In parts of India, families are turning cow-dung biogas into a steady cooking fuel as LPG queues grow.
A village courtyard in Uttar Pradesh is becoming a quiet answer to India’s cooking fuel problems, powered by cow dung rather than LPG cylinders.
In Bulandshahr, Misryoum describes how an energy crunch linked to broader geopolitical turmoil has triggered long lines for cooking gas, leaving households searching for alternatives.. For Ms Gauri Devi in Nekpur, biogas is already routine: she cooks chapati and everyday meals on methane piped from a household digester, using LPG only for emergencies or special gatherings.
Her setup relies on a simple mix of dung and water poured into an underground tank, where a storage balloon regulates the gas for regular use. “It cooks everything,” she said, explaining that if the pressure drops, she lets the system rest briefly before it works again.
This shift matters because it shows how rural energy choices can become a practical buffer when mainstream supplies become unreliable.
Since the 1980s, India has promoted biogas in rural areas as a low-cost source of energy, backed by subsidies for digester units that convert farm waste into methane.. The byproduct is also valued: the nitrogen-rich slurry can be spread on fields as fertiliser, offering farmers a use beyond the fuel itself.
Local growers say that this fertiliser benefit can be especially important when artificial fertiliser supplies face disruption.. Farmer Pramod Singh, for example, described how a larger unit supports multiple people and uses daily dung input from his cattle, while the resulting slurry helps maintain crop nutrition.
Misryoum notes that for supporters, the appeal is not only the cooking gas. It is the combined “fuel plus fertiliser” model that can make biogas feel like a more self-contained solution for farm households.
India’s wider push for biogas is tied to long-term climate goals, including plans that require a growing share of biogas in both vehicle fuels and domestic energy use. Government targets call for increasing biogas contributions over time, alongside the rollout of more production plants.
Still, uptake at the household level remains uneven. Misryoum highlights that biogas systems require organised installation and steady maintenance, and families may face practical limits like space and the daily labour involved in keeping cattle and operating the plant.
Even where interest rises after LPG shortages, some workers say they cannot easily set up or manage additional systems, while others in nearby villages continue waiting in heat for cylinder supply.. In that gap between policy and day-to-day reality, Misryoum suggests biogas may grow fastest when community support helps households treat it as a reliable primary fuel.