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Transitioning to clean household energy

The lowest hanging fruit for health and climate benefits

Dr. Kalpana Balakrishnan

Dean (Research)

Professor and Director

WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

Sri Ramachandra Institute for Higher Education and Research

(SRIHER)

Chennai, India

DPHICON 2022

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Household solid fuel combustion generates a complex cocktail of health and climate damaging pollutants with high intake fractions

BC

Household air pollution resulting from the use of cook-fuels such as biomass or dung or agricultural residues in traditional cook-stoves results is a leading risk factor for health and climate burdens both globally and in India.

These are labelled as dirty primarily because they generate products of incomplete combustion. All products of incomplete combustion (PICs) are bad for health The best example for health we know is from cigarette smoke, but PICs in every form be it diesel exhaust or power plant emissions or wood smoke from dirty cook-fuels is equally bad for health. But air pollution associated PICs some are bad not just for health but terrible for climate too. BC emissions from household sources constitute are responsible for 30 to 60 percent of CO 2 emissions. The national fuelwood displaced due to increased LPG access between 2001 and 2011 was approximately 7.2 million tons and a net emissions reduction of 6.73 MtCO2e

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State level exposures for ambient and household air pollution

India SLDBI Collaborators Lancet 2021, Balakrishnan et al. Lancet Planetary Health 2019

Ambient

Household

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Air pollution – the new tobacco

Balakrishnan et al. , Lancet Planetary Health 2019

India SLDBI, GBD 2017

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Woodfuels impact climate and health in two ways:

Biomass growth

Biomass burning

(for charcoal there are also emissions from pyrolysis and transport)

CO₂

Harvesting

CO₂

CO₂Seq

Net CO₂

CH₄, BC, OC, CO, NMHCs

Some CO₂ is sequestered by regrowth of new biomass

Incomplete combustion

Some CO₂is remains in the atmosphere

Net climate forcing

Adapted from Forrest Robinette – CCA

Slide Credit: Rob Bailis, SEI

Complete combustion

Two paths to climate impacts:

PICs and CO₂

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Woodfuels impact climate and health in two ways:

Biomass growth

Biomass burning

(for charcoal there are also emissions from pyrolysis and transport)

CO₂

Harvesting

CO₂

CO₂Seq

Net CO₂

CH₄, BC, OC, CO, NMHCs

Some CO₂ is sequestered by regrowth of new biomass

Incomplete combustion

Some CO₂is remains in the atmosphere

Net climate forcing

Complete combustion

Two paths to climate impacts:

PICs and CO₂

Supply-side interventions affect net CO₂ emissions but don’t affect HAP

Adapted from Forrest Robinette – CCA

Slide Credit: Rob Bailis, SEI

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Woodfuels impact climate and health in two ways:

Biomass growth

Biomass burning

(for charcoal there are also emissions from pyrolysis and transport)

CO₂

Harvesting

CO₂

CO₂Seq

Net CO₂

CH₄, BC, OC, CO, NMHCs

Some CO₂ is sequestered by regrowth of new biomass

Incomplete combustion

Some CO₂is remains in the atmosphere

Net climate forcing

Complete combustion

Two paths to climate impacts:

PICs and CO₂

Demand-side interventions can affect both PIC and net CO₂ emissions

Slide Credit: Rob Bailis, SEI

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So, what would happen if >70 crores of people…

…go from this …to this …or this?

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12/6/2022

Implications of biomass energy use and alternatives on climate, air quality, and health

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Mitigating Household Sources�The lowest hanging fruit for achieving NAAQS

Source

Chowdhury ,Dey et al, PNAS 2019

Connibear Env res. Letters 2020

Bailis HEI 2022

Percentage of ambient PM _2.5 exposure that can be attributed to household PM_2.5 sources at baseline

Residual annual ambient PM _2.5 exposure requiring further mitigation to achieve NAAQS, after eliminating household PM_2.5 sources

NAAQS: 40 µg/m³

Transition to LPG would reduce ambient PM_2.5 concentrations by 25%.
Reduced exposure to total PM_2.5 would result in a 29% reduction in the loss of healthy life, preventing 348 000 premature mortalities every year.
Full transitions result in 17-47% lower CO₂e – reductions increase with shifts from LPG to electricity

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Opportunities to strengthen synergies in the current policy landscape

Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

Food and Nutrition Board

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Ministry of Women & Child Development