India’s forgotten energy resource

In setting aspirational targets for India, successive governments must recognise that adequate availability of land, water and energy is critical to their realisation, even when other financial, non-financial and human resources are available.

India’s share in global energy consumption remains abysmally low. Its share in global primary commercial energy consumption (comprising commercially traded fuels and modern renewables used to generate electricity) was under 1.9 per cent in 1985. China accounted for 7.5 per cent of the then global consumption.

Currently, China accounts for about 23 per cent of the global primary commercial energy consumption while India’s share is less than 4.7 per cent — about 60 per cent of China’s level in 1985! No other number underscores better the large difference between the relatively lower position of India vis-à-vis China on a host of social, economic and geo-political parameters.

So, while rightly fighting for India’s fair share of the global carbon budget to ensure development, we should not overlook India’s need to grow her share of commercially traded modern primary energy that remains critical to delivering the promised development.

India has failed to adequately increase its share of global commercial energy consumption. China and even smaller Asian tigers managed this energy challenge better and consequently rank well above India on several socio-economic parameters.

While this government is pro-active about enhancing energy availability, it is important that India raises its relative share of global energy consumption to levels commensurate with the size of its population.

Non-commercial energy dependence is currently underestimated and needs greater attention. Although official data still records non-commercial energy as India’s second largest energy resource, there is inadequate ownership of this energy resource in our five energy ministries. Despite her technological prowess, India has failed to utilise this resource in an efficient and safe mode.

Over a third of Indian households do not have electricity; another third or more have a connection but, on average, power flows through their wires only for a few hours a day. And two-thirds or more households use some form of biomass as their only or the primary source of cooking energy. A negligible amount of kerosene reaches such households, leaving them dependent on biomass in some form for household energy use.

Further, official data completely ignores the animal and human draught energy that delivers innumerable productive energy services, including haulage and transportation which are typically dependent on commercial modern energy even in comparable developing countries. Industrial use of biomass in different forms, though poorly tracked, is also on the rise as alternative fuels are either not available, or simply uncompetitive.

If properly estimated, the current dependence on non-commercial energy could well turn out to be comparable in energy terms to coal — our largest source of primary commercial energy today.

This is critical to inclusive growth. High taxation on commercial energy funds up to 15 per cent of the Central budget and about 20 per cent of the combined budgets of the State governments. Such taxation dwarfs the reported subsidies on energy that, in any case, are largely misdirected and abused.

As a result, commercial energy remains unaffordable for over two thirds of Indian households. This results in India’s commercial energy consumption remaining at about a fourth of the global average even today.

This contributes to India’s low scores on parameters such as education, health, skills, livelihoods, infant and maternal mortality, and fosters gender discrimination. Environmental degradation in terms of air quality and forest resources and their impact on the water cycle is well established.

The inability to gain access to modern commercial energy and the benefits it offers raises distress among poor households, leading to social discontent. These negative impacts impose heavy fiscal costs that are arguably greater than the energy tax revenues.

Hence, delivering equitable access to adequate and affordable modern commercial energy to all households remains critical for achieving basic socio economic goals.

Widely distributed non-commercial biomass is an exciting option in this context. Most non-commercial biomass use follows unsafe practices, with conversion efficiencies that typically are one third to half of technically feasible levels.

Converting this biomass to safer fuels such as pellets and gas that permit higher end use efficiency could potentially release up to half the non-commercial biomass currently in use.

This biomass energy released through pure efficiency gains could, based on currently available technologies, fire electricity generation and/or productive use at the point of need.

Where necessary, we can supplement this non-commercial energy with off grid and distributed solar, wind or small hydro, depending upon resource endowments.

The proposed energy revolution would directly engage the energy deprived and that too, by deploying the very same energy resource that they currently use in sub-optimal and hazardous ways. This will assist the government’s agenda covering skills development and creation of livelihoods.

The well-meaning and ambitious targets set by the government for the energy sector are welcome, even if they seem unachievable in the short to medium term. Optimal and efficient utilisation of non-commercial energy, India’s second if not the largest energy resource, in a relatively more benign form could contribute to meeting India’s energy challenge.

Even if India meets all the stated energy sector targets, non-commercial energy will still be its third largest energy resource even in 2031-32 and hence warrants greater attention. The biomass produced by our farmer and his livestock could help deliver adequate, affordable and safe energy for household and productive use.

The writer is former Principal Adviser Power & Energy, Government of India

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