Fire woods - India

The total fire wood consumption in 1970 was 2345 Petajoules By 1990; the figure reached 3210 Petajoules and is projected to reach 5722 Petajoules in 2010.8 The opportunity and health cost of collecting and using fire wood as fuel has been estimated to be $6.64 billion using a wage rate(in 2004-05) of $1.33 per day 9, the actual opportunity cost of collecting fire wood could be less due to the presence of large number of disguised unemployed persons. - Dipankar Dey, PhD, Associate Dean (Research)www.ibsindia.org

A Traditional Stove 

Energy conservation for the future needs 

GHGs in India

India is also the home to more than 250 million people living on less than US$1 per day and about 550 million people without access to electricity. India occupies 2.4% of the world’s geographical area, supports nearly 17% of its population, and emits less than 5% (4.4% in 1998) of GHG emissions (Table 3.1). GHG emissions per capita in India are thus very low (a fifth of the world average), around 1.3 tons CO2 equivalent as against 20-30 tons in developed countries. Despite such low per capita emissions, India ranks fifth in total emissions after the USA, China, Russia and Japan.

RURAL ENERGY

The basic facts about energy

The United Nations estimates that 2 billion people a day are still cooking with open fires

Respiratory disease is the fifth-leading cause of death in the developing world, and 1.6 million people per year die from breathing wood smoke


Rural Energy in India Scenario

Biomass (firewood, agriculture residue and dried dung) as the primary fuel for cooking in 86% of the rural households (approx. 700 million pop.)

Lack of access to commercial energy
Only 43% of the rural households have access to electricity.
Use of LPG and Kerosene for cooking restricted due to low availability and low purchasing power.

Increase in Crude Oil Prize

“The oil price will increase from 60 to 250 US Dollar per Barrel”
Matthew R. Simmons, Investmentbanker, Housten/Texas Züricher Tageszeitung, 23.07.2005

Oil expert Matthew Simmons is chief of an investmentbank in Houston/Texas. The bank has organised oil business in a volume of 63 billion US Dollar. Simmons is member of the energy task force of Vice president Dick Cheney. Simmons predicts in his new book “Twilight in the Desert: The coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy” that the oil price will be four times higher then now.