Policy Brief
Just Energy Transition Partnerships, Climate Action, and Minilateralism
24 Nov 2023
| Dr Shailly Kedia
| Heena Makhija
| Shivangi Raj
Transitioning towards clean energy and renewable sources is a significant measure to restrict Greenhouse Gas emissions and meet the climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement. Upcoming minilateral mechanisms, especially partnerships such as JETPs, despite setting ambitious targets have little to offer on recognizing the specific needs of the Global South to support sustainable energy transitions.
Clean fuel for cooking: Solution to achieve better air quality
05 Feb 2021
| Dr Debajit Palit
| Mr Martand Shardul
| Dr Deborshi Brahmachari
The discussion paper 'Clean Fuel for Cooking: Solution to Achieve Better Air Quality' aims to analyse and estimate the financial support that may be required to encourage Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) consumers to switch to LPG for cooking their major meals, over and above the existing subsidy and other financial incentives, as well as to identify a suitable financing strategy to support the uptake of refills without impacting the fiscal deficit of
Opportunities with Biofuel: Co-benefit of Air Quality Improvement
05 Dec 2019
| TERI
| Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland
| Tampere University, Finland
While biofuels have been discussed as one of the ways to reduce air pollution, changing the process of bio-diesel production is needed to reduce tailpipe emissions of nanoparticles. These are lesser known pollutants even more harmful than PM2.5 and PM10.
An implementation plan for a kerosene-to-solar subsidy swap
25 Apr 2019
| Mr Martand Shardul
| Ms Bigsna Gill
| Dr Debajit Palit
| Ms Tara Laan
| Mr Balasubramanian Viswanathan
| Mr Chris Beaton
A new report provides a six-step implementation plan for governments to switch kerosene subsidies to solar and ensure clean energy for all
Kerosene to solar PV subsidy swap: The business case for redirecting subsidy expenditure from kerosene to off-grid solar
21 Aug 2018
| Ms Bigsna Gill
| Mr Martand Shardul
| Shruti Sharma
| Richard Bridle
An exploration of the idea of gradually moving from subsidies on kerosene to investing in off-grid solar technologies for marginalised households
Charging Power - Understanding Electricity Pricing and the Willingness to Pay for Electricity in India
15 Feb 2017
| Ms Bigsna Gill
| Ms Sonakshi Saluja
| Dr Debajit Palit
The issue of energy access and the associated willingness to pay for energy services has been extensively researched and studied globally as well as in India. To provide useful recommendations for future electricity-pricing debates, this study undertook a comprehensive literature review and stakeholder interviews to examine and quantify the existing evidence on the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for electricity supply in India. It compared these findings with the current electricity-pricing mechanisms to derive recommendations on future electricity pricing and subsidy policies.
Solar PV for Enhancing Electricity Access in Kenya: What Policies are Required?
01 Jul 2015
| Dr Debajit Palit
Modern energy services are crucial to human well-being and to a country's economic development; and yet globally over 1.3 billion people are without access to electricity and 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking facilities. More than 95 per cent of these people are either in Sub-Saharan African or developing Asia and 84 per cent are in rural areas (International Energy Agency, 2015). Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in energy resources but very poor in energy supply, making the region have highest access deficit in electrification rate, only just managing to stay abreast of population growth.
Bundling Improved Cooking and Lighting Technology for Energy Access
08 Jun 2015
| Mr S Arun
There is no definitive understanding of what energy services are entailed in 'access to energy' for a household. The Global Tracking Framework of SE4All1 provides a comprehensive definition of energy access-positing that a household in the basic 'tier' of energy access has 'task lighting and phone charging' and a 'manufactured solid-fuel cookstove with conformity, convenience, and adequacy'. India has 75 million households without access to electricity.2 The situation with regard to cooking energy is more overwhelming-166 million households depend on solid fuels3 for their cooking needs.
Discussion Paper : Mainstreaming Gender in Improved Cookstove Value Chains
03 Jun 2015
| Mr S Arun
Lack of convenient, reliable, and affordable access to clean cookstoves risks the lives and livelihoods of millions of women in rural India. In the patriarchal rural society, cooking and collection of fuel are tasks typically performed by women (Dutta 2003). Household air pollution, primarily from inefficient cookstoves, leads to 1.04 million premature deaths in India annually (Balakrishnan, Cohen and Smith 2014), disproportionately affecting women and young children. Women spend a considerable amount of time, effort, and money collecting fuel wood (Sehjpal et al. 2014), which can otherwise be spent gainfully on productive activities.
Selecting the Appropriate Improved Cooking Technology: What Matters?
11 May 2015
| Mr S Arun
Improved biomass cookstoves projects are being prioritized, nationally and internationally, for development funding in India. While the Government of India’s National Biomass cookstoves Programme1 is the largest of its kind, there are many other national and regional improved cookstoves projects being implemented by multilateral and bilateral agencies. A review of cookstove projects reveals the poor state of adoption of improved biomass cooking technology2 and a multitude of inadequately understood factors that drive adoption.3 The type of improved biomass cookstove technology purchased by the households is recognized as a significant determinant of adoption.