Aug 17, 2020
Solid fuel combustion is a major cause of household air pollution, a leading environmental health risk factor globally. In India, over 750 million people continue to rely on firewood and other solid fuels for daily cooking. We explore the drivers of adoption and use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), India’s dominant clean cooking fuel. We document strides in LPG ownership using a panel dataset of over 8,500 rural households from six Indian states surveyed in 2015 and 2018 (ACCESS), partially due to India’s flagship clean cooking policy Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). We further demonstrate that the drivers of initial LPG adoption also apply to use. While fuel stacking – using solid fuels and LPG jointly – is pervasive, improved rural incomes and education result in the increased use of clean cooking fuels. After adoption, general LPG customers are predicted to consume on average 91 kilograms of LPG yearly (95% confidence interval (CI): 89-93 kg/year). However, PMUY beneficiaries are predicted to consume 27 kilograms of LPG (95% CI: 24-30 kg/year) less on average than general customers each year, even after controlling for socio-economic differences and years of using LPG. Our findings suggest that additional strategies to accelerate the transition to exclusive LPG use among the 80 million households acquiring LPG through PMUY should aim to improve affordability and increase awareness to realize the full benefits of the Government of India’s investments in cleaner cooking.
Jul 27, 2020
Household electrification aims to provide populations with access to a wide range of energy services for social and economic development, ranging from lighting to electric cooking. Electrification policy has historically focussed on grid connections, however, rather than household capabilities to satisfy energy service needs. We explore a representative panel dataset of households from rural areas of six states across northern India in order to link distinct dimensions of electricity supply with electrical energy service utilisation. Using a regression framework, we show that household electrification policy in India must look beyond connections and consider disaggregate dimensions of supply, paying special attention to supply availability measured in hours per day. Following electrification, households surveyed were highly likely to utilise lighting and ICTs regardless of supply, while an improvement of 12 hours to supply was associated with higher likelihoods of space cooling (12.3%-points [CI: 10.7 to 13.9]) and entertainment (13.4%-points [11.2 to 15.6]) services utilisation. In contrast, mechanical loads, thermal loads, refrigeration and electric cooking remain constrained by low income levels and other factors. Disaggregate supply analysis supports the shift towards electrification policy that unlocks desired capabilities while using all available technologies, both grid and off-grid, to achieve more just outcomes for all.
Jul 13, 2020
Ambient air pollution kills over four million people every year globally. Improving air quality presents a complex problem for governments as emissions are produced from a wide range of sources and tend to cross boundaries. To understand the challenge of transboundary air pollution transfer, we use a detailed emissions inventory and a source-oriented chemical transport model to explore state-to-state flows of emissions within the world’s largest democracy, India, where poor air quality has caused a public health crisis. On average, 46% of population-weighted air pollution exposure originates from another state. Of the major sources, energy (75%) and industry (53%) see most of their emissions travel to another state. All sectors have 39% or more of their emissions travel across state boundaries. India’s current policy framework is not equipped to deal with these problems, as it does not centralize the formulation and enforcement of relevant policies sufficiently. To solve the problem of air pollution, India needs a more centralized form of environmental federalism.
Jun 24, 2020
While scholars have typically modeled climate change as a global collective action challenge, we offer a dynamic theory of climate politics based on the present and future revaluation of assets. Climate politics can be understood as a contest between owners of assets that accelerate climate change, such as fossil fuel plants, and owners of assets vulnerable to climate change, like coastal property. To date, obstruction by “climate-forcing” asset holders has been a large barrier to effective climate policy. But as climate change and decarbonization policies proceed, holders of both climate-forcing and “climate-vulnerable” assets stand to lose some or even all of the value of their assets over time, and with them, the basis of their political power. This dynamic contest between opposing interests is likely to intensify in many sites of political contestation, from the subnational to transnational levels. As it does so, climate politics will become increasingly existential, potentially reshaping political alignments within and across countries. Such shifts may further undermine the LIO: as countries develop pro-climate policies at different speeds and magnitudes, they will have incentives to diverge from existing arrangements over trade and economic integration.
Jun 12, 2020
Governments in developing countries are investing billions of dollars to increase electricity access in rural areas, but the literature on the impact of these investments has produced mixed results. We leverage a unique characteristic of household electrification policy in Uttar Pradesh, India, whereby only households within 40 meters of an electricity pole are eligible for a legal electrical connection, to estimate the causal impact of electrification using a pre-registered instrumental variable design. With an original survey of 686 households across 120 habitations in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, we find that legal electrification has a positive impact on household expenditures, adult household activities, and ownership and usage of appliances. The results suggest a more optimistic picture about the impact of rural electrification than some previous studies.
