Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India

Between 2016 and 2019, there has been an improvement in the percentage of rural households using clean cooking energy, partly owing to government interventions. However, unclean solid fuels are still the primary source of energy for cooking purposes for about 60% of rural households. One of the for...

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Main Author: Krittika Roy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nandan Nawn 2023-10-01
Series:Ecology, Economy and Society – The INSEE Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ecoinsee.org/journal/ojs/index.php/ees/article/view/998
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author Krittika Roy
author_facet Krittika Roy
author_sort Krittika Roy
collection DOAJ
description Between 2016 and 2019, there has been an improvement in the percentage of rural households using clean cooking energy, partly owing to government interventions. However, unclean solid fuels are still the primary source of energy for cooking purposes for about 60% of rural households. One of the foremost reasons for this is the cost of acquiring and using clean energy sources. This paper estimates the cost incurred by a household when switching from solid fuels to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity for cooking, followed by a social cost–benefit analysis of two interventions: universal provision of LPG to all rural households and universal provision of electricity to all rural households. The findings suggest that electricity is a cheaper alternative to LPG at the household level; however, investing in the universal provision of LPG is socially beneficial for the government. Universal provision of electricity for cooking can only become socially beneficial if the proportion of renewable electricity increases, reducing the environmental costs of carbon emissions from coal-based power plants. Keywords: LPG, electricity, cost, benefit, social, energy
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spelling doaj.art-5128cad9da714f4382135342a346dcb82023-10-10T15:11:52ZengNandan NawnEcology, Economy and Society – The INSEE Journal2581-61522581-61012023-10-017110.37773/ees.v7i1.998Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of IndiaKrittika Roy0Senior Research Fellow, Indian Statistical Institute Between 2016 and 2019, there has been an improvement in the percentage of rural households using clean cooking energy, partly owing to government interventions. However, unclean solid fuels are still the primary source of energy for cooking purposes for about 60% of rural households. One of the foremost reasons for this is the cost of acquiring and using clean energy sources. This paper estimates the cost incurred by a household when switching from solid fuels to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity for cooking, followed by a social cost–benefit analysis of two interventions: universal provision of LPG to all rural households and universal provision of electricity to all rural households. The findings suggest that electricity is a cheaper alternative to LPG at the household level; however, investing in the universal provision of LPG is socially beneficial for the government. Universal provision of electricity for cooking can only become socially beneficial if the proportion of renewable electricity increases, reducing the environmental costs of carbon emissions from coal-based power plants. Keywords: LPG, electricity, cost, benefit, social, energy https://ecoinsee.org/journal/ojs/index.php/ees/article/view/998LPGElectricityCost-Benefit AnalysisEnergyPolicySocial
spellingShingle Krittika Roy
Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India
Ecology, Economy and Society – The INSEE Journal
LPG
Electricity
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Energy
Policy
Social
title Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India
title_full Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India
title_fullStr Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India
title_full_unstemmed Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India
title_short Cooking with Modern Energy in Rural Households of India
title_sort cooking with modern energy in rural households of india
topic LPG
Electricity
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Energy
Policy
Social
url https://ecoinsee.org/journal/ojs/index.php/ees/article/view/998
work_keys_str_mv AT krittikaroy cookingwithmodernenergyinruralhouseholdsofindia