Old Solutions to the lack of LPG
2026-04-06
2026-04-06
Recently, the war in the middle east induced in India a shortage of cooking gas. Therefore, alternative cooking fuels such as biomass, wood are in demand again. Isn't this bad for the environment?
The same concern in the 80s led to the creation of a national program for improving the efficiency of biofuel based cooking stoves. National Programme on Improved Chulas (NPIC). I recently came across this piece of history and what follows is my take on it.
In true soviet style governance, the Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources (now Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) poured many crores of rupees and 5-year plans into the program. The aim was to improve the efficiency of Chulas or traditional wood stoves.
Many designs were researched by leading institutes in the country to develop wood fire stoves that burned more efficiently and reduced smoke emissions. In retrospect, the concerns and the solutions raised seem comical. First, reducing the amount of wood used to prevent deforestation. The concern while seemingly valid was later acknowledged to be a non-issue. Second, helping women reduce the amount of time spent in collecting firewood. There were some modest gains but nothing transformative.
Overall, millions adopted the new stoves. Local manufacturers probably made some money. However, barring a few small pockets of the country, the improved wood stoves just didn't catch on. Maintenance was dismal. Here is a compilation of the different designs that people spent many months researching and improving. FAO Report on Improved Chulas
Post liberalization, LPG stoves were adopted almost automatically. Part of it is due to increased supply from deregulation. Prices dropped and wait times reduced. The number of households that use LPG has steadily increased to an official estimate of '99%' of households. More realistically, about '56%' of households use LPG ('88%'' urban and '42%' rural). LPG usage truly was tranformative. It drastically reduced the amount of time women spent collecting firewood and improved fuel efficiency.
To complete the circle, there is now a new program for improving efficiency of bio and wood fueled stoves under the new ministry. The Unnat Chula Abhiyan Thankfully, along with it, the government has pushed more realistic initiatives to successfully improve LPG coverage, look into solar powered solutions, and help communities build biogas plants. Who knows, this might seem comical in a few decades given how most of the developed world relies on electricity for cooking.