This document presents a life cycle energy analysis of various cooking fuel sources used in Indian households. It details the methodology used to determine the average daily cooking energy requirement, the energy equivalent of manual labor involved in collecting biomass fuels, and the life cycle energy efficiency of 10 cooking fuels. The results found that commercial fossil fuels like LPG and kerosene have significantly higher life cycle energy efficiencies than traditional biomass fuels. Biogas was identified as a potentially suitable and sustainable cooking fuel option for India with a life cycle energy efficiency comparable to LPG from natural gas.

1. th
IV
ICAER 2013
Paper No. 308
Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA)
of cooking fuel sources used in
India households
Punam Singh
Prof. Haripriya G.
10th December, 2013

2. Background
 cooking activity pivotal to the well-being of human society
 dominant end user of primary energy carriers in India
over 75% of rural HH use traditional biomass fuels
 annual cooking energy expenditure is about 1250 billion
rupees
(NSSO 2012)
 cooking fuel (kerosene +LPG) subsidies was 525 billion
rupees for 2011-12 (MoPNG 2012)
 fossil fuel resources are depleting rapidly (may last less than
150 years, Lior 2008)
 fuel subsidies resulting in illegal diversions (e.g. kerosene to
transport sector)

3. Aim & Objective
To determine:
 average daily cooking heat energy requirement of Indian HH
 energy equivalent of manual labour involved in collecting and
preparing biomass cooking fuels
 life cycle energy efficiency of cooking fuels
Cooking fuel analyzed: 10 biomass & fossil fuels
(a) firewood
(b) crop residues
(c) dung cakes (d) charcoal
(e) biogas
(f) Kerosene
(g) LPG (CO) – derived from crude oil
(h) LPG (NG) – derived from natural gas (i) coal (j) electricity

4. Methodology # 1
Estimation of avg. daily cooking heat requirement :
 Experimental setup using LPG, kerosene & electric cook
stove
 Stove efficiency & combustion rate determined by WBT
 Food quantity based on average food intake given by NSSO
 Dish type based on common daily preparations in urban &
rural HH
 Average cooking time of dishes used to determine heat
energy requirement:
= LHV*(avg stove eff.)*(avg comb. Rate/1000)*(avg. cooking time/60)
 Avg. heat energy/ HH/ day = 2150 kcal

5. Methodology # 2
Estimation of energy use equivalent of manual labour:
 Not accounted for fossil fuels due to high throughputs, high
levels of mechanization & focus on man-machine interface
 Based on method proposed by Zhang & Dornfeld (2007)
 EPWH = TPES [1- (IFC/TFC)]/ (population* working hours
per year)
 India’s Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES), Industrial &
Transport Final Consumption (IFC) & Total Final
Consumption (TFC) data from IEA 2013
 Worker population data from Economic survey of India 2013
 India’s Energy use per worker hour = 900 kcal

6. Methodology # 3
Estimation of life cycle energy efficiency:
LCEE = FEC/ (Ep + Et)
FEC = final fuel energy content at output
Ep = primary energy content of feedstock (crude oil, biomass etc)
Ed = energy produced and used by the plant from own captive sources
Em = embodied energy (e.e.) of material used for production of fuel
Ef = e.e. Of fuel used for production and transportation of cooking fuels
Ee = electricity purchased from local grid
Eh = energy equivalent of manual labour

For fossil fuels: Et = Ed + Em + Ef + Ee

For biomass fuels: Et = Eh

7. Life Cycle Energy Inventory
Cooking fuel/
Life cycle stages
Ep
Ed
Em
Ef
Ee
Eh
Et
(in kcal per kg fuel or per kWh electricity)
LPG (Cr. Oil)
Extraction
Refinery
Bottling
Transport
LPG (Nat. Gas)
Extraction
Fractioning
Kerosene
Refinery
Transport
Coal
Extraction
Transport
Electricity
Firewood
Crop residues
Dung cake
Charcoal
Biogas
9486
1092
50
x
x
103
583
x
x
84
688
x
186
17
1
22
x
x
x
x
x
1296
1322
22
186
11443
1104
717
103
55
84
x
16
31
x
x
1307
803
9486
60
x
1324
x
882
81
1
x
x
x
2267
81
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
81
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
9
38
23
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
306
127
117
985
332
90
38
23
306
127
117
985
332
2811
1802
3334
3069
1001
3334
3705

8. Life Cycle Energy Flow Schematic
Biomass cooking fuels:
Biogas
Charcoal
Firewood
Crop Res.
4667 (1260)
21935 (6579)
16590 (4976)
20793 (6776)
Et : 299
Physical
Process
4574 (1235)
Digester
3909 (900)
Cook Stove
Et : 1847
Physical
Process
20838 (6250)
Kiln
12286 (1875)
Cook Stove
Et : 1462
Et : 809
Dung Cake
27644 (27605)
Et : 1040
Physical
Process
Physical
Process
Physical
Process
15926 (4777)
19545 (6369)
25294 (8893)
Cook Stove
Cook Stove
Cook Stove
All values in kcal (in g).
Cook stove output = 2150 kcal
Phys. process includes activities requiring manual labor.
Feedstock
Processed fuel
Energy eq. of manual labor inputs

9. Life Cycle Energy Flow Schematic
Fossil cooking fuels:
LPG (Nat. Gas)
LPG (Cr. Oil)
Kerosene
Et : 613
Et : 693
Et : 443
Extraction
Extraction
3871 (339)
4488 (473)
Et : 291
Et : 480
Fractioning
Refinery
Extraction
5076 (535)
Et : 1027
Refinery
Electricity
Coal
9184 (3268)
Et : 449
Et : 75
Coal Power
Plant
Et: 65
Et : 8
Bottling
3791
(351)
4265 (4.96 kWh)
Transmission
3772 (349)
Cook Stove
3071 (3.57 kWh)
Et : 36
Cook Stove
Transport
14011 (4985)
Et : 188
4644 (453)
3924 (363)
Coal Mine
Transport
13871
(4935)
Cook Stove
Transport
All values in kcal (in g)
Cook stove output = 2150 kcal
4574 (447)
Cook Stove
Feedstock
Processed fuel
Energy eq. of all inputs

10. 9.0%
7.5%
10.0%
11.9%
43.3%
23.2%
14.7%
31.5%
38.0%
45.0%
LCEE (in percent)
Results & Findings

11. Conclusion
 Life cycle energy efficiency performance of commercial fossil
fuels (i.e. LPG & kerosene) significantly better than
traditional biomass fuels
 Biogas can potentially be most suitable and sustainable
cooking fuel option in Indian context
 LCEE (43.3% ) comparable to those of LPG produced from NG
 completely renewable, produced from variety of organic substrates
including wastes (e.g. animal manure, food and agro waste, sewage etc)
 high local availability of substrates in both rural and urban areas
 India’s vast experience (> 30 years) in biogas technology

12. References (Partial)
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report No. 1, Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf, Switzerland
Kandpal, J.B., Maheshwari, R.C. & Kandpal, T.C. (1995) Indoor air pollution from combustion of
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