Fascinating article on the Ujjwala campaign in India by Mr Alok Tripathi, Executive Director (Freight Marketing), Railway Board, India

LPG Growth in India: A revolution towards clean cooking energy access
Alok Tripathi, Executive Director (Freight Marketing), Railway Board, India

Based on the most recent census data from 2011, it was found that approximately 28.5% of households relied on LPG as their primary cooking fuel source [1]. The census also revealed that a significant segment of the population, particularly those in rural areas and of lower economic status, continued to depend on solid fuels such as wood, crop residues, cow dung, or coal for their cooking needs. The use of these polluting fuels contributes to household air pollution (HAP), which is a significant risk factor for chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular issues, diarrheal diseases, and other infections in the country. A traditional chulha, which is an open fire cook stove commonly used in India and fuelled by solid biomass, emits smoke equivalent to the harm caused by about 400 cigarettes per hour [2]. This smoke contains many hazardous substances such as particulates matter (PM), black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxides, sulphur oxides (more with coal), formaldehyde, and polycyclic organic carcinogens like benzo[a]pyrene [3]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 3.2 million people worldwide died prematurely in 2020 due to illnesses attributed to the smoke generated from the burning of solid biomass for cooking [4]. Recognizing the severity of this issue, the Government of India implemented a comprehensive longterm strategy to promote the adoption of LPG, particularly among underprivileged sections of society. The action plan of the government of India has several lessons for the international community to achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) of universal energy access. The article aims to elaborates some of these in the following paras. The article is structured as follows. We begin with describing the LPG initiatives, that were implemented by the government. The next section discusses, in brief the impact of the said initiatives. Next section evaluates the effectiveness of these initiatives in expanding the LPG coverage across the country, particularly among the deprived section of the society. The last section concludes with the lessons that may be implemented by various countries to expand the clean energy coverage.

Read full article including references here.