Gas shortage caused by Iran war may push India back to dirtier fuels

Disruptions to shipping due to the US-Israeli war with Iran have reduced India’s gas supplies, risking a temporary return to polluting fuels like coal, kerosene and biomass, experts say.

Some reports suggest that some parts of India are seeing an increase in timber sales, while others are seeing an increase in sales of cow dung cake – both biomass fuels.

India has been facing a shortage of cooking gas in recent days, leading to panic buying by domestic users.

The war which began on February 28 has disrupted the movement of ships in the Strait of Hormuz. About a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through this narrow waterway.

The Gulf chokepoint handles about half of India’s LNG imports and most of its LPG shipments.

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said talks with Iran could ease disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Since Monday, three Indian-flagged ships – two carrying LPG and one crude – have reached the western state of Gujarat, but around 21 vessels remain stuck, keeping supplies tight.

In the immediate future, the Federal Government has approved the provision of an additional 48,000 kiloliters of kerosene to states, beyond the usual quota, to support low-income households through the Public Distribution System (PDS).

“Kerosene is available at retail outlets and PDS channels,” Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said last week.

India’s environment ministry has asked state pollution control boards to allow restaurants and hotels to temporarily switch to biomass (wood, dried crops, animal manure), fuel pellets, kerosene and coal for a month, prioritizing cooking gas for households and essential sectors.

Government programs have rapidly expanded the use of LPG for cooking in India, replacing kerosene and traditional biomass such as firewood and manure. But with 60% of its LPG imported, India is now the second largest importer in the world after China.

The change is abrupt: kerosene production fell from 7.5 million tonnes in 2014-2015 to less than a million tonnes in 2023-2024, according to government data.

“We see it [people buying kerosene, coal and firewood] “This is a very temporary situation and when LPG supply improves, consumers will come back immediately,” said Nandikesh Sivalingam, director of the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research.

He warned that a return to kerosene, coal and biomass – linked to serious heart and lung disease – would rapidly worsen indoor air pollution. Their combustion releases carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particles which enter the lungs and bloodstream.

“Urban households could be more exposed to fuel shortages than rural areas as they have fewer immediate relief options,” said Vibha Dhawan, director general of the Delhi Institute of Energy and Resources.

In urban India, Sivalingam believes, a more likely scenario would be switching to electric cooking as a backup rather than switching to biomass or another fuel. But that would increase demand for electricity – much of which in India is produced from coal.

India already relies heavily on coal. It provided nearly 79% of India’s domestic energy in 2023-24, according to government data.

Such dependence means that any short-term move away from gas is likely to strengthen an energy system already built around coal, experts say.

Madhura Joshi of climate think tank E3G said rural households could turn to biomass such as firewood and subsidized kerosene, while some could turn to electricity, biogas or improved stoves where they are available and affordable.

Dhawan further said that technologies such as solar cooking systems – including solar cookers as well as solar photovoltaic systems connected to electric cooking appliances – can reduce dependence on fossil fuels for household energy needs.

She added that wider adoption of this technology could improve household energy resilience while supporting India’s clean energy transition.

However, such solutions take time to develop on a large scale.

And, in the short term, experts say, coal remains the most readily available fallback.

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