LPG queues tied to the Iran-linked energy crunch are pushing some Indian households toward biogas cooking from farm waste.
Long queues for cooking gas have become a familiar sight in parts of India, and many households are now looking past LPG.
In Uttar Pradesh, the strain has been felt as delivery delays and wider disruption associated with the Iran war have intensified, leaving residents scrambling for cylinders.. For Gauri Devi in Nekpur village near Bulandshahr, the answer is biogas: methane generated from cow dung powers her stove, reducing day-to-day dependence on LPG.
Her setup is simple by design, using a digester fed with cow dung and water to produce cooking gas piped into the kitchen. When cooking pressure drops, she said she pauses briefly and the gas flow returns.
This shift matters because it shows how quickly household energy choices can change when supply chains wobble, especially for basic needs like cooking.
Across India, LPG is a major fuel for households, and the country relies heavily on imports. Even where officials say there is no overall shortage, many areas have reported long waits, panic buying, and a thriving black market, with people seen lining up for refills with empty cylinders.
Meanwhile, biogas is not a new idea in rural India.. Government support dating back decades has helped spread small digesters that convert organic waste into methane for cooking, while also producing slurry used as fertilizer.. For some farmers, that fertilizer by-product is increasingly attractive when disruptions affect artificial fertilizer supplies.
Local farmer Pritam Singh described the slurry as a valuable resource, while noting that the real appeal is not only the gas itself but what comes out of the system.
In this context, biogas is also part of wider climate and energy planning, with targets to increase biogas use in households and transport over time and more plants in development.
Still, experts caution that scaling up is difficult. Biogas systems require ongoing maintenance, and some areas lack the land, labor arrangements, or management models needed to keep operations running reliably.
Access gaps remain, and for households without suitable space or resources, the old routine of waiting for LPG continues. A labourer described being unable to install a system due to land constraints, while others reported multiple days without successfully securing a cylinder.
That last detail is a reminder that alternatives can help, but they do not immediately solve an energy shortage for everyone, especially where infrastructure and practical access are limited.