LPG as clean fuel
Also called: Liquefied petroleum gas · Topic: Environment and Sustainable Development · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Environment and Sustainable Development"
Meaning
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a bottled cooking gas that burns with little smoke. Rural families have long burnt wood, dung cakes and crop waste. This cuts down trees, causes indoor air pollution, and wastes dung that could have fertilised fields. Giving households subsidised LPG reduces all three harms and also wastes less energy.
Example
PM Ujjwala Yojana (2016) gave free LPG connections to poor households. Under PAHAL (2015), the LPG subsidy is paid directly into the buyer's bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The weak spot is that many families do not buy enough refills, so they slip back to firewood.
Don't confuse with
- Biogas (gobar gas): made on the farm by letting cattle dung rot without air. It is renewable and leaves slurry that works as fertiliser. LPG is a fossil fuel that has to be bought.
Related concepts
- Non-conventional sources of energy
- Wind power
- Solar photovoltaic power
- Mini-hydel plants
- Biogas
- Compressed Natural Gas
- Road space rationing
- Energy poverty