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Energy options for urban households in India
[top] [end]IntroductionIn India, nearly 400 million people (40 % of total population) live in urban areas. This article provides a broad-based understanding of urban household energy sources, their supply, scarcity and other problems associated with access to these fuels in urban areas of India.Nationally, households energy accounts for 40-45% of the total energy consumed. Within this household sector, two main activities, cooking and heating, account for 90% of energy use in rural areas and 50% in urban areas. Of the total non-biomass energy used (such as liquified petroleum gas, kerosene, electricity), 15% is used in the household sector (Rathore, 1993). Two decades ago, most households in urban areas relied on traditional fuels. Since 1980, substitution of traditional fuels by modern fuels such as liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene has gained momentum (Leach, 1987). Greater concern for the environment has led to a new national approach which aims to conserve known sources such as firewood, agricultural waste, dung, kerosene and oil, and to promote the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, bioenergy etc. [top] [end]Household energy choicesFuel sources used in the household are broadly classified as shown in Figure 1.
Energy surveys across the world have revealed that the following factors determine the type and amount of fuels used in domestic sector.
Of these factors, household income is seen to be the most important; with rising income, urban families tend to switch from traditional fuels to more efficient, convenient and cleaner modern fuels and equipment. [top] [end]FirewoodFirewood, which accounts for 60% of country's household requirement (Gusain, 1990), continues to be primary source of energy for cooking in India. Twigs and brushwood are a more important source of woodfuel than cut logs which involve felling trees.Traditional cooking stoves operate at an efficiency of less than 10%. By introducing wood-stoves with efficiencies between 20% and 30%, significant savings of energy and firewood can be achieved, leading to considerable benefit to the environment. A decline in the percentage of firewood consumption in urban areas is due to the increasing use of modern fuels. Poor and middle-income households continue to rely on firewood as the principal fuel for cooking and water heating. However, higher income households today hardly use firewood for cooking and heating. [top] [end]CharcoalCharcoal requires around 4 tonnes of wood for each tonnes of charcoal produced. Some of the energy lost during this conversion of wood to charcoal can be compensated by using efficient charcoal cooking stoves. Unlike firewood, it burns slowly and does not produce any smoke. In countries like India, with surplus labour and lots of wood waste, charcoal offers a lucrative source of additional fuel (Paul, 1985). However, it is not a major domestic fuel, contributing about 3% of the total energy consumption in urban India (Leach, 1987). Charcoal is quite popular among cottage industries. Briquettes made from charcoal have commercial value and are sold at market. In areas where they are available, some middle-income households use charcoal briquettes for cooking and water heating.[top] [end]Agricultural residuesIf wood is scarce and costly, more abundant or accessible fuels such as crop stalks, wheat and rice straw, coconut shells, maize and jowar (sorghum) cobs, jute sticks, rice husks etc. are used. Woody crop residues such as coconut shells and jute sticks make the best cooking fuel, while other crop residues such as wheat and rice straw burn quickly, making cooking a more time-consuming and tedious activity.As many as 800 million people all over the world rely on crop residues as the principal cooking fuel (Hughart, 1979). The most widespread use of agricultural residues occurs in the densely populated plains of northern India. Agricultural residues provide as much as 90% of household energy in rural areas (Barnard, 1985) but contributed to just 1.7% of total household energy consumption in urban areas. [top] [end]DungcakeCow and buffalo dung are considered the best types of dung in India. When made into cakes and dried, they light easily and burn for a long time. Attitudes towards dung as a fuel vary. Urban people who are unfamiliar with dung, regard it as dirty and smelly, as the dungcake produces smoke, especially when the fire is lit. Despite the problems, a considerable amount of dung is used in the towns, where there is a large livestock population (Barnard, 1985).In northern Indian households, it is common to find cowdung cakes being used for heating milk. Many people feel that chapatis or rotis, and some special dishes, taste better when cooked on a dung fire. Even town people who use kerosene and LPG for the rest of their cooking, prefer to make rotis on a dung fire (Gopalkrishnan, 1984). [top] [end]Coal and cokeCoal (commonly called koyla in Hindi) is widely used in industry. In some areas where there are coal mines, households use coal for cooking and water heating. Away from the coal-mining regions, people do not use coal for household energy. Of the total coal consumption in India, 7.3% is used in the household sector. With the availability of other fuels, such as kerosene and LPG, the consumption of coal and coke for cooking and heating is declining.[top] [end]KeroseneKerosene is the major alternative to biomass fuels which is used by all income groups. As kerosene is recognised as a fuel for poor people, the Indian goverment sub-sidises kerosene fuel prices and maintains good price control (Figure 2). Urban consumers find kerosene a convenient fuel for cooking and heating. An energy survey reported that, looking at India overall, kerosene accounted for 12% of the total energy and 46.6% of the non-biomass energy consumption in the household sector. In urban households it accounted for 21.2% of the total energy (NCAER, 1985) and this trend is increasing. By 2000 A.D, it is estimated that Indian households will require 17.73 million tonnes of kerosene, with a high proportion of that consumption in urban households.
[top] [end]Liquid petroleum gas (LPG)Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is clean, convenient to use and is easily transported. These factors have made it the preferred fuel among many urban households. LPG has become today a major fuel in many middle to upper-income households in urban areas. An LPG stove has good controllability; it wastes less energy than a wood stove, and produces less harmful emissions (Smith, 1994). As biomass fuels are substituted, mainly with LPG, the use of LPG in urban households is steadly increasing.Due to goverment policy, LPG cylinders are subsidised and are available at reduced prices. However, they are not easily available. Some private firms are authorised to market LPG cylinders and these are easily available, but are relatively costly. Most LPG cylinders weigh 15kg and last about a month, when used for cooking only. Some households in urban areas prefer to use kerosene for water heating and LPG for cooking. [top] [end]ElectricityElectricity is predominantly an urban energy source and its use shows a rapid increase with income. Since independence, India's electrical consumption has increased twenty-fold. Of the total produced electricity in India, 24% is used in household sector.
Table 1: Electrical energy share for different household activities
Source: Rathore et al., 1993 According to the 1994 figures, India's installed electric capacity is 87 000 MW and this is not enough to meet the total electrical energy demands in the country. Power cuts and rationing are frequently necessary during period of high demand. [top] [end]Fuel prices and affordabilityHousehold income and the price of fuel greatly influences the demand for particular types of fuel. The urban poor are the first to suffer the effects of fuel shortage and rising costs. Most poor families in urban areas rely on traditional fuels, so that the urban household energy sector is at the centre of the multiple problems of poverty, land use and biomass productivity. Some of the poorest households are forced to use very low quality fuel such as weeds and grasses. The members of poor families expend great effort, time and labour in collecting low-grade fuel.In order to help urban households, particularly poor families, special efforts are needed in improving supply and marketing of kerosene and biomass fuel alternatives. This should include the provision of low-cost and efficient kerosene stoves and small LPG systems, perhaps based on 4-6 kg cylinders. [top] [end]ConclusionsModern fuels have significantly replaced biofuels in urban areas in India. The consumption of electricity and LPG is rapidly increasing. A growing population in urban areas, the escalating cost of petroleum-based products, the limitations on distribution of non-biomass energy sources and the lack of purchasing power among the vast majority of people make it unlikely that the urban household situation will improve substantially in the near future.Consumers are now entering into a new phase of fuel scarcity, where the struggle is not to find wood, but to obtain enough dung, straw and crop residues to cook their food. No single fuel can meet the growing demands of the urban household energy sector and urban consumers will continue to use almost all kinds of energy ranging from traditional biomass fuels to modern fuels such as LPG and electricity. The urban poor are continuously deterred by the high cost of modern fuels and equipment from using them. On the basis of household income, policies should be formulated to improve access to kerosene and LPG. The urban household energy problem is a multi-dimensional one which needs to be tackled through an integrated approach, focusing on increasing various sources of energy, developing low-cost energy options, and efficient use of fuels. [top] [end]References
[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 41: Household energy: the urban dimension
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01 August 2007; Last edited:
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