Domestic energy consumption in India (Pondicherry region)

Energy Vol. 5. pp. 1213-1222 8 Pergamon Press Ltd 1980. Printed

03605442/llO/I in Great

DOMESTIC

201-1213102.00/0

Britain

ENERGY CONSUMPTION (PONDICHERRY REGION)

IN INDIA

C. L. GWTA and K. USHA RAO Tata Energy Research Institute (Field Unit), Pondicherry, India

and V. A. VASUDEVARAJU Department of Planning and Research, Government of Pondicherry, India (Received 9 October 1979) Abstract-Surveys have been conducted in 200 households in and around Pondicherry, in 45 households of each of two rural and two semi-urban areas, and in 20 households in an urban area. The families surveyed cover the Economically Weaker Section, the Low Income Group, the Middle Income Group, and the High Income Group; there were 60 families in each of the first three categories in rural and semi-urban areas and 20 of the fourth category in the urban area. The objective of this empirical study was to determine the daily household energy consumption for cooking, lighting, heating water, and for household electrical appliances. The average energy content of the commercial and non-commercial fuels used for cooking, heating water and lighting has been determined on a per capita daily basis. The seasonal and hourly variations have also been determined for cooking and lighting loads. The baseline data, which give the caloric values and costs for various kinds of fuels are presented in the Appendix. This survey contains previously unavailable data on village level domestic energy needs. their magnitudes and diurnal profiles.

1. INTRODUCTION

Even though the oil crisis of 1973 had the same fiscal implications for industrialized and developing countries because of a five-fold increase in the price of imported oil, the long-term implications are completely different for the developing countries. Decentralized energy production and on-site consumption in widely dispersed rural communities, with minimal access to transportation and utility networks, have now become alternatives worthy of serious consideration even in economic terms. The real problem is to find a mix of systems which have short-range prospects for development, lend themselves to modular growth in time, and can truly fulfil local needs. In spite of urban migration and the growth of centralized industry, rural development entails increases in per capita rural energy consumption with time and thus creates energy demands in the rural sector. As has been estimated by Parikh’ and by Desai,* the domestic energy consumption in rural areas, with both commercial and non-commercial fuels in use, accounted for 80% of the country’s domestic energy consumption from 1963 to 1973. Also, domestic energy consumption itself is SO-56% of the total energy consumption on a national basis and nearly 90% on a rural basis.3 It seemed, therefore, desirable to organize a micro-level survey on domestic energy consumption in rural areas to tid out what the actual local needs are. The following were the objectives of this survey: (a) The energy needed should be available for every end-point use, along with applicable family data. (b) The data should be collected according to income classes so that, by knowing the mix of the population in any village or semi-urban community of broadly the same complexion, the total energy requirements can be estimated for any community in the same region. (c) The seasonal and hourly power demand profiles are to be recorded so that it is possible to choose the right energy-system options in terms of matching ambient resource profiles to the demands profile. Most studies done so far, (Revelle,4 Brown,5 Desai,6 Nyoike’ and Dunkerley*) record only bulk variations from year-to-year for different sectors and fuels. These may be sufficient for impact analysis and policy formulation studies but lack details for matching of systems or devising the optimum mix of various alternative 1213

1214

c.

L. GUPTA

et d.

Domestic energy consumption in India

1215

energy options among themselves and with the conventional energy systems. An attempt has been made in this paper to fill this gap, at least for regions similar to Pondicherry. 2. DATA-COLLECTION

METHODOLOGY

Selection of villages and houses Two villages and two semi-urban areas were taken up around Pondicherry for the survey. Two hundred households were interviewed, 45 in each of the four areas. These were selected in a random fashion but cart was taken that 15 houses fell into each of the income groups (Economically Weaker, Low Income, and Middle Income Groups). Twenty houses in the High Income Group were located in the urban area. For each of these classes, the average family size, average monthly income, and expenditures are given in Table 1. Divisions in the questionnaire The Questionnaire was split into five parts. Part I gives the family data, including the number of working members and the average income of the family; part II contains details about cooking: the period of cooking and the time along with variations in the seasons, categories of fuels, types of oven used, and the money spent on these; part III shows the quantity of hot water used, the time of use during each season, and the amounts and costs of the fuel consumed; part IV lists the energy used for lighting, as well as the energy sources used and the amounts spent, including variations for summer and winter and also the period of their use; part V shows the electrical appliances used and the power consumption with seasonal variations. Method of interviews

The interviewing team consisted of two investigators, one of whom was engaged in an informal discussion for nearly two hours with household members, while the other took careful notes. Since the families did not like to disclose their food habits and other data directly, the questions had to be worded in an informal way to get reasonably reliable answers. Suggestions were also invited regarding the fuels used, their prices, inconveniences faced in using existing ovens, etc. To verify the data, fuel expenses were divided by market prices to find whether these corresponded to the quantities of fuels used. This was possible for commercial fuels and even for firewood in semi-urban areas.

3. DATA

ANALYSIS

The domestic energy consumption data were analyzed separately for rural and semiurban areas for the three economic classes. Using these data as norms, data profiles for a typical village community and for the semi-urban community were composed from a knowledge of population mix by income classes. All data were converted into kwh (thermal or electrical) for total domestic energy consumption and no distinction was made between these two energy sources. However, figures have been compiled for cooking, lighting and domestic electrical appliances by fuel category. Firewood, cowdung and agricultural wastes have been treated as non-commercial fuels; kerosene oil, lignite, charcoal, butane gas, and electricity as commercial fuels. For lighting, most of the rural communities use kerosene oil, irrespective of their economic status, whereas semi-urban communities use electricity. Electrical appliances have been identified in terms of electrical use for fans, electrical irons for pressing clothes, radios, and for thermal purposes (such as heating water). The data have been assembled into the following nine categories: (1) percentage distribution of energy for communities; (2) total energy consumed per day pJ r capita (by amounts); (3) total energy consumed per day per capita (by percentage); (4) energy consumed for cooking per day per capita; (5) percentage energy distribution for cooking

7.

6.

5.

4.

Gas

46 Reference

.LPG

I

Charcoal

cake

Kerosene

/ Soft

i

j

:

2.

stove 14.2

16.3 58.0

-doGas burner

47.0

45.C

Iron sigri stove with grate

Pressure

stove

of p

NCAER- Domestic

fuels

in Xural

of

India,

New Delhi

utilization of dcmestfc (R and D centre), New Delhi (1979).

Gupta-Efficiency

11655

6936

6297

8964 i;.cals/lit

Corporation

1. R.X.

&co!

/ Commercial Fuels Vi&

12.3

-do-

3500

i wgr~~ult~ural

3.

11.5

-do-

2133

CowdUng cakes

14.5

2.

I

T-J-W of oven Zficiency “‘ Utlllsation used

iLud oven (chUll8h)

value i;.cals/kg.

4710

Caloric (gross)

Firewood

Non-Comsercial FUsls

Fuel6

1.

S.NO.

l

(1965).

fuels,

I

trees,

Indian

Oil

Included are the leavea and branches of caesaurina, sugarcane wastes, cotton, am brinjal stalka.

Included are caesaurina, babul, tamarind, nangs etc.

Table 2. Heat contents and efficiencies of utilization for domestic fuels ^-

1217

Domestic energy consumption in India 0

Mm CCMMERCIAL

m

CWMRCIAL

RURAL

SEMkURB4N

COOKING

FUEL

1.7 ES I.2

TOTAL

DOMESTIC

ENERGY

Fig. 1. Community energy distributions for domestic uses.

(fuel wise); (6) daily load pattern for cooking in the rural community; (7) daily load pattern for cooking in the semi-urban community; (8) daily load pattern for lighting in the rural community; (9) daily load pattern for lighting in the semi-urban community. 4.

SOME

INTERESTING

OBSERVATIONS

Irrespective of the class, the gross energy utilized in rural areas is much greater than that in semi-urban areas. (2) Cooking consumes 97% of the total energy in rural areas and 93% in semi-urban areas; commercial fuels in rural areas account for only 2”/ whereas in the semi-urban areas they account for about 14%. (3) The rural energy consumption per capita per day can be as high as 8 kWh of commercial and non-commercial fuels, whereas for the corresponding semi-urban community it is 4.7 kWh. These figures refer to the gross energy used and do not take into (1)

CCQKING&HOT

WATER

LIGHTING

NONCCMMEKPL

m

KEFCSENE

m

COMMERCIAL

B

ELECTRICITY m

ELECTRKAL Ak%lAKES ELECTRICAL USE E THERMAl

USE

m

Fig. 2. Total energy consumed per day per capita.

1218

C.

L.

GUPTA

et al.

SEMI URBAN

RURAL @%%&%$c~p

f‘Jfjiggg$J

ECONOMCALLY WEAKER SECTION

LOW

INCOME SECTION

MIDDLE INCOME SECTION

Fig. 3. Energy distribution for domestic uses.

account the efficiencies of the appliances used. However, because the larger component of the energy used is from commercial sources in the semi-urban community, the efficiencies of the ovens used are higher. (4) Although Pondicherry happens to lie in a hot climate belt (12”N latitude), children, older members of the family and agricultural workers do use hot water for their baths. Since no extra fuel is spent for this purpose, hot water is not a luxury. (5) The peak power rating for cooking varies from 1.0 to 1.2 kW per capita, whereas the peak rating for lighting varies from 31 to 41 W per capita. (6) Cooking loads show hardly any seasonal variation; lighting loads show some variation between summer and winter. (7) It is clear from the data that people in the semi-urban communities cook three times per day, whereas rural communities cook only twice during a day. The hourly load

rn-C~licIC

FlELs

FlRFvVOOD CDWXJNG fX3XUlWAL

&

Vd4STE

COMRCIAL FUELS KEROSENE LECO CHARCOAL BUTANE GAS

0 B

Fig. 4. Heat consumed per day per capitafor cooking fuels.

1219

Domestic energy consumption in India

ECONOMICALLY WEAKER SECTION

LOW

INCOME SECTION

MIDDLE INCOME SECTION

Fig. 5. Fuel distribution for cooking.

patterns of energy consumption do not appear to be available in the published literature for village communities. However, other data agree fairly well with similar village data collected for Kamataka state by Reddy et aL3 5. ENERGY

OPTIONS

(1) From the data reported above, it seems that energy substitution will not completely replace the non-commercial fuels being used now. Improving the efficiency of the domestic hearths, without making them more complicated, must have first priority.

.

W”

3

5

TIME

Fig. 6. Heat consumed in watts per

.

.

7

I)

‘..

.

II

OF DAYI-)

IJ

.

15

I7

19

II

c

in a rural community for the daily load pattern of cooking fuel.

capita

I220

C. L. GLJPTAet al.

TIME

OF

DAY(HOURSI

Fig. 7. Heat consumed in watts per capita in a semi-urban community for the daily load of cooking fuel.

(2) Electricity supplies too small a fraction of rural domestic energy consumption. For rural areas, it will be worthwhile substituting oil lamps by solar cell lighting kits, when the price for the solar cells comes down to 50 cents per peak watt. (3) The need for hot water exists in villages and solar energy could well be used when an economically acceptable solution becomes available. (4) The much advocated use of biogas for cooking is convenient but not economical for the average village family, even if animal dung is available. In fact, because of the higher thermodynamic quality of the fuel, it could be best used for generating shaft

I

TIME OF

MAIN

POWER

SOURCE KEROSENE

OIL

DAY\ktounsi~

Fig. 8. Power consumed in watts per capita in a rural community for the daily load pattern of lighting.

Domestic energy consumption in India

1221

Fig, 9. Power consumed in watts per capita in a semi-urban community for the daily load pattern of lighting.

power or electricity needed for water supply, street lighting and small power requirements for cottage industries. According to Bhatia,g biogas generated power or electricity is gradually becoming competitive with the power from diesel engines as the oil prices rise. The village energy supply mix cannot be determined completely without complete data on requirements of energy for agriculture, transportation, cottage industries, and water supply.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) It is our belief that the availability of load profiles for domestic energy consumption, in typical rural and semi-urban communities, should make it practical to match ambient energy-source profiles to load demands and to design renewable energy mix options which meet the local needs. (2) Field testing for rural energy centres concept is imperative before opinions on social aspects, economic parameters and other environmental and logistic factors can be replaced by facts based on experience. (3) Improving the thermal efficiency of domestic hearths, without making them more cumbersome and too costly, must be given top priority in order to make a favourable impact on the energy budget and the environmental balance of rural areas, Acknowledgements-The authors thankfully record the contribution of Miss Padma Mahadevan, who was one of the two investigators for the survey. To Miss B. Vijayalakshmi of the Planning and Research Dept., Pondicherry, they express their appreciation for help in arranging logistic support for the project.

REFERENCES 1. K. S. Parikh, Second India Studies-Energy. Macmillan, New Delhi, India (1976). 2. B. G. Desai, “Energy Policy for India”, Jyoti Ltd., Vadodara, India (1978). 3. A. K. N. Reddy and D. K. Subramanian, “The Design of Rural Energy Centres for Pura Village”, ASTRA, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India (1978). 4. R. Revelle, In Renewable Energy Resources and Rural Applications in the Developing World (Edited by Norman L. Brown), AAAS Selected Symp. No. 6, West View Press, Colorado (1978). 5. N. L. Brown and W. J. Howe, Science 199, 651 (1978).

1222 6. A. V. Desai, “Development

C. L. GUPTA et al.

and Energy Consumption”, presented at the Int. Seminar on Energy, Hyderabad, India (1979). 7. P. M. Nyoike, “Kenya’s Energy Situation at Present and in the Future*‘, Royal Institution Forum on III World Energy Alternatives (1979). 8. J. Dunkerley, “Patterns of Energy Consumption by the Rural and Urban Poor in Developing Countries”, presented at the Int. Seminar on Energy, Hyderabad, India (1979). 9. R. Bhatia, In Agriculture and Energy, pp. 559-579. Academic Press, New York (1977).