In this "electrified" town on the frontier of Assam, India, and Bhutan, fuel-based lighting is found in every shop. Regular and lengthy power outages are overcome by propane, kerosene, and even candles. Fuel-based lighting can be seen in barbershops, tailor shops, food stores, and textile shops. In this picture, a shopkeeper writes in his ledger by candlelight in Sandrup Jonkar (Assam, India).

A textile shop, lit with propane lamp, stands out in a street lined with dark shops or ones dimly lit with standard kerosene lamps or candles in Sandrup Jonkar (Assam, India).

A barber works into the night with a pressurized kerosene lamp in Sandrup Jonkar (Assam, India).

Fuel-based lighting is used in religious buildings as well as in everyday workplaces, as shown by this kerosene lamp and incense at the entrance to one of the many temples at Ankor Wat, Cambodia.

At the best hotel in Jakar, candles burn beside incandescent table lamps that sit idle thanks to local power shortages (Central Bhutan).

Kerosene selling station in Siem Reap (Cambodia).

CFL run by rooftop PV array at a remote monastery in Bhutan. Electric light reduces risk for fire caused by oil lamps.

Young tailors work by candlelight in Sandrup Jonkar, very unfavorable conditions for such detailed work (Assam, India).

A monk lights yak-butter lamps at a funeral ceremony in the Lhuntshi Valley, four daysŐ walk from the nearest road (Bhutan).

Remote roadside kerosene stations such as this in Wamrong are common throughout the Himalaya's (Eastern Bhutan). In Bhutan, 85% of the population lives at least on hourŐs walk from the nearest road. For half the population the trip takes a day.