Features

The Energy Crisis hits the Kitchen

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/6

Sahan Weerasooriya

By Parakrama Jayasinghe

Past President Bio Energy Association of Sri Lanka

Close on the heels of the grave hit on the wallet of consumers due to the hefty hike in the LPG prices, a new crisis by way of safety of use of even the expensive gas has created an even greater problem. As recently as August 2021, I published an article titled. “Wallowing in the Fossil Fuel Trap” in The Island, where I dealt with the entire spectrum of energy,

While the impact on areas like electricity and transport fuels by this over-dependence on imported fossil fuels are kept under wraps by the authorities by high levels of subsidies, which keep the consumers in a state of false euphoria and leading them to believe that their interests are looked after and thus live in a fool’s paradise. But the present safety issue cannot be swept under the carpet.

For example, to cover the continuing losses by the CEB, running close to a hundred billion rupees in some years, even the consumers at the lowest consumption levels are paying an extra Rs. 5.00 or more per unit without it being reflected in the monthly bill. Perhaps, with one of the suppliers of LPG being a private company, the current LPG prices may not include any subsidies. Instead, the consumers are now in a worse situation when the very safety of use is in doubt.

The advent of LPG as a cooking fuel goes back to the 1970 decade when the LPG from our refinery was being flared off without any productive use. Limited to that level of availability and use, there can be no objection to this decision. The fault lies in expanding and promoting the use of LPG way beyond the local production possible from our refinery and resorting to imports over which we have absolutely no control.

This may have been an attractive commercial opportunity opening the way even for international petroleum giant, Shell, to move in. Let us not delve into the background and the later events which occurred. The fact remains that yet another import was promoted blindly with total lack of vision on the possible future impacts on many fronts. Our problems of shortage of foreign exchange was present even those days although not as critical as now.

The original price of LPG was Rs. 35.00 for a 13.5 kg cylinder has now ballooned up to Rs 2,850.00 for a 12.5 kg cylinder, an 88-fold increase.

Typical of the mindset of the Sri Lankan consumers, every time there is a price hike there will be protests and many high-level discussions and news reports, which fizzle out in a few weeks at most. The media shift their focus to the next crisis and the protesters would lose their audience and attention of the authorities. This is how the price of LPG has continually risen with the equally stupid occasional price reductions by the government trying to score a point, which are more than overridden by the next price hike.

Concentrating only on the present crisis on LPG, what is our alternative?

On some such occasions in the past in about year 2002 with a price hike, the NERD Centre embarked on a research project to develop a suitable wood fired cooking stove in an effort to entice the people to go back to the use of fuel wood. Several successful models were developed and licenses were issued to a number of companies to manufacture the units for the market. It was heartening to see those stoves being offered for reasonable prices in many hardware shops. The pictures below illustrate these models. (See figure 1)

However, as regrettably happens in Sri Lanka, this effort too fizzled out primarily due to Lack of development of a suitable supply mechanism for the fuel wood needed, particularly in the urban areas which could have gained the most from the adoption of the stoves.

Aggressive marketing of LPG was carried out even in the rural areas where the householders could have got all the fuelwood from their own backyard. We have calculated that the fuel wood needs of a family for the year could be generated continually from two rows of Gliricidia planted on the fence of a 10-perch block of land

Also on the background were the concerted efforts to downgrade and dissuade the use of biomass for cooking with references to widely cited academic theories and publications. The message being conveyed was that the use of biomass could lead to health hazards due to smoke and unburnt firewood, etc. We in Sri Lanka have used firewood and other biomass for cooking since time immemorial without any proven evidence of such health hazards. These problems may be true for some countries where cooking is done in poorly ventilated confined spaces. But not so for our traditional kitchens most of which also boast fireplaces with a chimney as part and parcel of the kitchen. The use of firewood in the traditional way could, of course, be problematic in the modern highrise apartments.

The vendors of LPG were quick to pounce upon these, and I remember a public seminar where some foreign agencies even offered the LPG cookers free of charge. They would not answer my question as to who will pay for the gas already on a rising price trend.

What are the alternatives available for us in the present context and how fast can they be adopted? I look at these in reference to the affordability and degree of sophistication that the consumer expects and is willing to pay for. Starting from the high end these can be listed as

1. Go electric – Before there are howls of protests, let me qualify this to say that this option is for those who already have their roof top solar PV systems of adequate capacity. As such, there would not be an additional burden on the national grid and the consumer would enjoy all the benefits of cooking with electricity while not feeling the financial pinch. Those who are aspiring to join the Surya Bala Sangraamya are well-advised to factor this in their assessment of capacity of the systems to be installed.

2. The NERD design of the wood stove, particularly the model with the electric fan performs satisfactorily and reliably. However, there are hardly any in the market while I understand that some licensees have re-commenced production. Also, the earlier problem of a reliable and sustainable supply of properly dried and processed fuelwood must be addressed along with the urgent action to accelerate the production of stoves. More players can join the manufacturing with the very likely rapid expansion of the demand.

3. The most convenient and immediately available option particularly for households in less urbanised areas, who were led astray by the authorities and the LPG vendors, is to adopt the much-improved covered clay stoves called the ‘Anagi Lipa’. As the name suggests it is a wonderful and simple invention which is available even in Colombo for a price of Rs 600.00 It has an efficiency of over three time that of a traditional three stone heath and thereby much reduced fuel wood consumption.

The chart indicates the relative cost of different fuel options. The electricity option is shown only for comparison as it is a zero cost for those who can afford a roof top solar PV system.

The question remains as to the means of ensuring a steady supply of fuel wood. As usual Sri Lanka has a viable indigenous solution for any problem, if only we are ready to appreciate and adopt them. In this case that wonder tree Gliricidia Sepium offers the obvious solution. The Cabinet of Ministers declared Gliricidia as the fourth national plantation crop as far back as June 2005 and promptly ignored all the proposals therein for the development of this valuable resource. Hopefully, they will wake up at least now and take action on those proposals which are even more valid now.

Moreover, the use of this option offers an added means of addressing a most aggravating problem faced by poor women, particularly in the rural areas, that of indebtedness to the micro finance companies and even some shylocks. Let them become the suppliers of the much needed fuel wood using their own Gliricidia trees, both for their own use and for sale to the more affluent housewives who are now unable to use LPG for safety reasons.

Fortunately, many rural families possess at least a quarter acre of land on which an adequate number of Gliricidia trees can be grown to provide them with the surplus wood for sale in addition to the income from creative use of the leaves. Thus, a steady cash income can be guaranteed while solving a national problem. There is no cost in the cultivation and the only investment required is for the purchase of a sharp machete. The chopped and dried wood can be market ready in say three-kilo packets in their spare time. However, the rest of the value chain and the systems to support this market must emerge.

In this light, it is worthwhile to consider the numbers involved. Sri Lanka imported $ 200 million worth of LPG last year. Even if 25 % of this amount can be redirected for the supply of Gliricidia fuelwood, a whopping Rs 10,000 million would flow to the rural economy.

So, it is up to the consumers themselves to make their own choices instead of forever depending on the authorities at all levels. Their willingness to change over is all that is needed to support the fuelwood suppliers.

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Features

US’ drastic aid cut to UN poses moral challenge to world

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

An UN humanitarian mission in the Gaza. [File: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency]

‘Adapt, shrink or die’ – thus runs the warning issued by the Trump administration to UN humanitarian agencies with brute insensitivity in the wake of its recent decision to drastically reduce to $2bn its humanitarian aid to the UN system. This is a substantial climb down from the $17bn the US usually provided to the UN for its humanitarian operations.

Considering that the US has hitherto been the UN’s biggest aid provider, it need hardly be said that the US decision would pose a daunting challenge to the UN’s humanitarian operations around the world. This would indeed mean that, among other things, people living in poverty and stifling material hardships, in particularly the Southern hemisphere, could dramatically increase. Coming on top of the US decision to bring to an end USAID operations, the poor of the world could be said to have been left to their devices as a consequence of these morally insensitive policy rethinks of the Trump administration.

Earlier, the UN had warned that it would be compelled to reduce its aid programs in the face of ‘the deepest funding cuts ever.’ In fact the UN is on record as requesting the world for $23bn for its 2026 aid operations.

If this UN appeal happens to go unheeded, the possibilities are that the UN would not be in a position to uphold the status it has hitherto held as the world’s foremost humanitarian aid provider. It would not be incorrect to state that a substantial part of the rationale for the UN’s existence could come in for questioning if its humanitarian identity is thus eroded.

Inherent in these developments is a challenge for those sections of the international community that wish to stand up and be counted as humanists and the ‘Conscience of the World.’ A responsibility is cast on them to not only keep the UN system going but to also ensure its increased efficiency as a humanitarian aid provider to particularly the poorest of the poor.

It is unfortunate that the US is increasingly opting for a position of international isolation. Such a policy position was adopted by it in the decades leading to World War Two and the consequences for the world as a result for this policy posture were most disquieting. For instance, it opened the door to the flourishing of dictatorial regimes in the West, such as that led by Adolph Hitler in Germany, which nearly paved the way for the subjugation of a good part of Europe by the Nazis.

If the US had not intervened militarily in the war on the side of the Allies, the West would have faced the distressing prospect of coming under the sway of the Nazis and as a result earned indefinite political and military repression. By entering World War Two the US helped to ward off these bleak outcomes and indeed helped the major democracies of Western Europe to hold their own and thrive against fascism and dictatorial rule.

Republican administrations in the US in particular have not proved the greatest defenders of democratic rule the world over, but by helping to keep the international power balance in favour of democracy and fundamental human rights they could keep under a tight leash fascism and linked anti-democratic forces even in contemporary times. Russia’s invasion and continued occupation of parts of Ukraine reminds us starkly that the democracy versus fascism battle is far from over.

Right now, the US needs to remain on the side of the rest of the West very firmly, lest fascism enjoys another unfettered lease of life through the absence of countervailing and substantial military and political power.

However, by reducing its financial support for the UN and backing away from sustaining its humanitarian programs the world over the US could be laying the ground work for an aggravation of poverty in the South in particular and its accompaniments, such as, political repression, runaway social discontent and anarchy.

What should not go unnoticed by the US is the fact that peace and social stability in the South and the flourishing of the same conditions in the global North are symbiotically linked, although not so apparent at first blush. For instance, if illegal migration from the South to the US is a major problem for the US today, it is because poor countries are not receiving development assistance from the UN system to the required degree. Such deprivation on the part of the South leads to aggravating social discontent in the latter and consequences such as illegal migratory movements from South to North.

Accordingly, it will be in the North’s best interests to ensure that the South is not deprived of sustained development assistance since the latter is an essential condition for social contentment and stable governance, which factors in turn would guard against the emergence of phenomena such as illegal migration.

Meanwhile, democratic sections of the rest of the world in particular need to consider it a matter of conscience to ensure the sustenance and flourishing of the UN system. To be sure, the UN system is considerably flawed but at present it could be called the most equitable and fair among international development organizations and the most far-flung one. Without it world poverty would have proved unmanageable along with the ills that come along with it.

Dehumanizing poverty is an indictment on humanity. It stands to reason that the world community should rally round the UN and ensure its survival lest the abomination which is poverty flourishes. In this undertaking the world needs to stand united. Ambiguities on this score could be self-defeating for the world community.

For example, all groupings of countries that could demonstrate economic muscle need to figure prominently in this initiative. One such grouping is BRICS. Inasmuch as the US and the West should shrug aside Realpolitik considerations in this enterprise, the same goes for organizations such as BRICS.

The arrival at the above international consensus would be greatly facilitated by stepped up dialogue among states on the continued importance of the UN system. Fresh efforts to speed-up UN reform would prove major catalysts in bringing about these positive changes as well. Also requiring to be shunned is the blind pursuit of narrow national interests.

Features

Egg white scene …

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Hi! Great to be back after my Christmas break.

Thought of starting this week with egg white.

Yes, eggs are brimming with nutrients beneficial for your overall health and wellness, but did you know that eggs, especially the whites, are excellent for your complexion?

OK, if you have no idea about how to use egg whites for your face, read on.

Egg White, Lemon, Honey:

Separate the yolk from the egg white and add about a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and about one and a half teaspoons of organic honey. Whisk all the ingredients together until they are mixed well.

Apply this mixture to your face and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes before cleansing your face with a gentle face wash.

Don’t forget to apply your favourite moisturiser, after using this face mask, to help seal in all the goodness.

Egg White, Avocado:

In a clean mixing bowl, start by mashing the avocado, until it turns into a soft, lump-free paste, and then add the whites of one egg, a teaspoon of yoghurt and mix everything together until it looks like a creamy paste.

Apply this mixture all over your face and neck area, and leave it on for about 20 to 30 minutes before washing it off with cold water and a gentle face wash.

Egg White, Cucumber, Yoghurt:

In a bowl, add one egg white, one teaspoon each of yoghurt, fresh cucumber juice and organic honey. Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a thick paste.

Apply this paste all over your face and neck area and leave it on for at least 20 minutes and then gently rinse off this face mask with lukewarm water and immediately follow it up with a gentle and nourishing moisturiser.

Egg White, Aloe Vera, Castor Oil:

To the egg white, add about a teaspoon each of aloe vera gel and castor oil and then mix all the ingredients together and apply it all over your face and neck area in a thin, even layer.

Leave it on for about 20 minutes and wash it off with a gentle face wash and some cold water. Follow it up with your favourite moisturiser.

Features

Confusion cropping up with Ne-Yo in the spotlight

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Ne-Yo: His management should clarify the last-minute cancellation

Superlatives galore were used, especially on social media, to highlight R&B singer Ne-Yo’s trip to Sri Lanka: Global superstar Ne-Yo to perform live in Colombo this December; Ne-Yo concert puts Sri Lanka back on the global entertainment map; A global music sensation is coming to Sri Lanka … and there were lots more!

At an official press conference, held at a five-star venue, in Colombo, it was indicated that the gathering marked a defining moment for Sri Lanka’s entertainment industry as international R&B powerhouse and three-time Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo prepares to take the stage in Colombo this December.

What’s more, the occasion was graced by the presence of Sunil Kumara Gamage, Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs of Sri Lanka, and Professor Ruwan Ranasinghe, Deputy Minister of Tourism, alongside distinguished dignitaries, sponsors, and members of the media.

Shah Rukh Khan: Disappointed his fans in Sri Lanka

According to reports, the concert had received the official endorsement of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, recognising it as a flagship initiative in developing the country’s concert economy by attracting fans, and media, from all over South Asia.

Nick Carter: His concert, too, was cancelled due to “Unforeseen circumstances

However, I had that strange feeling that this concert would not become a reality, keeping in mind what happened to Nick Carter’s Colombo concert – cancelled at the very last moment.

Carter issued a video message announcing he had to return to the USA due to “unforeseen circumstances” and a “family emergency”.

Though “unforeseen circumstances” was the official reason provided by Carter and the local organisers, there was speculation that low ticket sales may also have been a factor in the cancellation.

Well, “Unforeseen Circumstances” has cropped up again!

In a brief statement, via social media, the organisers of the Ne-Yo concert said the decision was taken due to “unforeseen circumstances and factors beyond their control.”

Ne-Yo, too, subsequently made an announcement, citing “Unforeseen circumstances.”

The public has a right to know what these “unforeseen circumstances” are, and who is to be blamed – the organisers or Ne-Yo!

Ne-Yo’s management certainly need to come out with the truth.

However, those who are aware of some of the happenings in the setup here put it down to poor ticket sales, mentioning that the tickets for the concert, and a meet-and-greet event, were exorbitantly high, considering that Ne-Yo is not a current mega star.

We also had a cancellation coming our way from Shah Rukh Khan, who was scheduled to visit Sri Lanka for the City of Dreams resort launch, and then this was received: “Unfortunately due to unforeseen personal reasons beyond his control, Mr. Khan is no longer able to attend.”

Referring to this kind of mess up, a leading showbiz personality said that it will only make people reluctant to buy their tickets, online.

“Tickets will go mostly at the gate and it will be very bad for the industry,” he added.