Energy - IUCN

Tables 14-16 show fuel usage by commercial establishments, hotels and small
industries. Most commercial and industrial users do not rely on electricity alone,
but supplement their needs with diesel, kerosene and firewood.
Table 7: Prevalence of Domestic Fuel Types in the Northern Areas
Region Total Number of Households Reporting the Usage
No. of
of Particular Fuel Types
Respondents
Wood Kerosene Electricity Candles LPG
for Lighting,
Cooking and
Cooking Lighting Heating
1-Chilas 257 256 178 251 8 0 0
2-Astore 200 200 119 200 25 0 0
3-Gilgit 203 200 159 200 11 0 17
4-Hunza 64 64 19 64 64 44 0
5-Ishkoman 210 210 56 146 109 85 0
6-Yasin 289 289 60 280 25 289 0
7-Skardu 173 169 128 168 9 0 11
8-Shyok 204 204 41 160 38 110 0
9-Haramosh 146 146 99 135 3 0 8
10-Kharmong 153 153 39 153 89 47 0
11-Khunjerab 70 70 13 70 48 50 0
12-Ghizar 122 122 12 122 0 122 0
13-Gultari
Data is not available.
Total 2,091 2,083 923 1,949 429 747 36
Per cent* 100 99.61 44.14 93.20 20.51 35.72 1.72
Source: Comprehensive Planning of Hydro Power Resources on Tributaries of Indus River in Northern
Areas, Volume 1 of 2 (Table 3.1) By WAPDAand GTZ (1992-1996).
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2.2.1. Firewood
Firewood is the main source of energy in the household and is used for cooking and
heating as given. From field investigations, it was found that 99.6 perc e n t
respondents used firewood as fuel for household consumption. The monthly mean
domestic consumption of firewood was 755 kg during summer and 1,172 kg in
winter. It is also used in winter for heating purposes in commercial establishments
and small industrial enterprises and hotels. The establishment, hotel and small
industries respectively. Since the whole area consists almost of rural localities,
therefore only a few people purchase firewood from local market, because it is
scarcely available from there.
Most of the people in the area get wood from the forests to meet their household
needs. A number of them have also planted trees in their land to meet their fuel
needs.
It is important of note that in larger settlements of where there is not forest nearby,
people purchase firewood for their needs. During the field investigators it was
observed that availability of wood is small compared with the need of the people.
Average price of firewood ranged between Rs. 2.5 to 3 per kg.