Future of clean energy for cooking in India: A comprehensive analysis of fuel alternatives

Household air pollution, primarily from solid fuels, globally caused 3.2 million premature deaths in 2020. India houses more than a quarter of global solid fuel users, and transitioning them to cleaner fuels offers an opportunity for global environmental and socio-economic impacts and addressing multiple sustainable development goals. This study compares cooking fuels from the perspective of health, environmental impacts, cost, supply-demand dynamics, and relevant policies. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and piped natural gas (PNG) are being aggressively promoted as cleaner fuel alternatives. However, their sustained use, high reliance on imports, volatile prices, and environmental impacts remain a concern. Moreover, LPG and PNG might not be clean enough as NO_x and ultrafine particle emissions have been associated with adverse health impacts. Replacing current solid fuels with LPG will annually add about 91 million metric tons of CO₂ (just from combustion), translating to an increase of about 3.5 % of the country's CO₂ emissions. Direct and indirect imports constituted 96.5 % of the total LPG consumption in 2021-22, and the same has remained above 90 % for the last decade. Furthermore, the current subsidy-based policy promoting LPG adoption doubled the active user base in just seven years. However, annual LPG consumption has steadily declined from ∼110 kg to ∼85 kg per user over the same period, indicating non-sustained adoption. Unlike developed countries, electricity for cooking has not gained popularity in India, even though it has the potential to address the shortcomings of LPG and PNG. Decentralization and integration of renewables in the power generation sector can provide energy with lower carbon intensity, lesser reliance on imports, and relatively stable prices. The cooking energy portfolio of India will be a mixed bag, but more comprehensive forward-looking policies are needed to optimize its composition.