in niche programs, biogas or ethanol.
• Aviation: Growing use of drop-in SAF made from waste oils, biomass, or power-to-liquids; over the longer term, hydrogen or hybrid-electric solutions are being explored for specific segments.

Because these replacements are cleaner, often cheaper over their lifetimes, and easier to regulate, they are steadily eroding kerosene’s household footprint while preserving performance where it still matters, such as aviation.

Summary

Kerosene isn’t “unused”—it remains essential for aviation and persists in specific heating, industrial, and off-grid roles. But in everyday household use it has declined sharply because safer, cleaner, and more convenient options became widespread, while policy and health evidence moved against indoor kerosene combustion. The longer-term trend points to further household decline, expanding electrification, and, in aviation, a gradual shift toward lower-carbon kerosene substitutes like sustainable aviation fuel.

Is kerosene being phased out in the US?

It is beginning to happen but needs to be accelerated. This decade is almost certain to witness the full phasing out of kerosene as fuel used for space heating. It does not follow that there is not an important role for a low carbon liquid fuel, such as HVO, to replace it.

Why don’t we use kerosene?

The use of kerosene instead of diesel fuel may lead to higher emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter. This can harm the environment, especially in urban areas where air quality is already a concern.

Do people still use kerosine?

Kerosene is often advocated as a cleaner alternative to solid fuels, biomass and coal, for cooking, and kerosene lamps are frequently used when electricity is unavailable. Globally, an estimated 500 million households still use fuels, particularly kerosene, for lighting.

Why did they stop using kerosene?

Electric lighting started displacing kerosene as an illuminant in the late 19th century, especially in urban areas. However, kerosene remained the predominant commercial end-use for petroleum refined in the United States until 1909, when it was exceeded by motor fuels.