Household Energy Use and CO2Emission: Differentials and Determinants in India

Improving access to affordable clean energy is crutical for enhancing the quality of life. Rural households in India are almost entirely reliant on traditional biomass for cooking. This has adverse effect on health and productivity along with environmental degradation. The paper deals with three important issues, using National Sample Survey 66th round data (2009-10); Firstly, it shows the household energy use pattern in rural and urban India by economic class; Secondly, it analyzes the determinants of such use and thirdly it assess the amount of CO2 emission by Indian household using emission coefficient by fuel type. Household size, level of urbanization, literacy and age distribution of household have significant influence on type of fuel use. Monthly per capita expenditure shows a significant impact on the choice of cooking fuel. It calls for immediate interventions to protect the rural and poor households from their daily exposure of such risk factors.