Characterizing energy poverty: Implications for energy access policies

Abstract

Despite the rapid economic growth during the past two decades, approximately 412 million people in India still have no access to electricity and 668 million depend on traditional biomass for cooking. Even among people who have access to electricity and modern fuels, affordability and unreliable supplies limit the ability to use these resources. Further, those who can afford improved energy carriers may not be able to afford cost of connections, conversion technology, or equipment that makes that energy useful. Therefore, a critical input to the debate around policies for access is characterization of household-level energy end-use, including energy carriers, energy conversion devices, and final energy services desired and consumed. Disparities in household energy use exist between rural and urban populations, between high- and low-income groups due to levels of urbanization, economic development, and living standards. The present study will use secondary data to develop picture of energy end-use, explore issues such as energy poverty, linkage between energy poverty and income poverty. It will further attempt to construct an average energy consumption basket of household which could be used as an input for defining goals for energy access policies.