In northern India, rising energy concerns linked to the ongoing conflict involving Iran have contributed to disruptions in cooking gas supplies, prompting long queues for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders across the country. Yet, in the village of Nekpur, Uttar Pradesh, Gauri Devi, 25, cooks her meals using biogas derived from cow dung, illustrating an alternative energy solution gaining traction in rural India.

India imports more than half of the over 30 million tonnes of LPG it consumes annually, making it vulnerable to international supply chain fluctuations. While officials maintain there is no official shortage of cooking gas, delays, panic buying, and black market activities have strained access for many households. Against this backdrop, biogas, a technology promoted by the government since the 1980s, offers a decentralized, low-cost energy option particularly suited for rural communities.

Biogas systems, often subsidized by the government, use farm waste and animal dung to produce methane gas through anaerobic digestion. Gauri’s system consists of a car-sized underground tank where a mixture of cow dung and water is fermented, generating methane that feeds directly into her kitchen stove. She reported that the supply is steady enough to cook a variety of foods including vegetables, tea, and lentils, resorting to LPG cylinders only during large family gatherings or emergencies.

Beyond energy, the biogas process yields a nitrogen-rich slurry that can be used as fertilizer. Farmers like Pramod Singh, who installed a larger biogas unit in 2025 serving six people, highlighted the benefits of this byproduct. Singh noted that the slurry improves soil fertility better than raw dung, an important advantage as disruptions to global fertilizer supplies persist due to ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Local agricultural leader Pritam Singh described the slurry as “black gold,” emphasizing that the fertilizing benefits may outweigh the value of the gas itself. This dual benefit has made biogas technology a strategic component in India’s pursuit of sustainability and energy security.

The Indian government has increasingly prioritized biogas within its broader commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070. New regulations introduced last year mandate that biogas constitute a minimum of one percent of liquid fuels used for vehicles and domestic cooking, with a target to increase this share to five percent by 2028. To support this goal, plans are underway to develop multiple multi-million dollar biogas production facilities, suggesting that biogas could soon play a significant role in India’s energy mix amid ongoing international uncertainties.