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Spatial distribution of biomass consumption as energy inrural areas of the Indo-Gangetic plain

T. Saud a,b,*, D.P. Singh b, T.K. Mandal a, Ranu Gadi b, H. Pathak c, M. Saxena a,S.K. Sharma a, R. Gautam a, A. Mukherjee a, R.P. Bhatnagar a

aNational Physical Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi-110012, Indiab Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi-110006, IndiacDivision of Environmental Sciences, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 26 May 2010

Received in revised form

27 August 2010

Accepted 1 November 2010

Available online 23 November 2010

Keywords:

Biomass

Indo-Gangetic plain

Crop residues

Fuelwood

Dung cake

a b s t r a c t

Biomass is widely used as energy source in rural households in India. Biomass samples and

socio-economic data have been collected at district level in the rural areas of Indo-Gangetic

plain (IGP), India to determine the emissions of trace gases and aerosols from domestic

fuels. Dung cake, fuelwood and crop residue are main sources of energy in rural areas of

the IGP. Dung cake is the major domestic fuel (80e90%) in the rural areas of Delhi, Punjab,

Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, whereas, 99% of rural households in

Uttarakhand use wood as the main energy source. Using crop production data and usage of

crop residues as energy, new consumption values have been estimated (21.13 Mt). Present

information on the domestic fuel usage would be helpful in determining budgets estimates

of trace gases and aerosols for India.

ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Energy is an integral part of a society playing an important role

in its socio-economic development by raising the standard of

living and the quality of life. The state of economic develop-

ment of any region can be assessed from the pattern and

consumption quality of its energy. Energy demand increases

as the economy grows bringing along a change in the

consumption pattern of energy, which, in turn, varies with its

source and availability. Through the different stages of devel-

opment, humankind has experimented on various sources of

energy ranging from wood, coal, oil and petroleum to nuclear

power. But indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources

and unplanned developmental activities have led to serious

ecological and environmental problems. For the purpose of

space heating and food preparation, especially in rural areas,

fuelwood, crop residue and dried animal manure are burnt in

traditional domestic stoves (chulhas) and cookers with low

combustionefficiency.Use of traditional fuelmayhave serious

consequences on human health too [3].

Biomass burning is an important source of trace gases and

aerosol which effect on atmospheric chemistry and radiation

budget of the earth [1,2]. Quantitative information on biomass

burning is necessary to understand the source and sinks of

the atmospheric trace gases and aerosols. The latest National

Ambient Air Quality Standards released by Ministry of Envi-

ronment and Forest, India [4] requires the daily average

concentration of PM10 (particulate matter less than 10 mm in

* Corresponding author. Radio and Atmospheric Sciences Division, National Physical Laboratory, Council of Scientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR), Dr. K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi-110012, India. Tel.: þ91 11 45609448; fax: þ91 11 45609310.

E-mail address: trailokyasaud@gmail.com (T. Saud).

Avai lab le at www.sc iencedi rect .com

ht tp : / /www.e lsev ier . com/ loca te /b iombioe

b i om a s s an d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 9 3 2e9 4 1

0961-9534/$ e see front matter ª 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.11.001

Author's personal copy

diameter) to be less than 100 mg m�3 and annual average to

be less than 60 mg m�3. In contrast, concentration of PM10

ranges from 500 to 2000 mg m�3 during cooking in typical

Indian households [5]. In addition, smoke contains high level

of pollutants like carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and

sulphur, formaldehyde, benzo(a)pyrene and benzene, which

are hazardous for human health [3]. Besidesmorbidity, indoor

air pollution from biomass burning in developing countries is

believed to be responsible for an estimated 2.2e2.5 million

premature deaths every year [6]. India alone registers over 0.6

million premature deaths per year that can be attributed to

use of biomass fuel [7].

Biomass (fuelwood, animal dung, crop residue) is widely

used as a source of energy in developed as well as developing

countries. Every year more than 120 million tones of biomass

residues are generated in SoutheEast Asia [8] and provide

26% of total primary energy supply [9]. In China, total biomass

productioncomprisesofagricultural residues (57.7%), fuelwood

(39.2%) and animal waste (3.2%) [10]; whereas, biomass energy

consumption in Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka are 2.72,

1.36 and 1.51 EJ respectively [11,12,13]. Approximately 80% of

rural households in India use unprocessed solid biomass such

as wood, dung and agricultural residues for domestic cooking

and room heating [14]. Joshi [15] reported the predominance of

firewood usage in rural areas with per capita consumption

(national aggregates in 1992) of 1.10e1.34 kg day�1. The per

capita consumption of dung cake and agricultural residue is

0.47e0.63 and 0.40e0.49 kg day�1 respectively. The rural energy

database generated across the agro climatic zones showed

significant variation in firewood. According to Mahapatra and

Mitchell [16], socio-economic factors influence the bioenergy

use in rural India. But scarcity of forests does not lower the

demand for biofuels. Natarajan [17] showed that firewood

constituted 61.2% of total rural household energy in 1992e93 as

against 54.57% in 1978e79. Sinha et al. [18] reported that

contribution of firewood has remained around 65% of the rural

energy during the last three decades. The demand of fuelwood

in rural areas for domestic needs in 1991 was 180 million tons

(Mt), with the average consumption in villages being

1.22 kg day�1. Misra et al. [19] reported that 49% of domestic

energy used for cooking and heating was from biomass. Fuel-

wood was the only fuel used by all the income groups.

The present study has been carried out across the Indo-

Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. The IGP is the major source of

pollutants over India due to the usage of biomass fuels as

energy. Moreover, due to rapid urbanization and industriali-

zation over this region, geographical distribution of pollutants

has changed. These pollutants affect the air quality as well as

climate of the region. Availability of large amount of crop

residues over the IGP due to high yielding wheat and rice

varieties has enabled the population to use it as source of

energy. There is limited information on the consumption

pattern of biomass fuels as energy source over the IGP of India.

In the present study biomass fuel samples and socio-

economic information data are collected at district level over

IGP to estimate the trace gas and aerosol emission budget.

Availability of bio-resource is highly diversified as it is influ-

enced bymeteorological, geographic and also to certain extent

the socio-economic status of the people. Using information

on crop production and pattern of agricultural residue

consumption collected during survey, amount of consump-

tion of crop residues over the IGP area is estimated and

compared with available published data.

2. Sampling area

The IGP is a great alluvial crescent stretching from the Indus

River system in Pakistan to the Punjab Plain (in both Pakistan

and India) and the Haryana Plains to the delta of the river

Ganga in Bangladesh. Topographically the plain is homoge-

neous, with only floodplains and other related features of the

river erosion and changes in river channels forming important

natural features. The IGP is sometimes divided into three

parts: the IndusValley (mostly in Pakistan), the Punjab (divided

between India and Pakistan) and Haryana plains, and the

middle and lower Ganga. These regional distinctions are based

primarily on the availability of water. IGP, India comprises of

the states of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh

(UP), Bihar and West Bengal. Indian IGP can be divided into

sub-regions: the Trans-Gangetic Plains (TGP: Uttarakhand,

Punjab and Haryana) and the Gangetic Plains (U.P., Bihar and

West Bengal). The Gangetic Plains of UP thereby comprises the

Upper-Gangetic Plains and part of the Middle-Gangetic Plains.

Bihar comprises most of the Middle-Gangetic Plains andWest

Bengal, the Lower-Gangetic Plains. Each sub-region comprises

of various agro-ecological subzones as described in the clas-

sification by Narang and Virmani [20] and Kumar et al. [21].

Samples of domestic biomass fuels and information on

biomass fuel usages have been collected at district level in

rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarak-

hand, Bihar and West Bengal of Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP).

Areas of sampling are shown in Fig. 1.

3. Methodology

Samples of biomass fuels have been collectedmostly from the

households of low- tomedium income groupswhere themain

occupation is either being employed in government sector or

self employed in the agricultural fields. We have categorized

household biomass fuels into three different types: residues

of all agricultural crops as agricultural biomass (crop residue),

all types of wood used as fuelwood and faeces of domestic

animals used as energy under dung cakes (Table 1). Data on

crop yield are also collected to correlate the usage of biomass

as fuel and crop production. Using ratio of this crop produc-

tion and consumption of agricultural residues, the consump-

tion of biomass as fuel has been estimated.

During thesurvey,wehavechosentwovillages (sites)of two

different subdivisions in each district to get the representative

data for each district. In addition,while collecting biomass fuel

samples, we have followed three criteria for choosing two

villages (sites) e.g., (i) population of the village must be within

the range of 2000e20,000, (ii) about 50e90% of inhabitants of

the village should use biomass as their primary source of

energy for their household activities (iii) two sites must be

away from district head quarters by 10e15 km. We have also

correlated the use of biomass fuels with the economic

constraints as well as availability of biomass fuels.

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The survey of the village has been conducted by using

semi-structured interviews. Details of people, resources,

infrastructure, crop yield, availability of fuelwood, dung cake

used in the village and other significant aspects of village

livelihood are collected from village leader on discussion with

villagers. Particular attention is given to the management of

crop residues. Questionnaire was developed to collect infor-

mation of crop yield in that area, type of biomass fuels used as

energy and their percentage, percentage of chulha and LPG

used for cooking, approximate percentage of service holders,

cultivators and self employed etc. It has been observed over

the study area that the fluctuation of use of biomass fuels

strongly depend on economic stability as well as easy avail-

ability of biomass fuels.

We have compared our present observation with two

reported data sets viz, the TERI Energy Data Directory Year-

book (TEDDY) and National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3).

4. Results and discussion

In SoutheEast Asia, biomass is the major source of energy

nearly accounting for 33% of the country’s energy usage

reaching levels as high as 75e90%. Fuelwood is mostly used

for cooking and heating purposes. When scarcity arises,

fuelwood is substituted by crop residues and animal dung.

The IGP is considered as a study area for detail understanding

of fuel consumption pattern as a source of energy.

4.1. Variation of biomass fuel consumption over IGP

Present study has been carried out across the IGP, comprising

the states of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pra-

desh (U.P.), Bihar and West Bengal. The pattern of biomass

fuels consumption for energy in rural area has been deter-

mined by surveying several villages of Indo-Gangetic plain.

It has been observed that pattern of consumption of biomass

fuels have varied widely according to agro-climate zones.

We will discuss the consumption pattern of biomass fuels as

a source of energy in different states of the IGP.

Fig. 1 e Areas of sampling over Indo-Gangetic plain.

Table 1 e Types of biomass used as fuels.

Domestic biomass Species

Agricultural biomass (crop residue):

Straw Wheat, Paddy, Barley, Pulses etc.

Stalk Cotton, Maize, Arhar, Mustard,

Sesame, Chilly

Bagasse, Tops

and Leaves

Sugarcane

Cobsa Maize

Huska Paddy

Shellsa Groundnut

Fuelwood Woody

Dung cake Cattle dung

a Processing residue.

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4.1.1. UttarakhandThe state of Uttarakhand is situated in the northern part of

India and geographical area lies between latitude 28� 430 and31� 280 Nand longitude 77� 340 and 81� 030 E. As per Census 2001[22], the total population of the state is 8.48 million of which

the rural population is 73.33%. This state is almost covered

by mountains. This state comprises of three different climate

zones: tropical, sub-tropical and temperate. The climate can

be divided into three different zones: rainy (mid JuneeSep-

tember), winter (OctobereFebruary) and summer (Marchemid

June). The percentage of cultivators in this region is found to

be approximately 60e70%.

Thepeople of this state dependonly on fuelwood asprimary

energy for cooking. Hence consumption of fuelwood is more

in this region as compared to other regions of the IGP. Kumar

and Sharma [23] have reported the fuelwood consumption

pattern at different altitudes in rural areas of Garhwal Hima-

layas and availability of fuelwood over these regions. House-

holds mostly use fuelwood e.g., Pine (61%), Quercus sp. (35%),

Rhododren (26%),Grewia sp. (22%),Azadirachtasp. (9%),Eucalyptus

(17%) and Shorea sp. (9%) as mixed fuel for cooking (Fig. 2).

Averageconsumptionof fuelwoodvaries from1.50kgpercapita

per day (summer) to 2.50 kg per capita per day (winter) [23,24].

This consumption value is higher than Central Himalayas

region (1.49 kg per capita per day). Chetri et al. [25] and Sati [26]

havealso reportedhigher fuelwoodconsumption in this region.

Unlike other regions of India, where forest resources are

not sufficient, people use easily available agricultural residues

and dung cake as alternate source of energy for cooking. In

this region, agricultural residues are used as food for the

livestock. Due to the decrease of livestock in this region,

availability of dung cakes from animal faeces is very less. Most

of the animal faeces are used as farmyard manure. Another

probable reason for not using dung cakes in this region is that

due to high humidity and less sunshine and it is quite

a tedious task to prepare dried dung cakes. Usage of animal

faeces as dung cake for cooking is not reported anywhere in

this region.

4.1.2. HaryanaThe geographical area of Haryana lies between latitude 27� 390

and 30� 550N and longitude 74� 270 and 77� 360E. Physio-

graphically, the state is divided into three zones viz. the

Shiwaliks, the Aravali hills and the Indo-Gangetic plains. The

sub-region has a semi-arid climate and a sauce-shaped

topography. Annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 700 mm in

surveyed zones, with a marked seasonality (some 80% falling

in JuneeSeptember). The total population of the state is 21.14

million of which the rural population constitutes 70.08% [22].

Most of the village households (90%) use Chulha for cooking.

Usage of LPG as primary energy product in rural households

is rare and restricted to high income group households only.

Irrigation infrastructure in this state is so extensive that in

2000e2001 the irrigated area of Haryana was 84% of total land.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the population. The

major crops in this state are rice, wheat, sugarcane, pulses and

cereals. Erenstein et al. [27] have also reported that the agri-

cultural residue of wheat and rice is used as ex-situ feed. Of

course, farmers do not consider the residue of coarse grain rice

as animal feed; rather they prefer to in-situ burning. Similarly,

top of sugarcane is also used as animal feed. These observa-

tions match with our present survey. Households do not

consider rice and wheat residue as energy for cooking. Joon

et al. [28] have surveyed on household energy consumption

pattern and socio-cultural dimensions in Jhajjar district of

Haryana. Apart from rice andwheat residue, other agricultural

residues like Gossypium sp. (50%), Cayanus sp. (28%) and Jantar

(28%) are used in households for cooking (Fig. 2).

Since average livestock is more in Haryana (2.5 heads per

village household) than other IGP regions, availability of

potential quantity of dung from animal faeces in Haryana is

observed. Out of total dung available, 58% of it is used as

farmyardmanure, 40% is used as fuel and 2% is used for biogas

generation [27]. Beri et al. [29] reported that 72% of dung is

used as farmyard manure, 21% as cakes for energy and 7%

for biogas plants. In our present survey it is observed that

100% of households of total number of sampling sites use

dung cake as primary fuel for cooking. It has been observed

that bigger sizes of dung cake are stored for the whole year for

cooking purposes. This is probably due to the reason that the

weather in this region is quite hot and dry and dried dung

cakes made by the people of the area can be stored easily for

future requirement throughout the year.

In addition to the usage of crop residues and dung cakes, it

has been observed that households use fuelwood e.g., Keekar

(61%), Azadirchta sp. (11%),Mulberry sp. (11%), Eucalyptus (17%),

Populous sp. (33%) for cooking generally as a mixed fuel. Usage

of these fuelwood is restricted to lower income group of the

village since this fuelwood are picked from unguarded forest

cover in that locality. Our present observations on the

consumption pattern of all the biomass fuels are almost same

with the values reported by TEDDY [30] but differ in case of

consumption pattern of dung cake.

4.1.3. PunjabPunjab, an intensively cultivated state having more than

84% of total area under agriculture, is situated in the north-

western part of India and lies between latitude 29� 330 and32� 320N and longitude 73� 530 and 76�560E. Physiographically,the state can be divided into three regions viz. mountain

Himalayas, sub mountainous Himalayas and eastern and

Western Alluvial plains. As per Census 2001 [22], the total

population of the state is 24.29 million of which the rural

population constitute 66.10%. Since Punjab is a part of trans-

Gangetic Plain, Punjab has semi-arid climate with annually

400e700mm rainfall. Due to large crop productivity in Punjab,

economic standard has increased substantially as compared

to other regions of IGP. As a result, 30% of households in the

village use LPG as a primary energy for cooking and pattern is

different from any other IGP states. Of course, 70% people use

traditional chulha for cooking. It has also been observed that

few households use chulha with the belief that food cooked

is tastier on chuhla although they can afford to use LPG.

Approximately, 70% people in the village area are cultiva-

tors in this state. During monsoon season rice, pulses and

other cereals are grown which are harvested in autumn

(kharif), whereas, during winter season (rabi), major crops are

wheat, cotton, sugarcane and pulses etc which are harvested

in spring season. As discussed earlier, like Haryana residues

generated fromwheat, fine rice and top of sugarcane are used

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as ex-situ animal feed, whereas, coarse grain rice is mostly

burnt in the field before tilling and sawing of another crop. In

Punjab, the effect on such in-situ crop residue burning on the

atmosphere is studied by Badrinath et al. [31] using satellite

data. Households use other agricultural residues e.g., Jantar

(25%) and Gossypium sp. (25%) as fuels for cooking (Fig. 2).

Like Haryana, average livestock density (3.3 heads per

household in village) in Punjab is more than other IGP regions

[32]. Potential quantity of dung is also available in this state.

Use of chemical fertilizer in this state is universal and more

than any other states of India, but due to degrading soil quality

[33,34], use of dung as farmyard manure is also increasing in

this state to sustain the productivity. Beri et al. [29] have found

that inPunjab, animaldung ismostlyusedas farmyardmanure

(72%) as compared to its use as fuel (21%) and production of

biogas (7%). Results of recent survey in Patiala [32] shows that

potential amount of animal dung is used as fuel (40%) in

addition to its use as farmyard manure and for biogas gener-

ation.Ourpresent survey shows that 88%villagehouseholdsof

Punjab use dung cakes as primary fuel for cooking. This is less

as compared to thehouseholds ofHaryanaand itmaybedue to

better economic development of this state.

The village households use available fuelwood as a mixed

fuel in this state. In Punjab, fuelwood likeAzadirachta sp. (53%),

Mulberry sp. (38%), Dalbergia sisso sp. (25%), Eucalyptus (31%),

Keekar (16%) and Populous sp. (16%) (Fig. 2) are used for cooking.

Like Haryana, it is noticed that use of fuelwood collected from

unguarded forest areas is mostly restricted to lower income

group. The pattern for consumption of biomass fuels reported

by TEDDY [30] is almost similar to that of Haryana (Fig. 4).

4.1.4. DelhiDelhi, the capital state of India is located on the bank of the

river Yamuna. It lies between latitude 28� 220 to 28� 540N and

longitude 76� 480 to 77� 230E. Delhi lies almost in the Trans-

Gangetic plains. The total population of Delhi is 13.85 million

[22]. The urban population is 93.18% and rural is 6.82%.

Mostly, the migrated people of lower income group reside in

small temporary houses. These groups are potential users of

biomass fuels as energy in Delhi. We have done the survey for

only those regions where people of lower income group reside

and the border areas of Delhi.

Lower income group (100%) households of Delhi use dung

cake as fuel. This dung is mostly available from surrounding

local areas. Due to availability of large amount of unguarded

forest cover, the use of fuelwood is reported to be more than

expected value. Generally, the fuelwood is picked up dried

twigs from the unguarded forest areas all over Delhi. During

the present survey, it has been noticed that lower income

groups have used Keekar (70%), Azadirachta sp. (20%), Mulberry

sp. (10%) and Dalbergia sp. (10%) for cooking as a mixed fuel

(Fig. 2). Due to non-availability of cultivation land in Delhi, no

crop residue is available for fuel. However, some of the

household use crop residue and it may be only available when

they are transported from outside and sold to the lower

income group in cheaper prices. It has been noticed that only

mustard stem is used as agricultural residue (10%) (Fig. 4).

4.1.5. Uttar PradeshThe most populous state of the country Uttar Pradesh is sit-

uated between 23� 520 and 30� 240N latitude and 77� 050 and 84�

380E longitude neighboring Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarak-

hand Bihar, and western Nepal. The state can be divided into

two physiographic zones namely; the vast Gangetic plains

having highly fertile alluvial soil and the smaller southern hill

plateau having predominantly rocky strata. The state covers

from semi-arid to sub-humid climate with an annual rainfall

ranging from 700 to 1300 mm with a highly seasonal distri-

bution. The population of the state is 166.05 million [22]. Rural

and urban population is 79.22% and 20.78% respectively. Here

also around 90% people use chulha for cooking.

Crop production is themajor source of incomeof the general

population. On average, in the monsoon season, the village

cropped area is allocated to rice (30%), sugarcane (22%), horti-

culture crops (10%), other cereals (9%), fodder crops (5%) and

pulses/oilseeds (3%) [35]. U.P. is one of themajorwheat, rice and

sugarcane producing state. Beri et al. [29] estimated that 22% of

rice straw and 10% of wheat straw are burned in-situ in U.P.

Burning of the cereal residue is prominent over northwest and

central UP, whereas rice straw burning is limited and wheat

strawburning is almost absent. Crop residuemanagement over

UP can be seen as ex-situ animal feed (100%), in-situ grazing

(67%), non-feed use (50%) and in-situ burning (0e67%). Rest of

crop residues consist of Brassica sp. (41%), cayanas sp. (23%) and

maize (9%)andaresupposed tobeusedasfuel for cooking (Fig. 2).

Average livestock availability in western part of U.P. is on

an average comparable to Haryana and Punjab (2.1e2.2 heads

per village household) in contrast to easternU.P. (0.7 heads per

village household). Consumption of dung as farmyardmanure

ismore inwesternU.P. (52%) as compared to easternU.P. (47%)

Fig. 2 e Distribution of Biomass fuel uses over Indo-Gangetic plain. 1. Dung Cake; 2. Acacia sp.; 3. Azadirachta sp; 4. Brassica

sp.; 5. Morus sp.; 6. Dalbergia sp.; 7. Eucalyptus sp.; 8. Oleum sp.; 9. Mangifera sp.; 10. Castor sp.; 11. Cajanas sp.; 12. Maize;

13. Ficus sp.;14. Coriandrum sp.; 15. Gossypium sp.; 16. Populus sp.;17.Asheta; 18. Bark of spruce; 19. Bel; 20. Betan; 21.

Grewia sp.; 22. Borial; 23. Rododendron; 24. Pinus sp.; 25. Dhara; 26. Dhola; 27. Fedo; 28. Gum; 29. Haldu; 30. Karonda; 31.

Kemu; 32. Kharik; 33. Kharsa; 34. Kigri; 35. Kuri; 36. Latten; 37. Mahal; 38. More; 39. Pyrus commonis sp.; 40. Quercus sp.; 41.

Ongal; 42. Pariya; 43. Reindel; 44 Rohini; 45. Roria; 46. Ryne; 47. Tectona grandis; 48. Shorea robusta sp.; 49. Suttar; 50.

Melanoxylon sp.; 51. Timara; 52. Tungla; 53. Tunn; 54. Utish; 55. Vasinda; 56.Adu; 57. Acacia sp.; 58. Bambusa sp.; 59. Musa

acuminata; 60. Solanummelongena sp.; 61. Capsicum sp.; 62. Coal cake; 63. Coriander stem; 64. Dencha; 65. Psidium sp.; 66.

Corchorus sp.; 67. Kanhaya; 68. Kariya; 69. Hibiscus sp.; 70. Mahua 22. Mangifera sp.; 71. Meetha neem (azadirachta sp.); 72.

Oriza sp.; 73. Sikad; 74. Soccharum sp.; 75. Helianthus sp.; 76. Triticum sp.; 77. Terminalia sp.; 78. Bera kalmi; 79. Besharam;

80. Bhabri; 81. Coconut; 82. Dupa; 83. Tamarind sp.;84. Flower straw; 85. Gamari; 86. Arachis hypogea sp.; 87. Jinni; 88.

Kadam; 89. Arto carpus sp.; 90. Mealleetun; 91. Vigna Mungo sp.; 92. Palm leaves; 93. Butea sp.; 94. Solanum sp.; 95.

Resham; 96. Sirish; 97. Sonajhuri; 98. Sourajhum; 99. Supari; 100. Chamelia sinesis sp.; 101. Sesame.

b i om a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 9 3 2e9 4 1 937

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[35]. Earlier survey [29] shows that 65% dung is used as farm-

yard manure, 26% as dung cakes, whereas, 9% is used for

biogas plants. Recent survey [35] shows that only 45% of dung

is used as fuel, 54% is used as farmyardmanure and 1% is used

for biogas. In the present study, it is estimated that 100% of

village households use dung cake as primary energy for

cooking. It is also observed that bigger size dung cakes are

dried and stored in a place for the whole year for cooking

purposes. The same pattern is also noticed in Haryana and

Punjab. Fuelwood e.g., Keekar (41%), Azadirachta sp. (45%),

Eucalyptus (41%), Dalbergia sisso sp.(27%), Mangifera sp.(36%)

and Populous sp. (14%) are used as mixed fuel. Unlike Haryana

and Punjab, generally village households of all income groups

use fuelwood as mixed fuel for cooking.

4.1.6. BiharGeographical area of Bihar lies between latitude 24� 160 and 27�

450N and longitude 83�160 and 88�300E. It is also situated in the

eastern part of India and lies in the lower Indo-Gangetic plain.

Thetotalpopulationofthestate is82.88million[22].Ofthis, rural

population is 89.50% and urban is 10.50%. Bihar is characterized

by a hot sub-humid climate with annual rainfall in the range of

1000e1500 mm (with 85% falling in JuneeSeptember), the

presence of low-lying flood-prone areas, periodically changing

river courses, and a diversity of rice-based cropping systems. In

Bihar, for rural households with access to land, the major

activity is crop production. Seasonal cropping patterns are

distinct and influenced by variation in topography, soils, depth

to ground water, and availability of reliable irrigation. We have

surveyed 34districts out of 38districts exceptWest Champaran,

Shekhpura, Jehanabad, Arwal. The main livelihood activities

were crop farming, farm labour, employed outside district,

livestock rearing and self employed. Practicing agriculture,

whether crop or animal, is the main livelihood source for

75e95% of households. Thorpe et al. [36] have reported that

53e64% of village households depend on agriculture in three

districts: Bhojpur, Samastipur and Begusarai. About 90% people

of this state in rural areas use chulha for cooking.

Bihar comprises 17% of the riceewheat system area of the

IGP in India [37]. The riceewheatsystemparticularlyprevails in

the NW and South Bihar Plains. Cultivation remains the main

source of income in this region. Themain crops are rice,wheat,

maize, mustard, lentils, gram etc. The use of agricultural resi-

duesasbiomass fuels like rice straw;wheat strawandgramare

very low. Other agricultural residues e.g., mustard stem (49%),

maize (31%) are used as biomass fuels. Rice straw,wheat straw

and gram are used for feeding livestock. Thorpe et al. [36] also

reported that crop residue over Bhojpur, Samastipur and

Begusarai are used as ex-situ feed use (100%), in-situ grazing

(44%), non-feed use (67%) and in-situ burning (11%). This

pattern changes with the topography. Particularly such

difference may be noticed over southern side of the Ganges in

Bihar as it is mostly barren land and availability of low level

ground water as compared to northern side of the Ganges.

Average livestock availability in Bihar is 0.5 heads per

household [36]. Availability of dung is therefore less as

compared to Haryana, Punjab and western U.P. but matches

with eastern U.P. region. Thorpe et al. [36] have reported that

dung is used as fuel (48e92%), farmyard manure (8e69%) and

other (3%) over Bhojpur, Samastipur and Begugsarai districts

of Bihar. As per present survey, 100% households in this state

use dung cake as a primary energy source for cooking.

Fuelwood e.g., Dalbergia sisso sp. (36%), Mangifera sp. (25%)

and Bambusa sp. (16%) are used as biomass fuels (Fig. 2). The

fuelwood is available from unguarded forest cover of common

ownership. LikeU.P. thevillagehouseholdsofall incomegroups

use fuelwood as mixed fuel for cooking. According to TEDDY

report [30], 68% rural households use fuelwood as biomass

fuel in this state because of burning efficiency and availability.

The comparative chart for crop residue is given in Fig. 4.

4.1.7. West BengalGeographically West Bengal is situated in the eastern part of

the country between 21� 200 and 27� 320N latitude and 85� 500

and 89� 520E longitudes with coastline as well as the Hima-

layas. The population of the state is 80.22million [22] of which

rural and urban population is 72% and 28% respectively. We

have surveyed in 18 districts out of 19 districts except Kolkata,

because of non-availability of rural areas. We could collect

samples from two villages (sites) of each district except

Burdwan, Darjeeling, East Midnapur and North 24-Parganas.

As per our survey, approximately 90% village households

in this state are engaged in cultivation practices. It is also

observed in this study that about 90% village households use

Chulha for cooking, whereas, only 10% use LPG. It suggests that

Fig. 3 e Variation of crop residue used as biomass fuel (%

biomass fuel) in West Bengal, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab.

Fig. 4 e Percentage of consumption of different biomass

fuels over Indo-Gangetic plain.

b i om a s s an d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 9 3 2e9 4 1938

Author's personal copy

use of biomass fuels depend primarily on the economic

condition of the people.

In area of West Bengal, the major crop is rice. Wheat, jute,

potato, pulses and oil seeds etc. are also produced as seasonal

crops. Tea is also a major crop in North Bengal especially in

Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts. The main crop residue is

rice straw. Agricultural residues e.g., Oriza sativa sp. (36%),

Triticum sp. (12%), Corchorus sp. (12%), and Sesame (24%) are

used as fuel in this state (Fig. 2). Very less amount of Triticum

sp. and Corchorus sp. are used as biomass fuels. Rice straw is

mostly used either for thatching or fodder for animals. Simi-

larly, wheat straw is also used as food for domestic animals.

Das and Jash [39] have estimated the district wise crop residue

generation in West Bengal. As per their estimation, total

agricultural residue generation is 29.55 Mt yr�1. Varma et al.

[38] reported that crop residue management over three

districts viz., Malda, Nadia and West Midnapur in four cate-

gories e.g., ex-situ feed use (100%), in-situ grazing (67%), non-

feed use (94%) and in-situ burning (11%).

Average livestock density in West Bengal is very less (0.1

heads per household) as compared to other states in the IGP

regions. Availability of manure is also very less in this state as

compared to other IGP region. Based on earlier survey over

three districts viz., Malda, Nadia and West Midnapur, Varma

et al. [38] have reported the use of dung as fuel (20e68%) and

farmyard manure (32e79%). It is noticed seen that approxi-

mately 94% village households use dung cake as their main

energy source for cooking. During this survey, it is also

observed that there is a tradition of using ‘dung sticks’ (dung

balls pressed around jute sticks). Compared to the large and

voluminous dung cakes in the other parts of IGP region, the

size and shape of the West Bengal dung cakes have resem-

blance to fist-sized ‘dung balls’. Dung sticks/balls are

produced manually mainly during dry season so that these

sticks/balls dry properly in the open. These observations are

quite similar to the results reported by Varma et al. [38].

Fuelwood e.g.,Mangifera sp. (30%), Bambusa sp. (24%), Sirish

(30%) and Coconut (21%) are used as fuel in this state.

Consumption of fuelwood, dung cake and agricultural residue

are given in Fig. 4. According to TEDDY report [30], fuelwood

consumption is 51% in this state as compared to other states

in the IGP. The total forest area over this region is 13.52%.

Hence very less amount of forest wood is used here as

biomass fuel.

4.2. Estimation of consumption of agricultural residueas biomass fuel

Based on our survey, the data collected over IGP and the crop

yield data provided by Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India

(2008), we estimated the consumption of crop residue for the

states of West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana. Based on

crop yield data, we have determined the total crop residue

generation using the harvest index (HI). HI can be calculated

from the following formula,

HI ¼ Grain yield=ðGrain yieldþ Straw yieldÞTypical values of HI for rice, wheat, gram, maize, cotton,

mustard, pigeon pea (Arhar) are 0.40, 0.37, 0.20, 0.40, 0.50, 0.25

and 0.20 respectively.

From our present survey we have calculated a ratio

dividing the number of sites of crop residue consumed as

energy by the number of sites of same crop production.

Consumption of crop residues as biomass fuels over different

states is estimated by multiplying the total crop residue

generation by the ratio generated from biomass fuels pattern

from our present study. In our present study the ratio gener-

ated from biomass fuel consumption pattern in West Bengal

for rice, wheat and mustard are 0.44, 0.17 and 0.17 respec-

tively. Similarly, in Bihar, the ratio for rice, wheat, mustard,

maize and pigeon pea are 0.18, 0.29, 0.56, 0.29 and 0.12

Table 2 e Consumption of crop residue in different states of the Indo-Gangetic plains.

State Crops Yield(Mt)

Harvestindex

Residue(Mt)

Fraction usedas biomass fuel

Residue usedas biomass fuel (Mt)

West Bengal Rice 14.75 0.40 22.13 0.44 9.74

Wheat 0.80 0.37 1.36 0.17 0.23

Mustard 0.34 0.25 1.02 0.17 0.17

Bihar Rice 4.99 0.40 7.49 0.18 1.35

Wheat 3.91 0.37 6.66 0.03 0.20

Mustard 0.09 0.25 0.27 0.56 0.15

Maize 1.72 0.40 2.58 0.29 0.75

Pigeon pea 0.04 0.20 0.16 0.12 0.02

Haryana Cotton 1.81 0.50 1.81 0.42 0.76

Punjab Cotton 2.68 0.5 2.68 0.36 0.96

Uttar Pradesh Rice 11.12 0.40 16.68 e 5.6a

Wheat 25.03 0.37 42.62 e

Maize 1.16 0.40 1.74 e

Sugarcane 133.95 0.70 54.41 e

Mustard 0.87 0.25 2.61 e

Delhi e e e e e 1.2b

Total 21.13

a Teddy (2007).

b Delhi Statistical Hand book 2008.

b i om a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 9 3 2e9 4 1 939

Author's personal copy

respectively. In Punjab and Haryana, only crop residue i.e.,

cotton is used as a biomass fuel (Fig. 3). The ratio determined

for cotton in Punjab and Haryana are 0.36 and 0.42

respectively.

Among the states of the IGP, it may be observed that the

consumption of crop residues as biomass fuels is higher in

West Bengal (w10.23 Mt) as compared to other states of the

IGP (Table 2). In Punjab and Haryana, minimum amount of

crop residues generated from wheat and rice are used as

fuels although a very small amount of those residues is used

in making dung cakes. The consumption of crop residues as

biomass fuel in Bihar, Punjab and Haryana are found to be

2.45, 0.96, 0.75 Mt respectively. Fig. 5 presents the comparison

of consumption of crop residue used as biomass fuel in this

study with NFHS-3 data [40] and TEDDY report [30]. The

percentage consumption of crop residue as a biomass in

Punjab and Haryana are similar with data reported in NFHS-3.

The large variation is observed in consumption of crop residue

as biomass fuel used in Bihar and West Bengal (Fig. 5) as

compared to NFHS-3 data set. In Bihar, NFHS-3 is based on

a sample of 3016 households that is representative at the state

level and within the state at the urban and rural levels.

Similarly, in West Bengal, the NFHS-3 survey is based on

a sample of 5992 households that is representative at the state

level, at the urban and rural levels within the state, and for the

city of Kolkata and Kolkata’s slum and non-slum populations.

Our analysis is based on survey at rural levels and each data

are representative of at least two villages consisting of

approximately 500 households per village in a district.

5. Conclusion

Based on present survey, it is observed that approximately

90% of rural households use biomass fuel as their main source

of energy over the IGP. It has been noticed that total biomass

fuel usage pattern has not changed. The residues of some of

the crops e.g., wheat and rice are not totally used as fuel

particularly in Punjab and Haryana. Several factors including

economic, technical, social and traditional constraints affect

the household fuel usage. From this study, estimated

consumption of crop residue as fuel over the IGP is 21.13 Mt,

which shows large fluctuation as compared to previous

reported data [30]. Along with fuelwood and agricultural

residue, dung cake is mostly (80e90%) used as energy by rural

households over the IGP states. This information may help to

develop mitigation strategy to reduce atmospheric as well as

indoor pollution.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Prof. R.C. Budhani, Director,

National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and Dr. S.K. Sarkar, Head,

Radio and Atmospheric Sciences Division, NPL for their

encouragement and support. The authors also acknowledge

Department of Science and Technology, India for providing

financial support for this project. Two of the authors (TS

and DPS) are thankful to Council of Scientific & Industrial

Research, NewDelhi for awarding Senior Research Fellowship.

Appendix. Supplementary data

Supplementary data related to this article can be found online

at doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.11.001.

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