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ADB against household use of piped gas

Suman Saha
The Asian Development Bank is against the use of piped gas for household consumption in Bangladesh, as it can lead to massive pilferage, a senior official of the international lender said.
“It makes more economic sense for Bangladesh to use its own gas reserves in productive sectors to accelerate economic growth rather than in households," said Dr Priyantha Wijayatunga, principal energy specialist at the South Asia department at the ADB.
Household gas consumption tends to be highly inefficient in Bangladesh, he said. “It has been observed that
some people in the country do not put out gas burners after cooking just to save a matchstick."
Gas is a limited natural resource which is heavily underpriced in Bangladesh, Wijayatunga told The Daily Star in an interview at the ADB headquarters in the Philippines recently.
He made the comments as the government plans to raise household gas prices to cut consumer reliance and wastage of piped gas.
Only 8-10 percent of the total households in Bangladesh, mostly in urban areas, have now access to piped gas, he said.
"Therefore, it is not justifiable to provide subsidies to such a small segment of people, majority of
whom could afford gas at unsubsidised prices," he said.
In the case of household gas supplies, the government can encourage the use of portable LPG for cooking purposes and provide targeted subsidies to protect poor households, the energy specialist said.
Currently, the price of an LPG cylinder varies from Tk 1,300 to Tk 1,400, while the price of gas supplied to households (two-burner pipeline gas) is aroundTk450 a month.
The government pays Tk 500 as subsidy for each LPG cylinder but still people are not using it, State Minister for Energy Nasrul Hamid Bipu had earlier told The Daily Star.
ADB against household use of piped gas
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There are plans to further increase LPG subsidies to make them more affordable, he added.
The ADB official called upon the Bangladesh government to continue its efforts in reforming the energy sector to ensure more efficient operations and better services.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission needs to exercise its independence in fixing tariff and imposing efficiency targets for companies, for sustainable development of the energy sector, Wijayatunga said.
On the use of coal, he said Bangladesh should initially target imported coal for electricity generation, considering the country's infrastructure requirements and safeguards.
Bangladesh should use advanced technologies in proposed coal-based power plants which minimise carbon emissions, he added. "Further, as I understand Bangladeshi coal is of very high quality and hence can be used for other industries such as steel, which add more value to the economy compared to power generation," said the Sri-Lanka bom official.
According to Petrobangla, an state own corporation that explores, produces, transports and sells oil, natural gas and other mineral resources, the country supplies 2,330 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day (mmscfd) to the national grid. Of the total consumption, die power sector accounts for 41 percent, fertiliser 7 percent, industry and tea estates 17 percent, captive power 17 percent, household use 12 percent, CNG refuelling stations 5 percent, and commercial use 1 percent.
The country's gas reserves now stand at 14.94 trillion cubic feet as of July 2014. In light of the current pace of consumption, the reserves are enough to supply gas for the next 15 years even if no new gas fields are discovered.
suman.saha@thedailystar.net