Policy implications for improved cook stove programs: the importance of village fuel use variations

January 29, 2014 · 0 comments

Policy implications for improved cook stove programs—A case study of the importance of village fuel use variations. Energy Policy, Mar 2014.

Authors: Niklas Vahlne, et al.

Despite the long history of cook stove programs, very few have been successful, often only in areas where biomass is purchased or there is a biomass shortage. Several studies have described how rural households generally rely on several different fuels; which fuels are used may depend on various household characteristics such as location and income. This article explores possible consequences of variations in fuel usage for improved cook stove programs and how this may vary between different areas.

Reductions of CO2 equivalent emissions and monetary savings are calculated for hypothetical cook stove deployment using data from a rural energy survey in the Vĩnh Phúc province of northern Vietnam. The results indicate that the areas may respond differently to the various stove options, both in terms of economy and emission reductions. Furthermore, there are large differences in emission reduction calculations when only Kyoto-gases are included and when non-Kyoto greenhouse agents are added. Assumptions regarding household behavior and stove efficiencies have large impacts on the results, indicating a need for further research on how improved cook stoves may influence households’ fuel choices.

Solar cooking in Senegalese villages

January 29, 2014 · 0 comments

Solar cooking in Senegalese villages: An application of best–worst scaling. Energy Policy, Jan 2014.

Authors: Janka Vanschoenwinkel, et al.

Highlights

  • Current solar cookers and their programs do not sufficiently fit end-users’ needs.
  • We centralize product-specific preferences in a framework integrating all variables.
  • Looking at these preferences, three distinct market segments are identified.
  • Preferences are influenced by both socio-demographic and program characteristics.

Abstract
Dissemination programs of nontraditional cookstoves often fail. Nontraditional cookstoves aim to solve problems associated with biomass fuel usage in developing countries. Recent studies do not explain what drives user’s cookstove choice. This study therefore builds a holistic framework that centralizes product-specific preferences or needs. The case study identifies product-specific factors that influence rural Senegalese inhabitants to switch to solar cooking, using best–worst scaling. Looking at the preferences, the case study classified 126 respondents, in three distinct market segments with different solar cooking expectations.

The paper identifies socio-demographic characteristics that explain these differences in the respondents’ preferences. Finally, the respondent sample is divided in two groups: solar cooker owners and non-owners. When studied with regard to the same issue, solar cooker owners appear to value benefits of the solar cooker lower than non-owners. This is due to program factors (such as formations, after-sales network) and miscommunication (such as a wrong image of the solar cooker) that highly influenced the respondents’ cookstove choice. As a conclusion, solar cookers and solar cooking programs are not always adapted to the needs and requirements of the end-users. Needs-oriented and end-user adopted strategies are necessary in order to successfully implement nontraditional cookstoves programs.

Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Impact Evaluation of a Parabolic Solar Cooker

January 29, 2014 · 0 comments

Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Impact Evaluation of the Parabolic Solar Cooker SK14 in Madagascar. Journal of Clean Energy Technologies, Vol. 2, No. 2, April 2014.

Authors: Lala Andrianaivo and Voahanginirina J. Ramasiarinoro

The main cause of deforestation in Madagascar is the collection of firewood for cooking. Research cooking alternatives that would reduce firewood and charcoal use has been undertaken by NGOs. In this context, south Madagascar experiences more than 320 sunny days per year and has close to ideal conditions for the use of solar energy. Currently a variety of solar cooker models are sold at a subsidized price for the poorest households. The paper explains advantages and disadvantages of solar cooking and the challenges faced to change traditional cooking habits, in order to fight the ongoing deforestation, preserve the environment and fight poverty. To optimize the success of this project, the use of solar cooker has been compared to two alternatives – firewood and charcoal cooking and on the topics of primary energy utilization and CO2 gas emission.

The whole life cycle analysis of the alternatives and accompanying devices has been examined.  A reduction of about half the environmental impact has been obtained with this technology. Some backup heat source must still be available to cook meal at these times. Solar cooker, charcoal and firewood can work in a complementary fashion to meet a variety of cooking needs. The parabolic solar cooker SK14 is a very helpful instrument but less competitive compared to the traditional cooking using wood energy. y. It can replace firewood and charcoal cooking, reduces deforestation, improves health conditions and creates local job opportunities.

Sustained high incidence of injuries from burns in a densely populated urban slum in Kenya

January 29, 2014 · 0 comments

Sustained high incidence of injuries from burns in a densely populated urban slum in Kenya: An emerging public health priority. Burns, Jan 2014.

Authors: Joshua Wong, et al.

Introduction – Ninety-five percent of burn deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); however, longitudinal household-level studies have not been done in urban slum settings, where overcrowding and unsafe cook stoves may increase likelihood of injury.

Methods – Using a prospective, population-based disease surveillance system in the urban slum of Kibera in Kenya, we examined the incidence of household-level burns of all severities from 2006–2011.

Results – Of approximately 28,500 enrolled individuals (6000 households), we identified 3072 burns. The overall incidence was 27.9/1000 person-years-of-observation. Children <5 years old sustained burns at 3.8-fold greater rate compared to (p < 0.001) those ≥5 years old. Females ≥5 years old sustained burns at a rate that was 1.35-fold (p < 0.001) greater than males within the same age distribution. Hospitalizations were uncommon (0.65% of all burns).

Conclusions – The incidence of burns, 10-fold greater than in most published reports from Africa and Asia, suggests that such injuries may contribute more significantly than previously thought to morbidity in LMICs, and may be increased by urbanization. As migration from rural areas into urban slums rapidly increases in many African countries, characterizing and addressing the rising burden of burns is likely to become a public health priority.

Cook Stove Design Competition Yields Innovative Designs for a Cleaner World

January 24, 2014 · 0 comments

Cook Stove Design Competition Yields Innovative Designs for a Cleaner World | Source/complete article: Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise, Jan 16, 2014.

Excerpts – The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University announced the winners of its Cook Stove Design Competition, sponsored by Japanese kerosene stove manufacturer, Toyotomi. Designers, engineers, and innovators from around the world were challenged to envision fresh, creative designs that could benefit low-income households in developing countries, leading to entries from 13 countries in Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. First prize was awarded to U.S. designer Ryan Bookhamer; second prize went to Japanese freelance designer Taro Nagano; and third prize was awarded to Indian freelance designer, Uday Kiran.

In an effort to advance progress in cook stoves, leading Japanese kerosene-stove manufacturer Toyotomi partnered with the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise to promote innovation in cleaner, more reliable, and affordable cook stoves that could be used by low-income households in developing countries.

Bookhamer’s design, LO, a sleek, bright green unit, was noted for being durable, lightweight, and efficient for its compact size. The LO unit holds a single kerosene tank for ease of transport and cleaning. The judges were impressed with its simple design, which requires few parts making it easy to manufacture and affordable.

According to the judges, Nagano’s Stick Stove design was inspiring and challenged notions of cook stoves. This stove focuses on the function of the burner and therefore has no grill for pots or kettles. It allows users to continue using traditional stoves that burn biomass by simply replacing the biomass with this innovative clean kerosene burner shaped like a stick.

Stoves are typically designed around the use of one particular fuel, but third place winner, Kiran, took a different approach. His Kayla Stove design was unique for allowing the use of various fuels, enabling the stove to be adaptable to most locations.  In addition, it provides the user the ability to choose the fuel that is most readily available and affordable on any given day. “The idea of using one platform with different fuel modules provides the greatest ability to appeal to diverse consumers in different markets,” said one judge.

 

Solar Cooker Review – January 2014

January 24, 2014 · 0 comments

Solar Cooker Review, January 2014 Volume 20 Number 1

Contents

  • Solar Cooking: A Technology We Wouldn’t Use Ourselves? p. 2
  • Letter from SCI’s Executive Director p. 3
  • SCI’s UN Statement p. 3
  • Solar Cooking in the Movies p. 4
  • Scaling Up: The California Sunlight Solar Cooker Story p.6
  • News You Send p. 8
  • Guest Editorial p. 9
  • Solar Tech Talk p. 10
  • Tribute Gifts p. 12
  • SCI’s FY2012/2013
  • Financial summary p. 13 SCI Store p. 13

Guest editorial by Dar Curtis – Extinguishing the Three Stone Fire

January 24, 2014 · 0 comments

Extinguishing the Three Stone Fire: A guest editorial in the Solar Cooker Review, Jan 2014 by Dar Curtis, co-founder of Solar Household Energy (SHE)

Time was when cooking with wood over a three-stone fire didn’t bother our planet much because there weren’t all that many people lighting fires. It wasn’t that long ago. The world’s population has gone from two billion to seven billion just in my lifetime!

The UN’s World Health Organization reports that emissions from smoky cooking fires are now killing four million people a year. Many of the world’s poor who are compelled to buy their cooking fuel are sometimes forced to choose between food and something to cook it with.    The release of CO2 and soot from cooking fires is conservatively estimated as contributing 18% of greenhouse gases implicated in climate change. Increasingly, environments are being degraded by the daily harvest of trees and bushes for cooking fuel. As the world’s forests diminish and its human population increases, it is obvious that people are far better at growing more people than they are at growing trees. Finally, the processing and shipping of fossil fuels to countries in need strains their economies and leaves a significant carbon footprint.

At last the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves has mounted an effort to mitigate these afflictions on our planet and its people. As impressive as their efforts are however, they have not extended them to include the application of solar thermal energy for cooking. The sun hammers the planet 24-7, lavishing enough energy to supply many of our needs. That’s what the Chinese, the Indians and we western solar advocates know and have demonstrated again and again.

Nevertheless, our efforts have yet to inspire significant interest in this technology at the Global Alliance. Why? How can we improve our advocacy? I think the key is in better education and field assessments. Our efforts over the years have been conducted on a shoestring. We have not had the resources to pay for objective project evaluations that can convince decision makers. We need to work on that because we have gained extensive field experience and knowledge about the capabilities of existing solar thermal devices and their use. By the same token we are aware of the need for further R&D.

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Kitchen 2.0: Design Guidance for Healthier Cooking Environments

January 22, 2014 · 0 comments

Kitchen 2.0: Design Guidance for Healthier Cooking Environments. International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Special Edition, pp. 151–169, Fall 2013.

Mollie Ruth, et al.

Among stove developers and implementers it has now become common knowledge that it is possible to reduce the amount of fuel, emissions, indoor air pollutants and greenhouse gases produced by traditional cookstoves through introducing improved cookstoves. However, improved cookstove effectiveness has not yet translated into an increase in the health and wellbeing of cookstove users. For this reason, the Kitchen2.0 team set out to investigate an alternative approach to solving the global health impacts of poor indoor air quality due to the use of biomass as cookstove fuel: ventilation.

To better understand the role ventilation plays in kitchens with fires and cookstoves, a three-pronged approach was used, including global community surveys, a full-scale physical model, and a computational model. Field agents affiliated with Michigan Technological University helped complete surveys on cooking habits and structures worldwide. Physical testing was conducted in the Kitchen2.0 modular kitchen by running cooking tests with different kitchen structure configurations and stoves. The computational model was developed to simplify the testing of cooking scenarios.

Ventilation was found to make a significant difference on the indoor air quality of the cooking environment, reducing carbon monoxide and very small particulate matter by about 50%. While improved cookstoves also improved air quality when paired with ventilation, they worsened air quality 10-30% when used without ventilation. The improved understanding of the impacts of ventilation could help community-based organizations improve indoor air quality, and the lives of billions worldwide.

Feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of a cookstove intervention in rural Malawi

January 22, 2014 · 0 comments

Feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of a cookstove intervention in rural Malawi. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2014 Feb;18(2):240-7.

Authors: Jary HR, et al.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) causes 4 million deaths annually, and strategies to reduce HAP exposure are urgently required.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of conducting a trial of a cookstove intervention in rural Malawi.

DESIGN: Non-smoking women were randomised to continuing to use an open fire (control) or to using a wood-burning clay cookstove (intervention). Symptom burden, oxygen saturation and exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO) were assessed at baseline and 7-day follow-up. A subset of women underwent HAP exposure monitoring.

RESULTS: Of 51 women recruited, 50 (98%) completed the main study. The methodology was acceptable to participants. Headache, back pain and cough were the most commonly reported symptoms at baseline and follow-up. Median eCO was within normal limits, but with a difference of 0.5 parts per million (ppm) in median change of eCO from baseline to follow-up seen between the two groups (P = 0.035). The peak ambient CO concentration detected was 150 ppm.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests that a large cookstove intervention trial in Malawi would be feasible with careful community sensitisation. Monitoring exposure to HAP is challenging, and further studies evaluating potential biomarkers of exposure, including eCO, should be undertaken.

Adherence to reduced-polluting biomass fuel stoves improves respiratory and sleep symptoms in children

January 22, 2014 · 0 comments

Adherence to reduced-polluting biomass fuel stoves improves respiratory and sleep symptoms in children. BMC Pediatrics 2014, 14:12.

Roberto A Accinelli, et al.
Email: roberto.accinelli@upch.pe

Background – Symptoms of sleep apnea are markedly increased in children exposed to smoke from biomass fuels and are reduced by kitchen stoves that improve indoor biomass pollution. However, the impact of adherence to the use of improved stoves has not been critically examined.

Methods – Sleep-related symptom questionnaires were obtained from children <15 years of age in 56 families residing in the communities of Lliupapuquio, Andahuaylas province in Peru before and 2 years after installation of less-polluting Inkawasi cooking stoves.

Results – 82 children with lifetime exposures to indoor fuel pollution were included. When compared to those alternating between both types of stoves or those using traditional stoves only, those children who exclusively used Inkawasi cooking stoves showed significant improvements in sleep and respiratory related symptoms, but some minor albeit significant improvements occurred when both stoves were concomitantly used.

Conclusions – Improvements in respiratory and sleep-related symptoms associated with elevated indoor biomass pollution occur only following implementation and exclusive utilization of improved kitchen stoves.

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