Energy consumption pattern of wheat production in India

Wheat covers approximately 25% of the total global area devoted to by cereal crops. Wheat production needs to be augmented to meet the growing demand. The amount of wheat produced is a direct function of energy inputs. Wheat is produced using energy sources ranging from human and animal power to power of heavy machinery. The basic purpose of the present study is to optimize energy use patterns of different wheat growing regions (Western Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP)) of the Country in order to maximize yield. Villages and farmers were randomly selected for collecting data on energy requirement of wheat in Western Rajasthan and data for other regions were taken from reports. Wheat consumed maximum energy input in Western Rajasthan because light textured soil required frequent irrigation. Punjab and UP recorded maximum output–input energy ratio, 5.2 and 4.2, respectively. Punjab recorded minimum specific energy of 4.6 MJ/kg followed by UP (6.0 MJ/kg). Further, Punjab occupied the first place among all the States with 3334.8 kg/ha average yield, which is about 31% higher than the average productivity (2550.5 kg/ha) of the regions considered under the study. However, use of commercial energy was found maximum in Punjab (91.7%). Therefore, by ensuring optimal energy inputs in different regions wheat production in the Country could be increased.     

Energy demand forecast for mechanized agriculture in rural India

Though India has done well in agricultural development, the state of Assam in the northeastern region needs special attention for agricultural development to address several socio-economic issues and is a typical example of economically backward rural India. Agricultural development aiming at higher production would require mechanization and supply of sufficient energy is a prerequisite for mechanized agriculture. Rice is the major crop of Assam and the mechanization is at a nascent stage. The energy demand and supply scenarios with reference to some prospective mechanization strategies for rice crop are investigated in this study. Four strategic scenarios of mechanization including a baseline scenario incorporating some proven technologies are designed to assess the energy demands. The result of the analysis indicated that the demand for diesel would increase by more than 200% with an associated decrease in manpower by more than 80% and also 100% reduction of bullock power. The “availability index”, which is the ratio of available human workers to its critical demand, indicated insufficiency of required human workers in almost all agro-climatic zones of Assam justifying the need for mechanization. Economic analysis considering the prevailing rate of input commodities also favors agricultural mechanization in Assam.     

Energy consumption in three rural Kenyan households: A survey

Woodfuel is an important source of fuel energy in Kenya, constituting about 75% of the total energy consumed. The rural population relies almost entirely on fuelwood which has become increasingly difficult to obtain. In this study a questionnaire was used to establish the form and quantity of fuel used and the types of stoves used in rural households within Nyeri, Wanguru in Embu and Muhoroni in Kisumu. Forty households in Nyeri and 30 in each of the other two areas were randomly selected for the study. The availability of agricultural residues for use as fuel and the possibility of using briquettes for cooking were established. It was found that all the households have a 3-stone cooking stove in which they burn fuelwood or agricultural residues. Cowdung is used in Embu but not in Nyeri and Kisumu. The degree to which the population relies on agricultural residues for fuel varies among the villages. In Nyeri, most of the agricultural residues are either fed to cattle or left in the field. In Embu only a few of the houses use maize cobs and stalks. However, the rural population in Muhoroni rely heavily on sugarcane residues for their cooking fuel. In general, 15–35% of a household's income is spent on fuel though this does not take into account the time spent gathering fuel.     

Life cycle assessment of Jatropha biodiesel as transportation fuel in rural India

Since 2003 India has been actively promoting the cultivation of Jatropha on unproductive and degraded lands (wastelands) for the production of biodiesel suitable as transportation fuel. In this paper the life cycle energy balance, global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential and land use impact on ecosystem quality is evaluated for a small scale, low-input Jatropha biodiesel system established on wasteland in rural India. In addition to the life cycle assessment of the case at hand, the environmental performance of the same system expanded with a biogas installation digesting seed cake was quantified. The environmental impacts were compared to the life cycle impacts of a fossil fuel reference system delivering the same amount of products and functions as the Jatropha biodiesel system under research. The results show that the production and use of Jatropha biodiesel triggers an 82% decrease in non-renewable energy requirement (Net Energy Ratio, NER = 1.85) and a 55% reduction in global warming potential (GWP) compared to the reference fossil-fuel based system. However, there is an increase in acidification (49%) and eutrophication (430%) from the Jatropha system relative to the reference case. Although adding biogas production to the system boosts the energy efficiency of the system (NER = 3.40), the GWP reduction would not increase (51%) due to additional CH₄ emissions. For the land use impact, Jatropha improved the structural ecosystem quality when planted on wasteland, but reduced the functional ecosystem quality. Fertilizer application (mainly N) is an important contributor to most negative impact categories. Optimizing fertilization, agronomic practices and genetics are the major system improvement options.     

Energy use in the rural areas of India: setting up a rural energy data base

Aggregating and forecasting demand are crucial parts of energy planning. While a large number of energy consumption surveys have been conducted in the past in the rural energy sector of India, the lack of sufficient data and its compilation, coupled with doubt about the quality of data, has made the task extremely difficult. This paper summarizes our recent effort to compile, computerize and analyze data from 638 village energy consumption surveys covering over 39,000 households, carried out by different organisations between 1985 and 1989. The details of the level of information provided in the survey reports, area of survey, land use pattern, asset ownership, etc., of the collated studies are presented. Results based on the analysis of the energy consumption data compiled are then discussed. The national average for rural domestic thermal energy consumption (excluding water and space heating) estimated through this work (629 kcal or 2.63 MJ per capita daily) is much similar to the rural domestic thermal energy requirement assumed in most energy planning exercises in India in the past. The useful thermal energy consumption varies from 325 to 1065 kcal/cap/d (1.36-4.46 MJ/cap/d) in the East Coast Plain and Hills and the Eastern Himalayan Regions, respectively. Reconfirming the predominance of firewood, the data reveals that the contribution of firewood to the domestic thermal energy consumption has remained at about 58% over the last three decades; dungcake and agricultural residues contribute almost equally in the remaining share. At the national level, our estimates indicate that at least 180 million tonnes of firewood, 40 million tonnes of dungcakes and 30 million tonnes of agricultural residues were consumed in the rural sector for meeting the domestic thermal energy requirement in 1991. The paper also compares the estimates with those based on other surveys in India.     

Atmospheric emissions from road transportation in India

India has become one of the biggest emitters of atmospheric pollutants from the road transportation sector globally. Here we present an up-to-date inventory of the exhaust emissions of ten species. This inventory has been calculated bottom-up from the vehicle mileage, differentiating by seven vehicle categories, four age/technology layers and three fuel types each, for the seven biggest cities as well as for the whole nation. The age composition of the rolling fleet has been carefully modelled, deducting about one quarter of vehicles still registered but actually out-of-service. The vehicle mileage is calibrated to the national fuel consumption which is essential to limit uncertainties. Sensitivity analyses reveal the primary impact of the emission factors and the secondary influence of vehicle mileage and stock composition on total emissions. Emission estimates since 1980 are reviewed and qualified. A more comprehensive inspection and maintenance is essential to limit pollutant emissions; this must properly include commercial vehicles. They are also the most important vehicle category to address when fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions shall be contained.     

A rural hydrogen transportation test bed

The Missouri University Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), through a hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicle evaluation participation agreement with the Ford Motor Company, is in the process of establishing a commuter bus service and hydrogen refueling at a station in rural Missouri near Ft. Leonard Wood (FLW). Initiated by a request from the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center at FLW, Missouri S&T is leading the effort to launch the commuter service between FLW and the neighboring towns of Rolla and Lebanon, Missouri each of which are located approximately 40 km from the military base on Interstate-44 highway. The broad research, training, and education agenda for the rural hydrogen transportation test bed is to develop, demonstrate, evaluate, and promote safe hydrogen-based technologies in a real-world environment. With funds provided by the Defense Logistics Agency through the Air Force Research Laboratory, this hydrogen initiative will build and operate a hydrogen fueling facility that includes on-site generation of hydrogen by means of steam–methane reformation.     

Energy access problem of the poor in India: Is rural electrification a remedy?

India accounts for a third of the world's population without access to electricity and about 40% of those without access to modern energy. Such a situation exists despite several initiatives and policies to support poor households. Alarmed by the gravity of the situation, the government has recently announced an ambitious programme of rural electrification. This paper looks into the energy access situation of India and argues that rural electrification alone is unlikely to resolve the energy access problem because of low penetration of electricity in the energy mix of the poor.     

Wind Energy in India

A procedure to generate a list of benefits and optimal capacity combinations for transmission path upgrades is suggested. Optimal upgrading of transmission can be identified from such a list. The benefits computed are a measure of congestion in the system.     

Energy and environmental efficiency of China's transportation sectors under the constraints of energy consumption and environmental pollutions

The rapid growth of the economy in China has caused many problems for the country, particularly the energy shortage and environmental pollution. Thus, establishing a sustainable development of society has attracted considerable attention in recent years. In this paper, we evaluate the sustainability efficiency in terms of energy usage and environmental impact by using a new equilibrium efficient frontier data envelopment analysis (EEFDEA) approach. For the first time, DEA is used in the context of required fixed reductions in both total energy consumption and total environmental pollution, which is a realistic context that introduces a “zero-sum” aspect to the problem. As part of the analysis, the generalized equilibrium efficient frontier (EEF) is constructed based on minimum satisfaction degree maximization of all units, considering both minimum and maximum adjustment strategy, while most existing studies only minimized the weighted sum reduction. Finally, the sustainability efficiency of transportation sectors of China's 30 main regions is analyzed by using our proposed model. The results show that more effective measures should be taken for sustainable development.     

Energy consumption trends in Hawaii

This study begins with a review of energy consumption by end-use sector in Hawaii. Then, the energy generated from renewable energy sources is analyzed between 1991 and 2006. The results show that while geothermal is a considerable source of renewable energy on the Island of Hawaii (also known as Big Island), fossil fuel is the main energy source in the State of Hawaii. The energy intensity index for the State of Hawaii is then calculated by dividing energy consumption per capita by the income per capita. The calculated energy intensity index reveals that energy consumption is directly controlled by per capita income. The results also indicate that the energy intensity index increases over time despite positive developments in energy efficient technologies. In the second part of the paper, the effect of the tourism industry on energy usage in the State of Hawaii is analyzed. The results show that tourism volume, measured in terms of tourist arrival numbers, does not change the energy consumption directly. However, a change in tourism volume does affect per capita income within a few months to a year. In the last part of the study, the energy efficiency index of Hawaii is compared with consumption averages for the US, California and the most energy efficient country in Europe, Denmark. The comparison shows that Hawaii lags behind California and Denmark in terms of energy efficiency. The comparison also shows that an increase in energy efficiency corresponds to an increase in per capita income across the board, which is in agreement with a recent report published by the American Physical Society.     

Decomposition analysis of energy consumption in Chinese transportation sector

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relations between transportation energy consumption and its impacted factors. We first analyze the current status of transportation energy consumption in China. Then, the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) technique is used to find the nature of the factors those influence the changes in transportation energy consumption. We find that: (1) In 2006, the transportation energy consumption increased by 7.63 times against that in 1980. (2) Up to 2006, the oil consumed by transportation accounted for 49.6% of that in the whole country, which almost equaled to the net oil import. (3) In the light of the increasing energy consumption intensity, the energy-utilization effectiveness of transportation sector has been declining gradually. (4) The transportation activity effect is the most important contributor to increase energy consumption in the transportation sector and the energy intensity effect plays the dominant role in decreasing energy consumption.     

Energy poverty in rural Bangladesh

Energy poverty is a well-established concept among energy and development specialists. International development organizations frequently cite energy-poverty alleviation as a necessary condition to reduce income poverty. Several approaches used to measure energy poverty over the past 20 years have defined the energy poverty line as the minimum quantity of physical energy needed to perform such basic tasks as cooking and lighting. This paper uses a demand-based approach to define the energy poverty line as the threshold point at which energy consumption begins to rise with increases in household income. At or below this threshold point, households consume a bare minimum level of energy and should be considered energy poor. This approach was applied using cross-sectional data from a comprehensive 2004 household survey representative of rural Bangladesh. The findings suggest that some 58 percent of rural households in Bangladesh are energy poor, versus 45 percent that are income poor. The findings also suggest that policies to support rural electrification and greater use of improved biomass stoves might play a significant role in reducing energy poverty.     

印度可再生能源发展状况

20世纪 40年代末 ,印度已有沼气厂和改进型灶具等可再生能源技术 ,但中等以上规模的项目在 1 973年的能源危机之后才得以发展。印度政府对可再生能源一直非常重视 ,1 982年在印度能源部下设了非常规能源司 (ＤＮＥＳ)。至 1 992年 ,非常规能源司升级为非常规能源部 (ＭＮＥＳ) ,以推广商品化或近商品化的可再生能源技术。1 993年中期 ,非常规能源部增强技术力量 ,通过设计与开发及实施大规模示范项目推广可再生能源技术 ,并创建了许多技术支持中心 ,帮助制造商提高技术 ,认证政府购置的设备的质量。以可再生能源的商业化和市场导向为中心 ,…     

Determinants of household energy consumption in India

Improving access to affordable modern energy is critical to improving living standards in the developing world. Rural households in India, in particular, are almost entirely reliant on traditional biomass for their basic cooking energy needs. This has adverse effects on their health and productivity, and also causes environmental degradation. This study presents a new generic modelling approach, with a focus on cooking fuel choices, and explores response strategies for energy poverty eradication in India. The modelling approach analyzes the determinants of fuel consumption choices for heterogeneous household groups, incorporating the effect of income distributions and traditionally more intangible factors such as preferences and private discount rates. The methodology is used to develop alternate future scenarios that explore how different policy mechanisms such as fuel subsidies and micro-financing can enhance the diffusion of modern, more efficient, energy sources in India.     

Energy storage for urban rail transportation

城市轨道交通车辆再生制动产生大量再生电能,引入储能系统回收再生电能并进行循环利用,是未来建设节能型社会的要求与发展方向.本文针对城市轨道交通系统中的储能系统,首先,介绍了飞轮,超级电容,锂电池等储能系统目前国内外的应用情况;其次,比较了三者的性能和经济性,提出了超级电容-锂电池结合的经济性储能模式;最后,介绍了几种常见的储能装置控制策略,并结合近期储能系统的研究进展,指出了未来储能系统关键技术及其发展方向.     

Energy consumption in Canada since confederation

This article presents a picture of the energy history of an expanding industrial country. Data are presented on energy consumption and energy sources in Canada since confederation in 1867. The original data have been converted to a ‘fuel equivalent’ basis to allow a more detailed comparison of energy source. The average yearly growth of energy consumption on a fuel equivalent basis for the past 100 years has been 3·1%. Per capita consumption of energy has increased 4·7 times in the 105 years included in the study.     

我国交通运输能源消费的初步分析与探讨

文章尝试就现有数据分析了我国交通运输能源消费情况,提出应从规划上选择节能经济的运输方式,从源头上解决往返重复运输问题,以实现运输过程的节能降耗;进行交通运输的规划时,预先科学比选各种运输方式,优化产品、产业的运输方案;应研究交通运输领域通过管理实现节能降耗目标的长效机制及有关政策法规等。     

Energy policy and planning in India

Following the increasing trend in energy prices since 1973, as energy sectors and other economic sectors compete for the limited investible resources in the developing countries, increasing energy import and development costs might constrain their economic growth rate in the foreseeable future. India, as one of the largest developing countries with limited petroleum resources and a large population yet to cross the threshold level of energy consumption needed for economic well-being, is also undergoing increasing economic strains imposed by the energy crisis.The current energy situation in India, the future prospects and the policy issues in the energy and nonenergy sectors having direct impact on the energy situation, are discussed in this presentation. The paper gives an account of the past energy planning studies in India, energy resources and past trends of energy consumption. Energy demand forecasts based on a reference level and an optimal level scenarios as determined by the recent study by the Working Group on Energy Policy appointed by the Government of India are presented. The paper concludes with the presentation of an Energy-Economic Modeling framework for analyzing energy policy and development plans within a macroeconomic planning framework.     

Simulation of rural household fuel consumption in Bangladesh

We present a quantitative dynamic simulation model as a system study for rural household-biomass fuel consumption in LDCs such as Bangladesh. The rural areas of Bangladesh serve for model validation. The parameters, constants and initial values in the model represent present conditions. The performance of the system has been evaluated by incorporating alternative policies, and the model has been simulated to project the status of the system over an extended period of time. Several variables have been selected to assess system response as well as the impacts of policies. An assessment of household-biomass fuel consumption impact on environmental degradation is made for deforestation.