Energy

ENERGY sector operations have been recognised as contributing to poverty reduction through their support to economic growth through the trickle down effect.

Energy consumption in various sectors can have an impact on poverty in different ways. Projects that provide access to modern forms of energy, increase its reliability, and/or improve its affordability can result in poverty alleviation at a micro level.

In the case of households, uses of energy include:

cooking,
lighting?,
water heating,
space conditioning etc.

Providing poor households with access to superior energy sources like electricity? or LPG to replace traditional fuels such as fuel-wood, cow dung and agricultural residue? for cooking/lighting?/heating has important economic and social benefits.

The combustion of traditional fuels is associated with high levels of indoor air pollution and consequent health effects.

In fact, nearly 10 per cent of premature deaths among women and children have been attributed to the use of biomass fuels. If these households were to gain access to alternative cooking fuels, health hazards could be considerably reduced. But for this awareness regarding health hazards associated with unprocessed biomass fuel needs to be created. Only then will the poor families in the rural areas agree to shift towards cleaner and superior sources of energy.

People, mainly women and children, would also be spared from the drudgery and discomfort in collecting firewood?, leaving more time for productive activities such as education, craft, etc., as additional sources of income, and spending time with the family.

In the industrial sector, too, provision of energy in an energy deficit area can promote industrial growth by encouraging new industries or enhanced capacity utilisation in existing industries.

India, realizing the potential of superior energy services had attempted to promote the use of LPG and kerosene by providing these fuels at subsidised rates.But this has not been a success for various reasons mainly the poor supply chain of LPG and the cost of kerosene even at the subsidized rate is not very attractive proposition to the rural population because biomass fuels are available free of cost.

Biomass fuels are the dominant cooking fuel in 90 per cent of rural households and 30 per cent of urban households in India.

Essentially, if energy sector reforms were to make a impact on the quality of life of the poor , such households must be unambiguously targeted.

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User:Dr Karabi Dutta 12 February 2004

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Page created: 12 February 2004; Last edited: 21 April 2004; Version: 1
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Energy

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