“Household biomass burning- The invisible polluter”

News– Biomass burning despite being a major polluter does not receive the attention it needs. 

An analysis by think tank Centre for policy research also shows that even in parliamentary debates on pollution ,household biomass burning is discussed much less than stubble burning. 

Why Biomass burning should be considered a major polluter 

Biomass burning by households for cooking and heating needs in winters is responsible for up to 40% air pollution in the NCR. 

Problem of indoor pollution is not limited to the NCR and winter alone. Various databases show that indoor pollution has a 27 to 49 percent share in India’s total annual PM2.5 emissions. 

Analysis by think tanks like TERI shows that the household emissions are the largest contributor to PM 2.5 

Why biomass burning gets lesser attention than stubble burning? 

Household sources are less visible and have existed forever thus are paid less attention than crop burning which gets much media and public attention for a short period every year. 

What is its impact on health 

According to Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 Biomass burning kills around 6 Lakh Indians prematurely every year, by far the most for a country. Household air pollution causes 36% of all deaths due to air pollution. 

Why there is energy poverty despite government initiatives like PM Ujjwala, etc  

Energy poverty is lower penetration and usage of clean cooking fuel. 

According to National Family Health Survey (2019-21) nearly 41% households in India, mainly in rural areas and poorer eastern states, still don’t use clean fuel for cooking. 

This is despite close to universal coverage of the Ujjwala scheme.  

Another analysis by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) showed that Ne arly 88% of households surveyed in energy-poor states reported having an LPG connection, but only 55% exclusively used it for cooking. 

States which have poor coverage of clean cooking fuel also see greater contribution of domestic biomass towards PM2.5 emissions, said the HEI report. 

Solid fuel is easily available and is also used for space heating purposes by poorer households. This may also prompt them to use it for other purposes like cooking.  

We need more awareness about the health implications and behavioural change towards sustainable heating methods such as LPG or electricity. 

Source-This post is based on the article “Household biomass burning- The invisible polluter” published in livemint on 15th Dec 2021