The Asian Regional Energy Initiative of the IEI

Clean cooking fuels

Internationally, the IEI is keen on developing strategies and policies for creating universal access to clean cooking fuels and electricity. At the Asian REI, we have been considering the requirements for and barriers to increased supply of LPG for cooking in the rural and semi-urban areas of India. There are other important alternatives to traditional cooking fuels in the form of modernised biomass-fuels; however, the use of LPG has been considered as a short/medium term option, i.e. a transition fuel (or a complement) to bio-based fuels.

The LPG study has necessitated estimates of the possible increase in demand and an appropriate supply network. Attempts have been made to address the problems regarding increased LPG use in rural and semi-urban areas, particularly with regard to accessibility and availability -- the supply, storage and distribution network. The experiences with the expansion of LPG use in other countries and with LPG/other cooking fuel programmes in India are also being used to derive factors that would either help or inhibit the successful implementation of LPG use programmes. For the report [Click here].