Reply affidavit filed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the matter of Debadityo Sinha & Others Vs Union of India & Others. An application filed before the NGT said that illegal construction activities and clearing the vegetation and forest using massive earthwork and levelling the land …
The World Bioenergy Association (WBA) is pleased to announce the release of the factsheet ‘clean and efficient bioenergy cookstoves’- the tenth in the series of publications. Globally, more than 3 billion people rely on traditional use of biomass for cooking and inefficient use of fuel is leading to over 4 …
Under-five mortality is declining in Ghana and many other countries. Very few studies have measured under-five mortality—and its social and environmental risk factors—at fine spatial resolutions, which is relevant for policy purposes. Our aim was to estimate under-five mortality and its social and environmental risk factors at the district level …
This report released by the International Energy Agency says air pollution has become a major public health crisis leading to around 6.5 million deaths each year, with “many of its root causes and cures” found in the energy industry. Around 6.5 million premature deaths each year can be attributed to …
Biomass cooking fuels are commonly used by Indian households especially the poorest. Cataract is highly prevalent in India and the major cause of vision loss. The evidence on biomass fuels and cataract is limited. The objective is to examine the association of biomass cooking fuels with cataract and type of …
India has the largest concentration of population using biomass with inefficient stoves. About 840 million in India fully or partially rely on traditional biomass for cooking. In India, cooking is mainly carried out by women, and they play an important role in managing domestic energy needs. When modern fuels such …
Kerosene in India is primarily available as a subsidized commodity for household use, and was added to the basket of Public Distribution System (PDS) commodities during the 2nd Five Year Plan (FYP). Kerosene has been continued as a subsidised fuel to provide affordable cooking and illumination (lighting) to households for …
This study assesses and compares the benefits of electricity service to households and small enterprises from microgrids, solar home systems (SHS), and the national grid in select rural communities in India and Nepal. Electricity access, in general, leads to reduced kerosene use, more time spent by women on income-generation, and …
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, to provide concessional LPG connections, is a step in the right direction but much more needs to be done by 2019 and beyond to ensure homes in India cook using modern fuels. This article explores the issues of providing connections, subsidy provisioning and ensuring sustained …
Household air pollution is the single most important environmental health risk worldwide, and women and children are at particularly high risk from exposure. This global report provides new data on the still-pervasive use of polluting fuels for home cooking, lighting and heating, as well as an in-depth look at the …
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) says despite more than a decade of work to reduce domestic air pollution sources, progress toward universal access to clean cooking fuels remains far too slow. Almost 3.1 billion people still rely on polluting, inefficient energy systems such as biomass, coal …
This working paper explores how doing energy planning at the county level could better engage citizens in decision-making, and thus help ensure that end-user needs are well understood and addressed. In 2010, Kenya established a devolved government system that, among other things, allocates responsibility for energy planning to the county …
This briefing note synthesizes the latest evidence on the impacts of traditional biomass cooking and discusses options for addressing these challenges, with recommendations for policy-makers in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya, 76% of the population relies on traditional biomass for cooking, with serious implications for public health (including …
Bioenergy is a major source of energy in developing countries. However, increasing demand for agricultural commodities can lead to a stronger competition for natural resources with the bioenergy production. The nexus among energy, food production and natural resource use may result in trade-offs and synergies. Accordingly, it is important to …
The National Mission for a Green India proposal, released under the aegis of the National Action Plan on Climate Change, is a significant attempt to integrate the mechanism of ecosystem services in the overall framework of forest conservation in India. It suggests a series of strategies for improving the quality …
A new scenario analysis demonstrates that a very aggressive residential building energy efficiency policy and market driven scenario in India can substantially reduce future energy demand in the sector. Following a business-as-usual scenario it is estimated that consumption from the residential building sector could rise up to 8 times. The …
he health effects of cooking with biomass and coal are now well-recognised. Although more people use LPG, the number of those using biomass and coal has remained static for nearly 30 years. While LPG subsidies have played an important role in expanding access to this cooking fuel, directing the subsidies …
A new report co-written by the International Energy Agency (IEA) describes the state of energy performance in buildings and highlights how an energy efficient, low-carbon pathway can save more than 50 exajoules of energy annually around the world. That savings is equivalent to the current combined building energy use of …
Debates on emissions and climate change are dominated by inter-country inequalities, usually ignoring within-country inequalities. In this paper, we address the question of carbon space sharing in India across different classes after economic reforms were introduced in 1991. We establish using household consumption surveys that the elites in India are …
This paper presents an overview of current household energy trends in Africa, and the reasons why access to modern cooking facilities remains so low. It then presents the latest evidence on the health, environmental and socio-economic impacts of traditional biomass use in sub-Saharan Africa, with a dedicated section on the …
Although Africa has enormous energy resources, more than half of the continent’s population do not have any access to electricity and generation is often unable to meet the demand of those who do. Growth and poverty reduction will be constrained if this deficit continues. The purpose of this paper is …
