• Energy Research

We used the TIMER energy model to explore the potential role of hydrogen in the energy systems of India and Western Europe, looking at the impacts on its main incentives: climate policy, energy security and urban air pollution. We found that hydrogen will not play a major role in both regions without considerable cost reductions, mainly in fuel cell technology. Also, energy taxation policy is essential for hydrogen penetration and India's lower energy taxes limit India's capacity to favour hydrogen. Once available to the (European) energy system, hydrogen can decrease the cost of CO2 emission reduction by increasing the potential for carbon capture technology. However, climate policy alone is insufficient to speed up the transition. Hydrogen diversifies energy imports; especially for Europe it decreases oil imports, while increasing imports of coal and natural gas. For India, it provides an opportunity to decrease oil imports and use indigenous coal resources in the transport sector. Hydrogen improves urban air quality by shifting emissions from urban transport to hydrogen production facilities. However, for total net emissions we found a sensitive trade-off between lower emissions at end-use (in transport) and higher emissions from hydrogen production, depending on local policy for hydrogen production facilities.

Abstract Measurement of energy poverty has been a missing priority in energy research. There is hardly any consensus regarding whether to consider energy as a resource or capacity, output or outcome, and quantity or service. In this paper, we revisit major approaches in literature to assess energy poverty: economic, engineering, and access-based, including others. We critique the economic and engineering approaches for the arbitrariness of cut-offs and the misplaced emphasis on less meaningful energy quantity. Finding the access-based approach most suitable, we propose a method of assessing energy poverty based on deprivation in modern cooking and lighting fuels. We divide the energy-poor into three groups: transitional, moderate, and extreme energy-poor. We apply the method to India's urban areas of different states and union territories using the national sample survey data. The results reveal energy poverty to be primarily dictated by deprivation in cooking and a greater incidence of energy poverty in larger states. In contrast to conventional measures, we compute the depth and severity of energy poverty only for energy-poor as opposed to for the entire population. These complementary measures depict energy poverty of energy-poor more accurately and therefore will direct the attention of pro-poor energy policies and programmes appropriately.