Integrated Rural Energy Planning

The Case of Sikkim

Nearly 90 percent of the total energy consumed in rural areas comes from non-commercial energy sources. At the national level, these sources account for about 50 percent of the total energy consumed. The Seventh Plan points out that excessive dependence on non-commercial sources has led to large-scale destruction of the forests and woodlands.

Considering these aspects, an Integrated Rural Energy Planning Programme (IREP) was prepared by the Government of India. IREP is designed to develop a database for block-level energy planning. It attempts to provide a mix of energy options appropriate to each region to meet the diverse energy needs of the rural population in a cost-effective manner. It also takes into the account the resource endowments and availability of commercial and non-commercial fuels in a given region.

Given this background, the New and Renewable Sources of Energy Department, under the Rural Development Department of the Government of Sikkim, invited Development Alternatives to prepare a plan of action under the IREP framework. Between 1987 and 1990, studies were conducted in West District of Sikkim, covering the subdivisions of Soreng and Geyzing. The objectives of the project were:

to quantify the availability of energy resources and map their consumption patterns
to understand people’s perception of the energy situation and their preferences amongst the available energy options
to design strategies for dissemination of energy innovations

The existence of an energy crisis, the priorities attached to it, and the readiness to resolve it is largely defined by the people who live closest to the crisis situation. With this understanding, comprehensive schedules were prepared for the study region. Village schedules helped to understand the village as a whole, its environment and energy-related problems. Household schedules provided insights into household-level problems, life styles, food habits, and energy-related problems at the micro-level.

The dominant activity of people in the subdivisions of Soreng and Geyzing is agriculture. Food Production, processing and consumption demand energy in different forms. The food-energy nexus is a crucial component of rural ecosystems and especially of hill ecosystems, since opportunities for non-agricultural activities are restricted. In the context of IREP, and analysis of energy-food interlinkages in Geyzing and Soreng indicates that the introduction and use of alternate energy technologies requires a considerable understanding of the resourcebase, demand and supply patterns, technical constraints, affordability and adoption behaviour.

Consumption of firewood at the household level alone is indicative of pressure on biomass resources of the area. Energy needs for regular uses - cooking, water and space heating, and cattle feed preparation - consume up to 50 kg per day. Special uses - marriages, religious, ceremonies and preparation of alcoholic beverages, jard and rakshi - consume as much as 150-200 kg per event.

Large cardamom is one of the major cash crops in Sikkim and accounts for 70 percent of total production in India. Because of its high commercial value, framers are shifting to this crop in West District. But curing of cardamom consumes large amounts of firewood-about seven kg to dry one kg of wet cardamom. In the study region, chulhas employed for regular uses in households, as well as for special uses and cardamom curing, are mainly traditional types with low efficiency.

Monasteries consume a lot of energy too. A lot of firewood is consumed every day in cooking, boiling water, space heating and performance of rituals. In ancient times, monasteries owned large private estates from which they met their fuel requirements. Monasteries still own private forests, but they have declined in size over time and are encroached on by surrounding villages.

Sikkim, and especially West District, with its captivating landscape, diversity of flora and fauna, and exotic culture, attracts a large number of tourists - domestic and foreign - every year. Besides the financial and infrastructural requirements essential for promotion of tourism in Sikkim, a major area which needs to be looked at is energy consumption resulting from the expected growth of tourist traffic. To meet daily needs like cooking, water and space heating, lighting etc, tourists are bound to depend heavily on village and forest lands near camping sites and along trekking routes, depleting biomass resources of local people.

Fuel Consumption Patterns

Firewood represents over 90 percent of the fuel used annually in the study region; agro-waste makes up 5 to 6 percent; kerosene and electricity, used mostly for lighting, each account for 2 to 3 percent.

Nearly all households surveyed (97 percent) indicated a shortage of firewood. Population growth and deforestation were cited as the two major causes of firewood scarcity. The scarcity has become more acute and people are spending more and more time collecting wood. Certain species which the villagers formerly avoided burning, owning to religious significance or taboos, are now being used for firewood. Illicit felling of trees and the trend of purchasing firewood, although on a limited scale, has also started in recent years.

Consumption patterns for each fuel in the West District were quantified and mapped. Projections for demand and supply of fuels were made till the year 2014. Total supply projections for the study area include biomass made available through energy plantations and fuelwood saved through use of fuel-efficient chulhas. A comparison of demand and supply projections gives the deficit in supply of fuelwood, if any, faced in the study area.

Energy strategies for the study region aimed at :

Supply-oriented solutions

Future dependence on fuelwood will continue to remain high due to proximity to forests and lack of non-conventional energy sources in the study region. The only solution is mass afforestation, energy plantations on degraded lands and wastelands, and conservation and maintenance of forest areas. In addition, it is imperative to improve the distribution systems for kerosene, petrol and diesel, and increase production of agro-waste.

Efficiency and conservation-oriented solutions

The other way of closing the demand-supply gap is to reduce the demand itself by increasing conservation, transfer and end-use efficiency of fuels through introduction of improved chulhas.

Introduction and dissemination of chulhas in large numbers, though, requires a concerted effort at the grassroot level in awareness generation, training, installation and distribution.

Technological Solutions

Biogas has been acknowledged as a successful alternate fuel in most parts of the country. However, a model suitable for high altitude areas is still being researched. In the study region, some areas near large forests were identified as having potential for small (3.20 KW) gasifiers. Potential sites for installing wind mills are few since wind speed is quite low. On the other hand, mini and micro hydels have good potential in Sikkim with its innumerable small rivers. Solar water heaters and photovoltaics are costly and present problems in installation and maintenance, ruling out their use at the domestic level. However, these technologies may be suitable for institutions such as schools, hospitals, community centres, monasteries, government guest houses and commercial establishment.

The action plan prepared by Development Alternatives for the West District provides specific locations for the various options suggested above. As a follow-up, the government of Sikkim is disseminating improved chulhas, solar water heaters and photovoltaics in the study region, and is considering further solutions.


Source:
Rural Energy Planning in Sikkim
by K. Sudhakar and P.P.S. Gussain
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Rural Women’s Concern: The Energy Crisis

Women are the major users of energy in the domestic sector. Energy is needed for cooking food, boiling water, providing light at home, warming up the house and other activities. It is essential for human well-being and economic development.

The main sources of rural energy are firewood, charcoal, other biomass and kerosene. Firewood collection by rural women makes minimal impact on forest lands, as they collect dead wood and dry twigs which are easy to carry burn. Commercial logging, overgrazing and increased demand, however, has led to wholesale destruction of forests in many parts of the country. Firewood is becoming increasingly scarce, and women are spending more and more time to collect it. This scarcity, and rising costs, are forcing many poor, rural women to switch over to biomass substitutes such a straw, crop residues and animal dung. But straw and crop residues are much less fuel efficient than firewood, and burring dung precludes its use as manure.

Should women carry this burden forever? Is it solely their concern? Can they help solve this crisis? If so, how? What could be the possible solutions to make their task easier?

A large variety of cooking stoves, biogas, solar cookers and smokeless chulhas have been developed, but their cost is often high. It is well-nigh impossible for poor families to afford them, except for smokeless chulhas. And since women have not been involved in designing these technologies, they do not readily accept them. If their knowledge and experience were put to use at all stages of technology development, women would take to these new technologies more quickly.

Women have organised themselves time and again at the grassroot level around village wells, at festivals and in other informal ways to voice their concerns about depletion of energy resources. This issue has been discussed at women’s meetings in India and at the international level. Dawn in India, launched in Bangalore, the Chipko Movement in the Himalayan region, and the Green Belt movement in Kenya - clearly show how women get organised to overcome a crisis.


by Ms. J.M. Singh

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