LPG and natural gas can only be short term solutions for combating Indoor Air Pollution (IAP). Long-term availability and affordability of the two is not guaranteed (“Making India free of smoky kitchens,” Oct.2). Also, though the experience with cleaner biomass stoves has not been encouraging so far, it is imperative that efforts toward commercialising these technologies continue. Biomass gasifiers are running successfully in industries operating in rural areas. A solution could be devised in the form of community fuel farms, where casuarina and other trees suitable for use in community-owned and operated gasifiers are grown. The fuel can produce bottled/piped gas for distribution. These efforts can be supplemented with biogas plants, wind mills and solar power generators. However, revenue models need to be created so that the plants can be operated successfully on a commercial basis.
Sunil Iyengar,
Bengaluru
