Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is quite popular in rural areas as a clean cooking fuel but many of them still rely on burning solid fuels such as biomass, coal, and dung.
Lots of efforts are being made to improve access and adoption of LPG in rural Indian households to address the massive health, economic, and social burdens of widespread solid fuel use. Cooking with other solid fuels is considered a significant health hazard especially with women who spend the maximum time in cooking facing the greatest risks. To decrease household air pollution there should be more use of LPG as cooking fuel. The use of clean fuels like LPG is an important step towards improving the health benefits suggested by the burden of disease attributable to HAP exposure. In many developed countries such as Oman, LPG is widely used as cooking fuel and the people get the best cooking gas cylinder delivery Oman by their chosen LPG distributors.
Although LPG has several economic and health benefits, the use of LPG has not become much popular among rural households. There have been different researches that discuss the detailed investigation into stable household fuel use and cooking patterns with large sample sizes . Many studies have shown that one-third of the world’s population still relies on solid fuels, whose combustion, in turn, is the leading cause of death for children under the age of 5 and the greatest global environmental health threat. It becomes pertinent to research how LPG plays an important role in rural households and livelihoods in their daily routines.
Struggles with using LPG as cooking fuel in rural areas of developing nations :
Cost : The initial cost of the stove and connection is a barrier to adopt LPG in households. In rural areas, the cost is one of the important factors for sustained use of LPG. LPG cylinder “lumpiness” has been previously cited as a constraint on exclusive use, especially in comparison to other fuels that may be either collected or purchased in small quantities
Availability : Households in rural areas have limited access to LPG as it requires proper supply networks and therefore solid fuels which are easily available are mostly used in rural areas. Because of the inaccessibility of LPG, there is infrequent use of LPG. Also in rural areas of developing nations, sustainable LPG supply chains may not be available in the future.
Heating : There are space benefits of wood-burning stoves in colder climates and rural contexts which makes it popular than LPG.
Safety concerns : Though LPG has several benefits, still many people express fear about using LPG stoves in their households. Accidents are bound to happen without proper knowledge of safety awareness about handling LPG stoves such as how to detect leaks and what should be done in case of leaks from old valves and faulty cylinders.
