INDIA is now the world’s second-largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a move that the government is spinning as a push towards green energy alternatives to traditional cooking fuel, such as firewood and cow dung.

LPG is frequently touted as a green fossil fuel because it releases less carbon dioxide than coal or oil. Environmentalists, however, dispute its green credientials. 

Chief scientist for Greenpeace UK Dr Doug Parr told the Star: “Gas is a fossil fuel, burning it releases CO2 into the atmosphere, and extracting it in the first place normally entails large accidental methane releases, both of which accelerate climate change and all the environmental disasters that will bring.