Energy Policy 30 (2002) 511–523 Direct and indirect energy requirements of households in India Shonali Pachauri*, Daniel Spreng Centre for Energy Policy and Economics, Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, ETH Zentrum WEC, CH-8092 Zuerich, Switzerland Abstract This study is based on the 115 sector classification input–output tables for India for the years 1983–84, 1989–90 and 1993–94. Calculated total primary energy intensities along with private final consumption expenditures are used as a basis for determining the indirect energy requirements of Indian households. Results reveal that total household energy consumption is about evenly divided between direct and indirect energy and together comprises 75% of the total energy consumption of India. Most of household energy consumed directly is still non-commercial and the consumption of food is responsible for about half the indirect energy consumption. Household energy requirements have increased significantly, both in total and per capita terms over this time period. The commercial component of direct household energy consumption and the indirect energy requirements have increased continuously. The main drivers of this increase have been (1) the growing expenditures per capita, (2) population and (3) increasing energy intensity in the food and agricultural sectors. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Household energy requirements; Household expenditures; Total primary energy intensities 1. Introduction Energy services make up a sizeable share of total household expenditures in developing countries. In India energy consumption patterns vary widely across different areas and groups of households. Average per capita energy consumption is low compared to devel- oped countries and even world average figures. How- ever, the demand for energy using services in the household sector has been growing at an increasing rate since the early 1980s and is likely to expand rapidly in coming years too. Given this scenario and the growing share of India in global energy use and CO 2 emissions, it is important to analyse the responsible factors. This paper aims to do so by quantitatively analysing total, i.e. direct and indirect energy requirements of households in India over the years 1983–84 to 1993–94. It is difficult to define a typical Indian household, however, the average, albeit not necessarily typical Indian household in 1993–94 comprised 4.5 members including 1.5 children. More than 70% of Indians resided in rural areas and engaged in agriculture, more than 80% owned their own dwelling, and about 66% relied on firewood as their main source of direct energy The per capita expenditure of the average Indian was about Rs. 6226 (US$ 198.5). Direct commercial plus non-commercial energy consumption of households in 1993–94 was on average half the value Goldemberg et al. (1988) postulated to be required for a decent standard of living in a warm climate. This latter value is about 10GJ/capita or 0.3kW/capita. Official statistics state that virtually all villages in India are now electrified; however, several studies show that still barely 40% of rural households have electricity connections. Erratic power supply and low incomes result in very low penetration rates for most electric fittings and electronic appliances. This scenario, however, is changing rapidly. One study shows that while the penetration of consumer durables increased at an average annual rate of 4% between 1989–90 and 1992–93, it was nearly double this between 1992–93 and 1995–96. Additionally, while the penetration rate of electrical goods in urban areas was 3573 per thousand households as compared to only 883 in rural areas in 1995–96, if all rural households were assumed to be electrified the figure for rural areas would jump to 2574 per thousand households (Natarajan, 1998). Changes in technology, income levels and lifestyles are bringing about important changes in both direct and *Corresponding author. Tel.: +41-1-632-4188; fax: +41-1-632- 1050. E-mail address: shonali.pachauri@cepe.mavt.ethz.ch (S. Pachauri). 0301-4215/02/$-see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0301-4215(01)00119-7