[Stoves] Is LPG all that bad?

[Saloop T S]

Respected People,
           It is true that LPG is the best available option today we have
as a cooking fuel, giving around 60-65 % efficiency and cleaner fuel. But
for a developing country like India having 123 million rural households
depending on biomass as cooking fuel, LPG is not the best solution.
Improved biomass cookstove with higher efficiency and lesser emission at
minimum cost is the best option, according to me.

Thank you,
On Dec 1, 2014 11:33 AM, "Philip Lloyd" <plloyd at mweb.co.za> wrote:

> Yes, indeed LPG is a wonderful fuel.  It is very clean, fast, and can be
> made quite affordable.  You have to teach people how to use it effectively,
> but they soon learn.  In Cape Town there is a major roll-out, with some 200
> 000 households now being serviced with supply points within 500m of the
> homes.  Most use 5kg cylinders which is sufficient for 1 month's cooking.
> It is not subsidized in any way, yet it competes well with electricity
> which is subsidized to the tune of 50kWh free a month. Some use cheap
> single burners, but most prefer 2-, 3- or 4-burner cookstoves which cost
> less than $200.
>
>
>
> Part of the driver for this was the finding some years ago that replacing
> 100 000 electric cookers with LPG trimmed 40MW off the peak power demand.
> It was the most successful intervention during a power supply crisis.
> However, the LPG supply logistics at the time were poor. Soon LPG supplies
> ran out, and people reverted to other fuels.
>
>
>
> Prof Philip Lloyd
>
> Energy Institute
>
> Cape Peninsula University of Technology
>
> PO Box 652, Cape Town 8000
>
> Tel:021 460 4216
>
> Fax:021 460 3828
>
> Cell: 083 441 5247
>
>
>
> *From:* Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
> *Sent:* 01 December 2014 03:49
> *To:* stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Stoves] Is LPG all that bad?
>
>
>
> Dear AD
>
>
>
> LPG is a wonderful fuel for those who can get it and pay for it. Because
> of cost, kerosene was heavily subsidised in Indonesia. It became so
> expensive when the price of oil was run up that the subsidy  was literally
> bankrupting the country. They tried to raise the price and there were
> riots.
>
>
>
> So they embarked on the only other viable plan: to switch their subsidy to
> LPG but at a lower level.
>
>
>
> This was accomplished in a total of 4 years, I believe. Some 40 million
> stoves were given away. Recently Cecil Cook and the WB social science team
> led by Helen Carlsson discovered that 70% of the poor people 'cooking with
> wood' also used LPG at least part of the time.
>
>
>
> Cecil found it is used for very particular tasks which fit the description
> you gave below - largely for quick cooking and reheating of food, making
> tea and when the pots should remain clean.
>
>
>
> Problems emerged last year when the budget allocation for LPG and
> gasoline (which sells for $0.66 a litre) ran out long before year end.
> Same problem as before : rising energy prices.
>
>
>
> Now that there is a determined effort to drive the international price of
> oil down, perhaps they get a reprieve for a while, but the fact remains, to
> give access to LPG it has to be subsidised. Otherwise they will use more
> wood.
>
>
>
> It is not a matter of one of the other, people use both, but the switch to
> wood is immediate if the price rises.
>
>
>
> Globally there is a shortage of LPG. Thus pressure on the price will
> remain. Part of the price is a relatively expensive delivery cost as
> every aspect of it is regulated and has to be very safe. I say that with
> kerosene in mind which is far cheaper to distribute. It can also be loaned
> or sold to a neighbour on a small scale.
>
>
>
> Both can be burned extremely cleanly so it is a disappointment to see the
> WHO refer to kerosene as a 'dirty fuel' in need of being removed from all
> homes. A stove that cannot burn it properly is the guilty party, not 'a
> fuel'.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
> Crispin
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> I saw recently a lot of criticism against LPG. As cooking fuel, it is
> really superb, giving a blue flame without smoke or soot,
> instantaneous ignition, finger-tip control of flame intensity, no ash,
> etc. Being liquifiable, relatively large quantities of it can be
> filled into cylinders which occupy very little space in the kitchen.
> One can carry the cylinder around if the gas is needed elsewhere. I
> understand that LPG is a by product of petroleum refining and that one
> cannot avoid the production of LPG as long as we are using petroleum
> and refining it. So, if we stopped using it as cooking fuel, we shall
> have to find an alternative use for it.
> Yours
> A.D.Karve
> ***
> Dr. A.D. Karve
>
> Chairman, Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd (www.samuchit.com)
>
> Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)
>
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