Impacts of household energy programs on fuel consumption in Benin, Uganda, and India

August 12, 2015 · 0 comments

Impacts of household energy programs on fuel consumption in Benin, Uganda, and India. Energy for Sustainable Development, Volume 27, August 2015, Pages 168–173.

Authors: Charity Garland, Kirstie Jagoe, Emmy Wasirwa Raphael Nguyen, Christa Roth, Ashwin Patele Nisha Shah, Elisa Derby, John Mitchell, David Pennise, Michael A. Johnson

This paper presents results of three United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) sponsored field studies which assessed the fuel consumption impacts of household energy programs in Benin, Uganda, and Gujarat, India. These studies expand on a previous round of U.S. EPA supported efforts to build field testing capacity and collect stove performance data in Peru, Nepal, and Maharashtra, India.

Daily fuel consumption estimates of traditional and intervention technologies were made using the Kitchen Performance Test (KPT) protocol to determine the potential fuel savings associated with the respective programs. The programs in Benin and Gujarat, India resulted in significant fuel savings of approximately 29% and 61%, respectively. In Uganda, the homes using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumed approximately 31% less charcoal than those not using LPG, although the total energy consumption per household was similar between the baseline and LPG user groups.

Global risk factor rankings: the importance of age-based health loss inequities caused by alcohol and other risk factors

August 12, 2015 · 0 comments

Global risk factor rankings: the importance of age-based health loss inequities caused by alcohol and other risk factors. BMC Research Notes, June 2015.

Authors: Kevin D Shield and Jürgen Rehm

Background – Achieving health equity is a priority of the World Health Organization; however, there is a scant amount of literature on this topic. As the underlying influences that determine health loss caused by risk factors are age-dependent, the aim of this paper is to examine how the risk factor rankings for health loss differ by age.

Methods – Rankings were based on data obtained from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study. Health loss (as measured by Disability Adjusted Life Years lost) by risk factor was estimated using Population-Attributable Fractions, years of life lost due to premature mortality, and years lived with disability, which were calculated for 187 countries, 20 age groups and both sexes. Uncertainties of the risk factor rankings were estimated using 1,000 simulations taken from posterior distributions.

Results – The top risk factors by age were: household air pollution for neonates 0–6 days of age [95% uncertainty interval (UI): 1 to 1]; suboptimal breast feeding for children 7–27 days of age (95% UI: 1–1); childhood underweight for children 28 days to less than 1 year of age and 1–4 years of age (95% UI: 1–2 and 1–1, respectively); iron deficiency for children and youth 5–14 years of age (95% UI: 1–1); alcohol use for people 15–49 years of age (95% UI: 1–2); and dietary risks for people 50 years of age and older (95% UI: 1–1). Rankings of risk factors varied by sex among the older age groups. Alcohol and smoking were the most important risk factors among men 15 years of age and older, and high body mass and intimate partner violence were some of the most important risk factors among women 15 years of age and older.

Conclusions – Our analyses confirm that the relative importance of risk factors is age-dependent. Therefore, preventing harms caused by various modifiable risk factors using interventions that target people of different ages should be a priority, especially since easily implemented and cost-effective public health interventions exist.

Cooking and Season as Risk Factors for Acute Lower Respiratory Infections in African Children: A Cross-Sectional Multi-Country Analysis

August 12, 2015 · 0 comments

Cooking and Season as Risk Factors for Acute Lower Respiratory Infections in African Children: A Cross-Sectional Multi-Country Analysis. PLoS ONE, June 2015.

Authors: Hannes Buchner , Eva A. Rehfuess

Background – Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) are a leading cause of death among African children under five. A significant proportion of these are attributable to household air pollution from solid fuel use.

Methods – We assessed the relationship between cooking practices and ALRI in pooled datasets of Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2000 and 2011 in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The impacts of main cooking fuel, cooking location and stove ventilation were examined in 18 (n = 56,437), 9 (n = 23,139) and 6 countries (n = 14,561) respectively. We used a causal diagram and multivariable logistic mixed models to assess the influence of covariates at individual, regional and national levels.

Results – Main cooking fuel had a statistically significant impact on ALRI risk (p<0.0001), with season acting as an effect modifier (p = 0.034). During the rainy season, relative to clean fuels, the odds of suffering from ALRI were raised for kerosene (OR 1.64; CI: 0.99, 2.71), coal and charcoal (OR 1.54; CI: 1.21, 1.97), wood (OR 1.20; CI: 0.95, 1.51) and lower-grade biomass fuels (OR 1.49; CI: 0.93, 2.35). In contrast, during the dry season the corresponding odds were reduced for kerosene (OR 1.23; CI: 0.77, 1.95), coal and charcoal (OR 1.35; CI: 1.06, 1.72) and lower-grade biomass fuels (OR 1.07; CI: 0.69, 1.66) but increased for wood (OR 1.32; CI: 1.04, 1.66). Cooking location also emerged as a season-dependent statistically significant (p = 0.0070) determinant of ALRI, in particular cooking indoors without a separate kitchen during the rainy season (OR 1.80; CI: 1.30, 2.50). Due to infrequent use in Africa we could, however, not demonstrate an effect of stove ventilation.

Conclusions – We found differential and season-dependent risks for different types of solid fuels and kerosene as well as cooking location on child ALRI. Future household air pollution studies should consider potential effect modification of cooking fuel by season.

Impact of exposure to cooking fuels on stillbirths, perinatal, very early and late neonatal mortality – a multicenter prospective cohort study in rural communities in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia and Guatemala

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Impact of exposure to cooking fuels on stillbirths, perinatal, very early and late neonatal mortality – a multicenter prospective cohort study in rural communities in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia and Guatemala. Maternal Health, Neonatology and Perinatology, 2015, 1:18.

Authors: Archana B. Patel, Sreelatha Meleth, et al.

Corresponding author: Archana B Patel: dr_apatel@yahoo.com

Background: Consequences of exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from biomass fuels used for cooking on neonatal deaths and stillbirths is poorly understood. In a large multi-country observational study, we examined whether exposure to HAP was associated with perinatal mortality (stillbirths from gestation week 20 and deaths through day 7 of life) as well as when the deaths occurred (macerated, non-macerated stillbirths, very early neonatal mortality (day 0–2) and later neonatal mortality (day 3–28).

Questions addressing household fuel use were asked at pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal follow-up visits in a prospective cohort study of pregnant women in rural communities in five low and lower middle income countries participating in the Global Network for Women and Children’s Health’s Maternal and Newborn Health Registry. The study was conducted between May 2011 and October 2012. Polluting fuels included kerosene, charcoal, coal, wood, straw, crop waste and dung. Clean fuels included electricity, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas and biogas.

Results: We studied the outcomes of 65,912 singleton pregnancies, 18 % from households using clean fuels (59 % LPG) and 82 % from households using polluting fuels (86 % wood). Compared to households cooking with clean fuels, there was an increased risk of perinatal mortality among households using polluting fuels (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.44, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.30-1.61). Exposure to HAP increased the risk of having a macerated stillbirth (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.66, 95%CI 1.23-2.25), non-macerated stillbirth (aOR 1.43, 95 % CI 1.15-1.85) and very early neonatal mortality (aOR 1.82, 95 % CI 1.47-2.22).

Conclusions: Perinatal mortality was associated with exposure to HAP from week 20 of pregnancy through at least day 2 of life. Since pregnancy losses before labor and delivery are difficult to track, the effect of exposure to polluting fuels on global perinatal mortality may have previously been underestimated.

 

 

Quantitative Guidance for Stove Usage and Performance to Achieve Health and Environmental Targets

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Quantitative Guidance for Stove Usage and Performance to Achieve Health and Environmental Targets. Env Health Perspec, Aug 2015.

Authors: Michael A. Johnson and Ranyee A. Chiang

Background: Displacing the use of polluting and inefficient cookstoves in developing countries is necessary to achieve the potential health and environmental benefits sought through clean cooking solutions. Yet little quantitative context has been provided on how much displacement of traditional technologies is needed to achieve targets for household air pollutant concentrations or fuel savings.

Objectives: This paper provides instructive guidance on the usage of cooking technologies required to achieve health and environmental improvements.

Methods: We evaluated different scenarios of displacement of traditional stoves with use of higher performing technologies. The air quality and fuel consumption impacts were estimated for these scenarios using a single-zone box model of indoor air quality and ratios of thermal efficiency.

Results: Stove performance and usage should be considered together, as lower performing stoves can result in similar or greater benefits than a higher performing stove if the lower performing stove has considerably higher displacement of the baseline stove. Based on the indoor air quality model, there are multiple performance–usage scenarios for achieving modest indoor air quality improvements. To meet World Health Organization guidance levels, however, three-stone fire and basic charcoal stove usage must be nearly eliminated to achieve the particulate matter target (< 1–3 hr/week), and substantially limited to meet the carbon monoxide guideline (< 7–9 hr/week).

Conclusions: Moderate health gains may be achieved with various performance–usage scenarios. The greatest benefits are estimated to be achieved by near-complete displacement of traditional stoves with clean technologies, emphasizing the need to shift in the long term to near exclusive use of clean fuels and stoves. The performance–usage scenarios are also provided as a tool to guide technology selection and prioritize behavior change opportunities to maximize impact.

 

Is air pollution a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis?

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Is air pollution a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis? Journal of Inflammation, 2015, 12:48.

Authors: Mickael Essouma and Jean Jacques N. Noubiap

Corresponding author: Mickael Essouma essmic@rocketmail.com; essoumam@gmail.com

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory debilitating disease triggered by a complex interaction involving genetic and environmental factors. Active smoking and occupational exposures such as silica increase its risk, suggesting that initial inflammation and generation of rheumatoid arthritis-related autoantibodies in the lungs may precede the clinical disease. This hypothesis paved the way to epidemiological studies investigating air pollution as a potential determinant of rheumatoid arthritis. Studies designed for epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis found a link between traffic, a surrogate of air pollution, and this disease.

Furthermore, a small case–control study recently found an association between wood smoke exposure and anticyclic citrullinated protein/peptide antibody in sera of patients presenting wood-smoke-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, reports addressing impact of specific pollutants on rheumatoid arthritis incidence and severity across populations are somewhat conflicting. In addition to the link reported between other systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases and particulate matters/gaseous pollutants, experimental observation of exacerbated rheumatoid arthritis incidence and severity in mice models of collagen-induced arthritis after diesel exhaust particles exposure as well as hypovitaminosis D-related autoimmunity can help understand the role of air pollution in rheumatoid arthritis.

All these considerations highlight the necessity to extend high quality epidemiological researches investigating different sources of atmospheric pollution across populations and particularly in low-and-middle countries, in order to further explore the biological plausibility of air pollution’s effect in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. This should be attempted to better inform policies aiming to reduce the burden of rheumatoid arthritis.

From Theory to Practice of Change: Lessons from SNV’s Improved Cookstoves and Fuel Projects in Cambodia, Kenya, Nepal and Rwanda

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

From Theory to Practice of Change: Lessons from SNV’s Improved Cookstoves and Fuel Projects in Cambodia, Kenya, Nepal and Rwanda, 2015. Stockholm Environment Institute.

Authors: Oliver Johnson, Hannah Wanjiru, et al.

This report compares the approach to cookstoves of SNV, the Netherlands Development Organisation, with evidence from the sector about how interventions can lead to market transformation.

Case studies of improved cookstove and fuels projects in Cambodia, Kenya, Nepal and Rwanda are analysed to examine the potential for successful scale-up and local market transformation. The aim is to understand the quality of SNV’s improved cookstove and fuel interventions in order to inform and improve future practice.

There is growing awareness of the need to take a systems perspective to stimulate cookstove market transformation. A more holistic approach to cookstove interventions is emerging that combines efforts to understand users, link up actors, develop effective business models, and create an enabling environment. Many organizations are adopting this vision, but putting it into practice is not easy. It also takes time, as it requires partnerships and new modes of working.

The case study analysis finds that a holistic approach to cookstove market transformation, including capacity-building activities, is common to all the programmes examined. It finds flexibility in the exact mode of engagement and technological focus in each country, determined by local contextual factors. Drawing on the case studies, three key features are found to characterize SNV’s cookstove programmes: emphasis on knowledge co-creation, commitment to trust-building, and freedom to adapt. This enables SNV to be a dynamic learning organization, willing and able to reflect and improve

Uncertainties in global aerosols and climate effects due to biofuel emissions

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Uncertainties in global aerosols and climate effects due to biofuel emissions. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 8577–8596, 2015.

J. K. Kodros, C. E. Scott, et al. Correspondence to: J. K. Kodros (jkodros@atmos.colostate.edu)

To better understand the climate impact of particle emissions from biofuel combustion, we recommend field/laboratory measurements to narrow constraints on (1) emissions mass, (2) emission size distribution, (3) mixing state, and (4) ratio of black carbon to organic aerosol

Smarter Subsidies for LPG

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Smarter Subsidies for LPG: Working Paper,  2015.

Authors: Alok Tripathi, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; Ambuj D. Sagar, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; Kirk R. Smith, University of California Berkeley

What would the LPG subsidy in the nation look like once such a “smart subsidy” program was in place for a few years? The answer in detail would have to consider changes in income, population, household size, urbanization, oil price, and status of alternative fuels including electrification and piped natural gas, among other factors.

Air Pollution and Impact Analysis of a Pilot Stove Intervention: Report to the Ministry of Health and Inter-Ministerial Clean Stove Initiative of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

August 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Air Pollution and Impact Analysis of a Pilot Stove Intervention: Report to the Ministry of Health and Inter-Ministerial Clean Stove Initiative of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 2015.

Authors: Hill LD, Pillarisetti A, Delapena S, Garland C, Jagoe K, Koetting P, Pelletreau A, Boatman MR, Pennise D, Smith KR.

This study evaluated the usage, air pollution, and fuel-use performance of an introduced advanced biomass stove (African Clean Energy (ACE)-1) based on measurements in 72 households in three villages of the Xonboury District of Savannakhet Province in early 2015. This amounted to 23 percent of all the households in these villages.

The report describes comparisons between household measurements conducted before stove introduction and those conducted approximately two weeks after introduction in the same households. Based on the best available health effects information, the report also estimates the potential health benefits of a large-scale introduction of this ACE-1 stove in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) compared to traditional biomass stoves, assuming the new ACE-1 stoves were to perform similarly in the large program.

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