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1111 We would like to extend our thanks to the World This edition is my last . . . 2 Health Organization for financial and editorial This edition is my last as Boiling Point editor, and I want to thank 3 support toward this edition of Boiling Point many people for all they have done for the journal over the past 4 few years. Firstly, thank you to Practical Action for supporting the TECHNICAL ENQUIRY SERVICE journal, and for making it possible for you to receive it. Secondly, 5 to GTZ, who have so loyally shared in both content and funding, 6 Technical Enquiry Service bringing a real strength to the journal. Thanks too, to the other 7 Do you have a practical problem? We may have an answer. organizations which have part-funded individual editions, we 8 could not have functioned without them. A big thank you to all Drawing on our international experience of working with 9 who have provided material to create such a useful resource. small-scale technologies we provide practical information Finally, a special thank you to the theme editors who have 10 and advice. Our service is free of charge to individuals, busi- ensured quality and accuracy. The good news is that you will all 1 nesses and development practitioners working in the South. continue to receive Boiling Point – it is now formally joining the 2 HEDON Household Energy Network (www.hedon.info), with We aim to supply useful information directly relevant to your 3 which it has been associated for some years. The journal will be needs so please be clear and specific when making your 4 co-ordinated by Eco Ltd, collaborating with both Practical Action enquiry. We have access to expertise in energy, agro- and GTZ to continue bringing you the latest household energy 5 processing, food production, building materials and shelter, information and news. 6 transport and small-scale manufacturing. 7 Contributions to Boiling Point 8 If you can use the internet then you can access a range of Technical Briefs – http://www.practicalaction.org/ NEW ADDRESS FOR ALL BOILING POINT 9 CORRESPONDENCE 20111 technicalinformationservice or send your enquiry by email to [email protected] otherwise please contact us Boiling Point – HEDON Household Energy Network 1 at: c/o Eco Ltd 2 402 Southborough Lane, London, Bromley Technical Information Service (Boiling Point) 3 BR2 8BH Practical Action 4 United Kingdom Schumacher Centre for Technology Development 5 Tel +44-(0)20 84674347 6 Bourton Hall Bourton on Dunsmore Fax +44-(0)870 137 2360 and +44-(0)70 9236 7695 7 Email: [email protected]; Web: www.hedon.info 8 Warwickshire CV23 9QZ Tel: +44 (0) 1926 634468 BP53: Technologies that really work 9 In the last five years, many effective new technologies have been 30 +44 (0) 1926 634400 developed. This edition is the first for some time that is 1 Fax: +44 (0) 1926 634401 unashamedly technology-oriented. Ideally, we would like to 2 include a wide range of proven technologies for cooking, light- Editorial Team 3 ing, institutional use, which have been used in households suc- cessfully for at least several months/years, and also tested to 4 Elizabeth Bates – Editor ensure that they do what they are intended to do – reducing fuel 5 Agnes Klingshirn – GTZ Editor use, reducing smoke, costing less etc. Ideally, each article should 6 Colleen Phillips – Administrator include: a good description; how and where it has been tested; 7 the cost of the technology; the level of complexity for construc- 8 tion and maintenance; a couple of photographs; information on 9 Back issues of Boiling Point where people can get more details – drawings, support, further information, and permission to use the design. For those without 40111 access to the web, please include non-web ways of accessing 1 In this edition . . . technical drawings (if at all possible). 2 51 – Sharing information and 42 – Household energy and BP54: Improved energy access for local institutions 3 communicating the environment Where groups of people find themselves gathered, institutional stoves and lighting can be important to their well-being. Clean 4 knowledge 41 – Household energy; the and efficient institutional stoves can provide food for schools, 5 50 – Scaling up and commer- urban dimension hospitals, prisons and can assist where communal facilities are 6 cialisation of household 40 – Household energy needed in emergency situations. Bread and other staple foods 7 energy initiatives and health can be cooked on a community basis. Street lighting can allow 8 49 – Forests, fuel and food 39 – Using biomass markets to trade for longer and for people to feel safe. 9 48 – Promoting household residues for energy Generators owned by the community can allow people to light their homes. Hospitals and clinics need a 'cold chain' to keep 50 energy for poverty 38 – Household energy in reduction high cold regions vaccines in good order. This edition is not only interested in the 1 technologies, but also in the infrastructure to make them work: 47 – Household energy 37 – Household energy in 2 tariffs, energy efficiency, impacts, communal responsibilities and enterprise emergency situations 3 and maintenance etc. If you have experience of these issues, 46 – Household energy 36 – Solar energy in the home HEDON would love to hear about them. 4 and the vulnerable 35 – How much can 5 Articles should be no more than 1500 words in length. 45 – Low cost electrification NGOs achieve? Illustrations, such as drawings, photographs, graphs and bar 6 for household energy 34 – Smoke removal charts are essential. Articles can be submitted on disc, email or 7 44 – Linking household 33 – Household energy typescript. 8 energy with other developments in Opinions expressed in contributory articles are those of the 9 development objectives Asia authors and not necessarily those of Practical Action. We do not 60 43 – Fuel options for house- 32 – Energy for the charge a subscription to Boiling Point, but welcome donations 6111 hold energy household to cover the cost of production and dispatch.

Cover photo: Woman and child cooking over open fire in street, Nairobi, Kenya (photo Practical Action/Nigel Bruce) Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 1

1111 2 3 THEME EDITORIAL 4 5 6 Household energy for life 7 8 1 2 9 Eva Rehfuess and Nigel Bruce 1 10 Public Health and Environment, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland 1 Website: http://www.who.int/indoorair 2 2 Department of Public Health, University of Liverpool, Whelan Building, Quadrangle, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK. 3 Tel.: +44-(0)151–794–5582; Fax: +44-(0)151–794–5582; E-mail: [email protected] 4 5 Up to 4000 deaths a day may be pre- 6 vented by providing the world’s poor Non-solid fuel users 7 with access to modern household Solid fuel users 8 energy. Yet, in the year 2003, 52 per- 9 cent of the world’s population – more 20111 than three billion people – used solid 1 fuels for cooking. The United Nations 2 Millennium Project highlights the role 3 of energy services as a prerequisite for 4 development, and calls on countries to Population (millions) 5 adopt the following additional Millen- 6 nium Development Goal (MDG) tar- 7 get to pave the way for achieving all 8 of the MDGs: Figure 1 Trends in solid fuel use 9 By 2015, to reduce the number of 30 between 1990 and 2015, the num- As described by Nathan Johnson people without effective access 1 ber of people without access to and Mark Bryden, burns and scalds to modern cooking fuels by 50 2 modern cooking fuels. resulting from use of open fires or

percent, and make improved Theme 3 unsafe stoves represent another impor- cookstoves widely available. Cooking with solid fuels has many 4 tant threat to health, resulting in deaths direct and indirect impacts on health. 5 For this target to become a reality, and life-long disfigurement and handi- Respiratory diseases, as illustrated in 6 1.7 billion people will need to gain cap. Hospital records, however, do not Davidzo Muchawaya’s overview of 7 access to liquefied petroleum gas, bio- habitually report the underlying causes the situation in rural Zimbabwe, con- 8 gas, and other modern fuels – as indi- of such injuries, and there is an urgent tinue to be of greatest public health 9 cated by the arrows in Figure 1 need to document the links between concern, as is the lack of awareness 40111 (Source: WHO, 2006). The challenge household energy use and burns and about the health implications of tradi- 1 is enormous: Every day between now scalds. Finally, there is an increasing tional cooking practices reported from 2 and 2015, access to cleaner fuels will recognition of the special risks associ- this study. Pneumonia among children 3 need to be extended to 485000 peo- ated with fuel collection in circum- under five, chronic bronchitis and 4 ple. And, reaching the target would stances of social instability. Cheryl other chronic respiratory diseases 5 still leave 1.5 billion people cooking O’Brien’s interviews with women liv- among adults and lung cancer (where 6 with solid fuels and exposed to harm- ing in the Kebrebeyah refugee camp in coal is used) formed the basis for 7 ful pollutants in ten years’ time. These Ethiopia provide sad testimony of girls WHO’s first comparative assessment 8 numbers illustrate the urgent need for and women being assaulted when they of health risks conducted for the year 9 action to address this neglected public leave the relative safety of their 2000. This assessment brought to the 50 health and development issue. Data homes, but her article also highlights world’s attention the health burden 1 for 2015 are based on: that solutions are being put into prac- 2 that results from cooking with solid tice with success. 3 a business-as-usual scenario that fuels, ranking it as one of the top ten In his update on the health and cli- 4 looks at the annual increase in the global health risks. An update for the mate impacts of household solid fuels, 5 number of people with access to year 2002, published in the new 6 cleaner fuels from 1990 to 2003 WHO publication Fuel for Life: Kirk Smith implies that although 7 and uses it to predict the period Household Energy and Health, con- somewhat fewer childhood pneumo- 8 2003 to 2015; firms that indoor air pollution from nia deaths than previously thought 9 the additional MDG target which solid fuel use is responsible for may be due to indoor air pollution, our 60 was proposed by the UN approximately 1.5 million deaths growing knowledge about links 6111 Millennium Project to halve, every year. between indoor air pollution and other

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1111 health outcomes that affect very large cooking can be overcome. Joe Obueh and local levels, inter-sectoral policies 2 numbers of the world’s poor, such as describes how a pilot study will intro- that bring together health and develop- 3 tuberculosis, cataract and low birth duce the CleanCook methanol stove ment efforts, and – last but not least – 4 weight, means that the overall esti- among households in the Delta State of funding support from governments, 5 mates of the burden of ill health can be Nigeria, where absolute energy poverty donors and the private sector. With the 6 expected to remain very substantial. is widespread despite the oil and gas new World Bank investment frame- 7 Overall, this issue of Boiling Point wealth of the country and this State in work for clean energy and develop- 8 is a source of optimism for all those particular. ment and the European Union Energy 9 concerned about household energy and Past and ongoing household energy Facility’s call for proposals, funding 10 health, as it illustrates the variety of and health initiatives provide a wealth sources that place emphasis on access 1 approaches available to reduce indoor of important insights. Yet, at least two to modern cooking energy are finally 2 air pollution. In the short term, outdoor major constraints need to be overcome becoming available. 3 cooking and improved ventilation may for their more widespread implemen- Health is a winning argument and 4 represent no-cost or low-cost alterna- tation. First, most interventions have we should use it to make the case for 5 tives to traditional practices, at least been implemented locally and, while scaling up household energy inter- 6 until technical interventions become several market-based approaches to ventions. In particular, health system 7 available and affordable. Brendon take such interventions to scale are staff should be made more aware of 8 underway, as exemplified by Laura the health consequences of IAP and 9 Barnes and colleagues demonstrate that outdoor cooking is associated with Spautz and colleagues in China, we energy use, and translate this actively 20111 into practice through – for example – 1 substantially lower carbon monoxide currently lack the experience of well- advice given in clinical settings and 2 exposures among South African chil- documented successful programmes. in community health activities. Also 3 dren than indoor cooking. Burning Making sure that the poorer and more at the local level, social marketing 4 charcoal in a test kitchen, Dean Still vulnerable households and communi- can utilise, among other arguments, 5 and Nordica MacCarty are able to ties are not left behind will be critical. show that better ventilation, in particu- Second, the lack of a thorough evalu- the concerns about children’s and lar opening the door or a small hole in ation of intervention impacts on women’s health as a motivation for the roof, lead to reduced concentra- indoor air pollution levels, health out- adoption. At the national level, better tions of both carbon monoxide and comes, the socioeconomic situation of energy for better health may be an fine particles. the household and the environment important entry point for introducing In the longer term, improvements to remains a barrier to their acceptance access to modern cooking fuels and stoves and switching to cleaner fuels among policy-makers as a means to improved stoves into Poverty Reduc- Theme will lead to the most substantial reduc- improve health and stimulate develop- tion Strategy Papers or National Sus- tions in pollution levels. Besides a ment. The article by Klas Heising and tainable Development Plans. More- switch from biomass fuels to kerosene colleagues about the Ayamachay com- over, it should be highlighted that 6 or liquefied petroleum gas (Figure 2), munity in Northern Peru is very modern household energy practices do 7 other modern renewable energy prod- encouraging. Following the introduc- not only contribute to reducing child 8 ucts may represent options that are both tion of the rocket type Inkawasi stove, mortality and improving women’s 9 healthy and environmentally friendly. an evaluation by trained health profes- health but are also essential for tack- 30 Darwin O’Ryan Curtis answers the sionals reported substantial reductions ling poverty and achieving the Mil- 1 most frequently asked questions about in respiratory symptoms and illness lennium Development Goals overall. 2 solar cooking and concludes from pro- among young adults living in homes Finally, as exemplified by the joint 3 ject evaluations that many of the barri- using the improved stove. These WHO/GTZ/Practical Action/PCIA/ 4 ers to the cultural acceptance of solar results, as well as those of other past USEPA side-event at the 14th session 5 and ongoing work, will feed into a of the UN Commission on Sustainable 6 Development (see full article in this 7 systematic review of the impacts of edition, and also: http://www.who.int/ 8 household energy and health interven- indoorair/policy/hhhcsd14/en/index. 9 tion projects and programmes being html), evidence on the health impacts 40111 conducted by WHO and the Univer- 1 sity of Liverpool. of household energy and the potential 2 In view of the dramatic gap benefits of interventions is making an 3 between the additional MDG target increasingly effective contribution to 4 and 2015 projections of patterns of raising the international profile of this 5 energy use by the poor (see front issue. 6 cover), what is required to accelerate 7 the pace of change in sustainable Reference 8 adoption of modern household energy 9 practices? Critical ingredients will be World Health Organization. Fuel for life: Figure 2 Liquefied petroleum gas 50 can lead to substantial reductions in pollution a substantial increase in awareness of household energy and health. Geneva: 1 levels (photo: Practical Action) the problem at international, national World Health Organization, 2006. 2 3 2 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 3

1111 Update on the health and climate impacts of 2 3 household solid fuels 4 5 Kirk R. Smith, University of California: Environmental Health Sciences, 140 Warren Hall # 7360 – Berkeley, CA 6 94720–7360, USA Email: [email protected] – Office phone: 510–643–0793 – Fax: 510–642–5815 7 8 Background 9 10 It has been estimated that nearly half 1 the world’s population still uses solid 2 fuels (biomass and coal) for household 3 cooking and space heating, mostly in 4 developing countries. In the proper 5 conditions, biomass (wood and agri- 6 cultural residues) can be burned quite 7 cleanly, producing mostly carbon diox- 8 ide and water. Such conditions are dif- 9 ficult to achieve in inexpensive house- 20111 hold stoves, however, and the actual 1 emissions of health-damaging pollu- 2 tants are quite large per unit of fuel, 3 although the total emissions are not 4 large in the context of overall fuel use. 5 Figure 1 Poor women and their young children are most often exposed to smoke (photo: 6 Combustion of fuel Nigel Bruce) 7 8 Studies in India and China, for exam- Evidence for ill-health results of many studies, compared the ple, show that the percentage of fuel burden of illness and premature death 9 Since the mid-1980s, and more fre- carbon fully burned to carbon dioxide from solid fuel use along with other 30 quently since the mid-1990s, there is typically only 90 percent, with some major risk factors, including outdoor 1 have been many dozens of published fuel/stove combinations doing as 2 epidemiological (population-based) air pollution, tobacco smoking, hyper- poorly as 80 percent. This means that Theme 3 studies examining a range of health tension, etc. The results indicate that 5–20 percent of the fuel carbon is 4 effects from indoor air pollution due to solid fuel use may be responsible for diverted into products of incomplete 5 solid fuel use. Because of the difficulty 0.8–2.4 million premature deaths each combustion – primarily carbon mon- 6 and expense of exposure assessment in year. As shown in Figure 2, using the oxide, but including benzene, buta- 7 households, however, most have used central (‘best’) estimates for the risk 8 diene, formaldehyde, polyaromatic a surrogate (or proxy) for true expo- factors examined puts solid fuel use 9 hydrocarbons, and many other com- sure, often simply whether the house- approximately tenth among major 40111 pounds posing health hazards. The holds are using solid fuels or not. Even health risks in the world in terms of 1 best single indicator of the health haz- with such an imprecise measure, how- potentially preventable healthy lost 2 ard of combustion smoke is thought to ever, health effects of several sorts life-years (DALYs – a measure that 3 be small particles, which contain have repeatedly been found. The best combines healthy years lost due to pre- 4 many chemicals. Household coal use, evidence is for (a) acute lower respira- mature death and healthy years lost 5 largely found in China today, can pre- tory infections (pneumonia) in young due to ill-health). Of this data, those 6 sent additional hazards because of the children, the chief killer of children marked * are based on outcomes in the 7 toxic contaminants in some coals, worldwide and the disease responsible Global Burden of Disease database of 8 including sulfur, arsenic, fluorine, for the most lost life years in the world; the World Health Oganization (WHO). 9 mercury, and selenium. (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary dis- 50 The remaining estimates are from the ease, such as chronic bronchitis and 1 Comparative Risk Assessment man- Exposure to smoke emphysema, in adult women who have 2 aged by WHO (Ezzati et al., 2004). cooked over unvented solid fuel stoves 3 Millions of people inhale significant More recent studies indicate that for many years; and (c) lung cancer, 4 amounts of seriously health-damaging the past studies of solid fuel use and though the best evidence is only for 5 pollutants from household stoves on a pneumonia in young children proba- coal smoke. 6 daily basis. The exposures are highest bly overestimated the risks due partly in poor women and young children of 7 Comparison with other to confusion of upper and lower respi- developing countries, both rural and ratory infections. Upper respiratory 8 health risks 9 urban, who are the groups most often infections do not result in a risk of 60 present during cooking with solid The World Health Organization, in a death but are quite difficult to distin- 6111 fuels (Figure 1). risk assessment that combined the guish in field research from dangerous

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1111 Underweight 2 3 Unsafe sex 4 Blood pressure 5 Tobacco 6 7 Alcohol 8 Unsafe water/sanitation 9 Child cluster vaccination 10 1 Cholesterol 2 Lack of malaria control 3 Indoor smoke from solid fuels 4 5 6 Overweight 7 Occupational hazards (5 kinds) 8 9 Road traffic accidents 20111 Physical inactivity 1 Lead (Pb) pollution 2 3 Urban outdoor air pollution 4 Climate change 5 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% Percent of all DALYs in 2000

Figure 2 Global burden of disease from top 10 risk factors plus selected other risk factors

Theme lower respiratory infections. On the risk factor, but quite another some- petroleum gas (LPG), undoubtedly other hand, there is now growing evi- times to show that reduction in the produce fewer emissions and exposure dence of health effects of other kinds risk factor will actually produce an themselves, but are expensive and, at improvement in health. There have least at first, populations generally do 6 in women, including tuberculosis, been two very large cases to date, one not completely switch away from 7 cataracts, several other cancers, and 8 low birthweight, each of which has in south China with coal and another solid fuels but continue to use them 9 been found associated in at least three in Guatemala with wood. The China for some tasks. Well-designed, built, 30 studies in different parts of the world study, done in retrospect, showed and operated improved stoves with 1 with indoor air pollution. Smaller but reduction in lung cancer and chronic chimneys do reduce kitchen pollution 2 significant effects in men are also obstructive pulmonary disease due to substantially, but produce much lower 3 being seen. Given what has been seen the introduction of improved stoves in reductions in human exposures 4 in studies of outdoor air pollution and the late 1970s. The other, a random- because the smoke is still released in 5 active and passive tobacco smoking, ized trial of improved stoves in high- the vicinity of the household. In addi- 6 the risk of heart disease could also be land Guatemala, is just now being tion, successful dissemination of well- 7 expected to rise with exposure, but no completed. It focused on childhood operating and durable stoves in large 8 studies seem to have been done in pneumonia, but also examined heart populations has not been easy. That 9 developing-country households. Thus, and lung effects in women. such stoves may also have social and 40111 while the estimated impact on child- economic benefits, however, encour- 1 hood pneumonia may decrease in Finding a solution to indoor ages further work to find ways to dis- 2 future risk assessments, the impact of air pollution seminate them widely 3 other diseases will add to the burden 4 of illness and premature death from Although the risk estimates will con- Stoves and greenhouse 5 solid fuel use. tinue to be refined and new health gases 6 effects probably will be added, the 7 Linking reduced exposure challenge for development practition- It is perhaps surprising that biomass 8 with improved health ers is to find a viable intervention that stoves also contribute to global warm- 9 can be relied on to reduce exposures ing even when the fuel is harvested 50 It is one thing to determine that ill- and improve health cost-effectively. renewably and is thus ‘carbon neu- 1 health is associated with a particular Improved fuels, such as liquefied tral’, i.e., the fuel carbon released into 2 3 4 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 5

1111 the atmosphere is captured by re- nations paying other countries for households over time, however, will 2 growth of the biomass. This is because reducing the amount of carbon dioxide be needed to verify these benefits. 3 the products of incomplete combus- that they produce. Thus, it may be 4 tion are more powerful greenhouse possible to purchase carbon savings at Recent References 5 pollutants than carbon dioxide (CO2), a reasonable price and achieve sub- Ezzati, M. and others, eds. 2004. Com- 6 the primary greenhouse gas. In addi- stantial health benefits as a side prod- parative Quantification of Health Risks: 7 tion to methane and other gases, a par- uct, or vice versa. What has not been Global and Regional Burden of Disease 8 ticularly powerful greenhouse pollu- shown, however, is whether it is pos- due to Selected Major Risk Factors. 9 tant from small-scale biomass sible to introduce high-efficiency Geneva: World Health Organization, 2 vols. 10 combustion is now thought to be black stoves to large populations such that Sinton, J.E., and others. 2004. “An Assess- 1 carbon particles. Thus, the 5–20 per- they are built, operated, and main- 2 ment of Programs to Promote Improved cent of carbon that is not converted tained for long-term reliable perfor- Household Stoves in China.” Energy for 3 into CO adds to global warming even mance. In addition, current rules for Sustainable Development 8(3):33–52. 4 2 if the CO is completely recycled by official CDM projects do not seem to Smith. K.R. and others. 2004. “Indoor smoke 5 2 re-growth of biomass. To be truly allow for inclusion of stoves. from household solid fuels,” in Ezzati, 6 greenhouse-neutral, a biomass fuel The only large-scale successful M., and others (eds), op cit., pp. 1435–93. 7 cycle must not only be renewable, but improved stove effort to date was in Smith, K.R., J. Rogers, and S.C. Cowlin. 8 2005. Household Fuels and Ill-Health in also be based on efficient combustion, China, which facilitated the intro- 9 which is not the case in simple bio- Developing Countries: What Improve- duction of perhaps 180 million ments can be Brought by LP Gas (LPG)? 20111 mass stoves. With much of the carbon 1 improved stoves in the 1980s and 90s Paris: World LP Gas Association and being converted to powerful green- without any foreign involvement. It Intermediate Technology Development 2 house pollutants in many household 3 focused on fuel savings, but did appar- Group (in press). biomass stoves, it is even possible to 4 ently achieve some reduction in Smith-Siversten T. and others. 2004, argue that an efficient clean-burning Reducing indoor air pollution with a ran- 5 pollution air pollution levels as well, fossil fuel such as LPG could be intro- domized intervention design – A presen- 6 by use of chimneys, although there duced as a way of reducing green- tation of the Stove Intervention Study in 7 was little if any improvement in com- house gases. The attractiveness of this the Guatemalan Highlands, Norsk 8 bustion efficiencies. Nepal is currently approach, however, depends on Epidemiologi 14(2): 137–143. 9 engaged in a national programme that Venkataraman C. and others. 2005. Resi- assumptions related to discount rates 30 promotes improved stoves as well as dential biofuels in South Asia: Carbon- (the way pollutants which take effect 1 biogas plants, but no air pollution or aceous aerosol emissions and climate over different time periods are com- 2 health assessments of the results have impacts. Science 307: 1454–1456.

pared) and the amount of atmospheric Theme 3 been done to date. Since better stan- warming for which each of the differ- 4 dard methods and new equipment for ent pollutants is responsible. 5 assessing the pollution and health 6 implications of improved stove pro- 7 Benefiting the poor and reducing greenhouse gases grammes are now being developed 8 and field-tested, however, there should 9 This is not to say that the growing risk be reliable information soon about the 40111 of global climate change is due to the actual changes produced by this and 1 stoves of the poor. Far from it! To other improved stove and fuel pro- 2 slow down global warming, it is the grammes around the world. 3 world’s use of fossil fuels that needs to A national competition is now 4 be addressed. However, since small under way in China to find the best of 5 inefficient stoves are responsible for a new generation of biomass ‘gasifier’ 6 both high greenhouse emissions and 7 stoves that are now starting to be sold health-damaging pollutants (incom- 8 in the country. These are designed to 9 plete combustion), there is scope for produce extremely low emissions as 50 introducing improved stoves and fuels well as having chimneys. The designs 1 that reduce both risks at once, i.e. pro- promote internal secondary com- 2 duce substantial ‘co-benefits’. A stove bustion of the partially combusted 3 that burns fuel efficiently is said to smoke (see Spautz et al. in this edi- 4 have high combustion efficiency. The tion). Designing these to be reliable in 5 costs of reducing carbon emissions household use as well as inexpensive 6 from stoves with higher combustion is a challenge, but these stoves show 7 efficiencies look to be well within promise as a second generation of 8 those now being considered in various improved stoves that not only have 9 carbon trading or Clean Development high energy efficiency but the poten- 60 Mechanism (CDM) schemes. These tial to substantially reduce air pollu- 6111 schemes work by funds from wealthy tion exposures. Measurements in

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1111 Spreading innovative biomass stove technologies 2 3 through China and beyond 4 5 by Laura Spautz2, Dana Charron2, and JoAnn Dunaway2 , Hao Fangzhou1 and Chen Xiaofu1 6 1Chinese Association of Rural Energy Industries. Email: [email protected] 7 2Center for Entrepreneurship in International Health and Development, 8 Emails: [email protected] and [email protected] 9 10 1 Anew partnership Table 1 Stove competition criteria for health, safety and performance 2 In May 2005, a new partnership Performance & emissions Thermal efficiency (%) 3 Combustion efficiency (CO/CO between China’s Association for Rural 2 4 Emissions (g PM/kg fuel) Energy Industry (CAREI), the Center 5 Room concentrations of CO (ppm) for Entrepreneurship in International 6 Health and Development (CEIHD) at Qualitative standards Safety 7 Combustion stability 8 University of California, Berkeley, Flame adjustability 9 Shell China, and the Shell Foundation Ignition convenience 20111 was formed to speed the spread of Fuels adaptability Pots adaptability 1 highly improved biomass stoves. The partnership’s main goals include: Product quality 2 Training and maintenance 3 Identifying the most promising 4 high-efficiency, low emissions bio- application process that includes the Chinese stove industry could play a 5 mass stoves technologies and the testing of their stoves using standard role in meeting the need for high- best enterprises innovating in the protocols in a specially designed facil- efficiency, low-emissions biomass field; ity and the evaluation of their products stoves beyond its borders. Recognizing and publicizing these and manufacturing processes by a stoves and enterprises in China team of independent experts. Phase 2 Phase 3 through an industry award; will conclude with an award ceremony The final phase, yet to be committed, Strengthening the capacity of the where the winners will receive a cash will focus on capacity building of the

Theme selected enterprises, as needed, by prize and publicity. Chinese enterprises both for domestic providing business development Twenty stoves entered the competi- markets and for entry into foreign support and access to capital; and tion and nine were selected as qualify- markets. Activities would include Identifying export opportunities 6 ing to proceed through the evaluation development of strategy and market- for these stoves and promoting the 7 process. In March and April all nine ing plans, market research, manufac- selected enterprises to fill 8 stoves were tested (burning crop resi- turing capacity expansion, and part- appropriate market niches in other 9 due and briquette fuels) in the Beijing nerships with foreign producers and developing countries. 30 laboratory for thermal efficiency, distributors. 1 combustion efficiency, emissions, and 2 Fostering the spread of room concentrations of CO. Factory The development of stove 3 innovation site inspections were conducted in innovations in China 4 April and May 2006. Final results The partnership is delivering a project In rural China, most families depend 5 were scheduled to be compiled in that has three phases. on solid fuel, such as wood, coal, 6 June. straw, and other crop residues, for the 7 Phase 1 Identification and evaluation of majority of their household energy 8 foreign markets needs. The specific characteristics of 9 The partners collaborated with a team household heating and cooking sys- 40111 of Chinese and foreign experts to draft Another aspect of Phase 2 of the pro- tems vary widely according to season, 1 a set of impartial criteria for an indus- ject is the identification and initial region, and household economic sta- 2 try award recognizing superior bio- evaluation of foreign markets suited to tus. A recent rural survey in three 3 mass stoves (Table 1). Criteria focus the Chinese stoves. Populations in provinces found everything from sim- 4 on the energy-efficiency, emissions, many other developing countries in ple hand-built stoves to sophisticated, 5 ease of use, and product durability, as Asia, Africa, and Latin America also commercially engineered and manu- 6 well as the overall management qual- suffer from indoor air pollution expo- factured units, and catalogued more 7 ity of the stove enterprises. sure from household solid fuels, which than 30 stove/fuel combinations in 8 is estimated by the World Health Phase 2 common use, many simultaneously 9 Organization to claim 1.5 million lives (Sinton et al). The norm in rural China 50 Entrepreneurs have been invited to annually around the world. The 1 compete for the awards through an is that most solid fuel is burned 2 3 6 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 19

1111 2 GTZ HERA Household Energy Programme 3 4 Editor: Agnes Klingshirn 5 6 7 GTZ HERA convened the African ‘stove community’ 8 for a second meeting on Household Energy 9 10 In early 2006 the second meeting ini- indoor air quality should be signifi- Certification of trained producers by 1 tiated by the GTZ Household Energy cantly improved. Within this pro- the project has created new employ- 2 Programme (HERA) was held in gramme, not only cooking energy ment and increased income genera- 3 Johannesburg, South Africa. Repre- used by households is considered, but tion. The current state of dissemina- 4 sentatives of all fourteen GTZ- also large scale cooking in social insti- tion of stoves can easily be followed 5 supported household energy projects tutions (e.g. schools, hospitals and by a highly effective monitoring sys- 6 in Africa met with GTZ HERA and the prisons), as well as providing process tem developed by the project. 7 team from the GTZ programme Ener- energy in small and medium scale By contrast, Uganda’s scaling up 8 gising Development (EnDev) – enterprises (e.g. bakeries and tobacco approach concentrates on rural house- 9 (Figure 1). The EnDev team used this curing). In addition, all energy saving holds. This requires more decen- 20111 opportunity to present the main objec- devices disseminated by the pro- tralised production using local materi- 1 tives of their programme and to gramme must be produced on a sus- als as well as a stronger co-operation 2 exchange experiences with the other tainable basis. with NGOs. Again, stove producers 3 projects. The main subjects of the To achieve this goal, 20 million were carefully selected. A training of 4 meeting were: Euro is being provided by the Dutch trainers approach involving NGOs 5 Directorate for International Co-oper- created a highly efficient growth sys- the different successful ‘scaling up 6 ation (DGIS) and the German Federal tem. Taking advantage of the effect 7 approaches’, which allow ongoing Ministry for Economic Co-operation where each trainer trains several oth- 8 projects to support mass and Development (BMZ). Since the ers, this approach led to a high cover- 9 production and dissemination of programme focuses on the number of age rate in a short period of time. Like 30 stoves people served with household energy in Ethiopia, the stove producers act 1 the monitoring system set up by – instead of stoves disseminated – a independently after training. They can 2 EnDev and HERA. GTZ new monitoring system was required, achieve a profit up to 15Euro per 3 which was presented and discussed by stove, however, prices are negotiable 4 Jointly the projects, HERA and the the projects. and occasionally stoves are produced 5 EnDev team brought together lessons Scaling up of stove dissemination for free if the family is very poor, thus 6 learnt from their work, and developed was another main area of the work- 7 further steps for scaling up of stove also reaching the poorest households. shop. Three successful approaches 8 dissemination and for monitoring. The costs of stoves are kept to a min- from Ethiopia, Uganda and Malawi 9 The EnDev programme aims to imum by involving the family in its were discussed and analysed for com- 40111 supply 3.4 million people world-wide construction. The quality of work is mon features. 1 with sustainable and modern energy assured by a rigorous monitoring sys- In Ethiopia the project uses a com- 2 within the next three years. For house- tem; whereby producers who do not mercial approach to reach mainly 3 hold energy the term ‘modern energy’ match up to the quality required are 4 is defined as a reduction of the con- urban households. It started with the re-trained and are replaced if they 5 sumption of fuel and resulting pur- selection of an appropriate technology do not improve the quality of their 6 chase costs and/or time for fuel wood (MIRT stove). Stove producers were stoves. The results are impressive: 7 gathering by approximately 50%. Also identified and selected according to over 100,000 mud rocket stoves, 1,000 8 specific criteria by the project and metal rocket household stoves and 9 local government officers. After train- 200 institutional stoves have been dis- 50 ing the stove producers acted as inde- seminated by the project within one 1 pendent entrepreneurs. They were year. 2 only supported by an intensive promo- Like Uganda, the Malawi project 3 tion campaign at all levels (mass targets low income rural households 4 media, sensitization campaigns, flyers, and its approach also includes decen- 5 leaflets, development of a logo etc.) tralised production using local mater- 6 which created a wide-spread public ial. The technologies range from clay 7 awareness and also set high quality stoves disseminated in rural areas at a 8 standards for the stoves. In addition, to very low price, to rocket stoves used 9 stimulate the market, the project pro- by households, social institutions and 60 Figure 1 Delegates at the meeting in South motes the stoves with coupons han- small enterprises at a higher price. 6111 Africa (photo: GTZ) dled by micro-finance institutions. During the course of the project,

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1111 training of stove producers, monitor- a set of qualified trainers and In addition, a new monitoring 2 ing and quality control were gradually manuals system tailored to the requirements of 3 taken over by the partner institutions. strict monitoring and quality DGIS, was established and applied 4 For scaling up, the project uses a control by the projects for the first time. Since 5 mainstreaming approach. Partners for promotion and establishment of a sustainable access is the main goal 6 mainstreaming are food security pro- good product image of EnDev, the participants developed 7 jects, health and environmental pro- All projects pursued a strict com- indicators for monitoring sustain- 8 grammes, school feeding and other mercial approach involving the private ability and impacts of commercial 9 relief programmes. Recently, tea sector. approaches for stove dissemination. 10 estates and tobacco companies have To improve knowledge exchange For further information please con- 1 become important partners. between the different household tact the GTZ HERA programme: 2 A comparison of approaches energy projects, a specific tool, the 3 revealed that the following factors Dr. Marlis Kees: 4 ‘Knowledge and Innovation Matrix’ [email protected] or appear to be important for successful was developed by the participants to 5 scaling up: Verena Brinkmann: 6 facilitate exchange of ideas and expe- [email protected] 7 reliable partners riences. This exchange will be co- 8 selected and qualified producers ordinated by HERA. 9 20111 The Inkawasi Stove: A Success Story in the 1 2 Peruvian Andes 3 4 Edited by Agnes Klingshirn 5 Ayamachay is a typical indigenous indoor smoke from cooking. Carrying Because of the inefficient burning of community of the Sierra Lambay- out a survey among women about biomass, the levels of indoor air conta- ecana in northern Peru. The scattered their practices of water boiling and mination recommended by WHO are community of 60 houses lives at an sanitation, the interviewers themselves often far exceeded. Hence, respiratory altitude between 2600m and 3200m in could not stand the smoky kitchens for infections are quite common among

GTZ the Andes Mountains. The Quechua more than a few minutes. poor and rural people. speaking inhabitants earn a living Exposed to thick smoke, women and mainly from agriculture. While the young children spend five hours daily The Inkawasi stove men are working in the fields, the in the kitchen, which has a serious Working with the local population, 6 women, besides helping the men, take impact on their health. In the Inkawasi four prototypes of improved stoves 7 care of the household and the children. district, where Ayamachay is located, were developed, tested and evaluated More than half the households have 8 acute respiratory infections (ARI) are in order to get the best solution. Each children less than five years of age. 9 the most common illnesses. The causal of these stoves was compared with In 1999, GTZ and the Pan Ameri- 30 connection with indoor smoke has been the traditional three-stones-fire with can Health Organization (PAHO) were 1 proved in many studies. regard to fuelwood consumption, initiating an environmental health pro- 2 As a result, GTZ and PAHO smoke emissions and cooking time. ject to improve access to, and quality 3 decided to include improved stoves in The new stove ‘Cocina Inkawasi’ of, potable water, latrines and sanitary 4 their project, with the objectives of proved to be the best both in these 5 education in Ayamachay. reducing smoke, saving fuelwood, and tests and in user satisfaction, and 6 Very soon they were confronted increasing the likelihood of people therefore was chosen by the villagers 7 with another problem, which had not boiling water for drinking. to be installed and disseminated. 8 previously been considered; that of The stove is inspired by the rocket 9 Background: The use of elbow stoves of the Aprovecho Insti- 40111 biomass energy in Peru 1 tute and is characterized by an adobe 2 In Peru, almost 40% of the population stove-body, concrete platforms and 3 rely on biomass, mostly fuelwood, two sunken potholes that allow the 4 agricultural residues and dung, for two pots to be placed inside the recess. 5 cooking. Most of these nine million While the first pot has direct contact 6 people live in conditions of poverty with the fire, the second pot is heated 7 and extreme poverty in rural areas, and by the gases and the remaining heat. 8 the majority of them are indigenous. The second pot is usually used to heat 9 Especially in the Andes, the kitchens up water for drinking and personal 50 Figure 1 Ayamachay community have only small windows and almost hygiene. Reducing rings can be used 1 landscape, northern Peru (photo: GTZ) no air circulation due to the climate. for different sized pots. 2 3 20 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 21

1111 Table 1 Characteristics of various stove models in the village of Ayamachay Ayamachay are now using the 2 – Inkawasi improved stove. 3 Model Max Power Energy Efficiency Wood consumption 4 (watts) % (kg/h) Conclusions 5 Three-stone fire 1144,00 16,27 1,608 Studies carried out by the Caetano 6 Non-rocket improved stove 1441,81 10,93 1,973 Heredia University in Peruvian dis- 7 Inkawasi Stove 1876,70 28,19 1,367 tricts, have measured direct correla- 8 Source: José Humberto Bernilla tions between respiratory infections 9 and the years of exposure to smoke 10 The air in the kitchen is improved some metallic components, e.g. the from traditional fires. Usually it is the 1 due to the Inkawasi’s construction chimney. (The Peruvian Andes being a women who are affected most: partic- 2 technology, which provides efficient prone to earth tremors, a metal chim- ularly the older women who have been 3 combustion and evacuates the danger- ney was preferred over an adobe one.) 4 ous emissions via the chimney. It is exposed to this indoor air pollution the 5 mainly built from local materials such Overwhelming outcome longest suffer from respiratory ill- 6 as adobe and clay; however there are nesses such as bronchitis, cough and In 2004, an indoor air pollution and chronic obstructive pulmonary dis- 7 health monitoring indicated reductions eases. These findings suggest that the 8 of over 80% in indoor carbon monox- risk of developing a chronic bronchitis 9 ide and small smoke particles com- later in life is connected with the 20111 pared to the traditional fire. Decreases exposure to smoke from biomass 1 were also measured in the symptoms of burning during childhood. Infants 2 respiratory illnesses among persons under 5 years often are affected by 3 under 30 years of age. During the study acute respiratory infections that are 4 period, the number of persons affected responsible for almost 20% of all 5 by cough and phlegm over a prolonged deaths in this age group. 6 period of time fell by nearly two-thirds 7 in the households with the Inkawasi 8 Reference stove. Those suffering from pneumonia 9 were reported to have eight times less GTZ – PAHO/WHO: Improved cookstoves 30 among the persons who used the new as a Key Intervention to Enhance Environ- 1 mental Health in the Andes: Lima and Inkawasi stove (GTZ-PAHO/WHO). 2 Eschborn 2005. Report of the GTZ- GTZ The success of the Inkawasi stove 3 PAHO/WHO project ‘Improvement of is proved as well by its high accep- 4 Environmental Conditions (Water and Figure 2 Inkawasi stove (measurements in tance, considering the demand-driven Sanitation) in indigenous communities 5 metres) (image taken from publication cited in 6 reference) approach: 90% of the households in (English version: March 2006). 7 8 Mass dissemination of Rocket Lorena stoves in 9 40111 Uganda 1 2 Rosette Komuhangi, GTZ Energy Advisory Project (EAP), Kampala, Uganda, e-mail: [email protected] or 3 [email protected] 4 A combination of strategic planning tions on the health of women. It ranges Women and children are exposed 5 and enthusiastic beneficiaries can yield from back problems due to carrying for up to seven hours a day to pollu- 6 great results. In Bushenyi district in tion concentrations above accepted 7 heavy loads to risks of rape, beating, Western Uganda, over 110 000 Rocket safety levels. 8 injury and snakebites. Lorena stoves were built in just twelve Malnutrition is evidently on the 9 The solution 50 months. Over 20 000 have so far been increase as nutritious but dry-preserved 1 built in Rakai where the construction foods like beans and peas are avoided The Ministry of Energy and Mineral 2 phase started three months ago. because they require a lot of energy Development, with the support of the for cooking. A single meal a day is a German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) 3 Aserious problem 4 common thing in many homes. ‘We through the Energy Advisory Project 5 Firewood scarcity is a severe con- walk over 20 km in search of wood,’ (EAP), has partnered with community 6 straint in Western Uganda just like it is says Jane K., a mother of eight chil- based NGOs and the private sector to 7 in the rest of rural Uganda. The land dren. She owns one acre of land. ‘I promote the improved Rocket Stoves 8 available is not enough for settlement, would have loved to plant trees where for households and institutions. The 9 save for subsistence farming. Small I could harvest firewood but it is not rocket stoves for households have been 60 plots of trees are privately owned. possible. The land is too small for trees modified to fit the socio-economic 6111 Wood scarcity has had big implica- and my subsistence.’ setting of the poor by using locally

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1111 right inside the shielded fire chamber, 2 hence maximizing heat transfer effi- 3 ciency. The combined effect of com- 4 plete burning and good heat transfer 5 make the Rocket Lorena a highly fuel 6 saving stove. 7 8 The strategy 9 In the dissemination of the improved 10 Rocket Lorena stoves, GTZ has fol- 1 lowed a ‘pyramid’ strategy that starts 2 with a few coordinators at the top and 3 ends up with hundreds of stove builders 4 at the village level (see Figure 2). 5 In this strategy, the EAP builds the 6 capacity of an NGO in a chosen district 7 so they can technically and administra- 8 tively manage the program. The NGO 9 Figure 1 Locally available stove materials can be used (photo: GTZ) appoints a number of district coordina- 20111 tors for the scaling up dissemination 1 available materials that can be obtained process. Since the district is divided 2 Figure 3 Satisfied cook tending her new cheaply or even without a cost (Figure into sub-counties, the NGO staff like- stove (photo: GTZ) 3 1). Such materials include clay mixed wise build the capacity of selected 4 with grass, ant-hill soil and sawdust. sub-county stove coordinators. Given Sustainability 5 that a sub-county is divided into many The technology parishes, selected potential stove buil- The approach could be classified as ders from every village are trained at ‘semi-commercial’. One success of During a water boiling test, it was parish level by visiting trainers. Every stove dissemination in Uganda was the proved that the Rocket Lorena Stoves parish is given a proven artisan to train integration of non-commercial incen- are 30% more efficient compared to the potential stove builders. This parish tives like, for instance, the positive the traditional open three-stone fire coordinator also ensures that the stove image in the community. A big part of

GTZ stove, which has an efficiency of builders are organized into operational the programme was based on voluntary merely 15.6%. The improved Lorena groups that can disseminate stoves. The contributions. In the meantime stove stove thus saves 50–70% of energy sub-county coordinator is responsible construction has become a common compared to the traditional three-stone for selection of trainees organizing the ‘skill’ of many villagers comparable to fire. This is possible because of the 6 training in every parish in the sub- the construction of houses, in other shape of the combustion chamber that 7 county. He also gives them secondary words, knowledge that can be passed 8 is specially designed to ensure correct training that perfects their skills. This on to the next generation. The large fuel-air mixture and properly insulated 9 strategy has gone through several mod- number of trained stove producers and to minimize heat loss, hence maximiz- 30 ifications to become what it is. Though – perhaps more important than any- 1 ing the temperature of the combustion it may not be replicated in every area, it thing else – the satisfaction of the users 2 chamber (See Boiling Point 47, page can still be modified to suit most of the with the new stoves (Figure 3), assures 3 36). These improvements result into a districts in the country and it is currently the sustainability of the approach. 4 high combustion efficiency and an one of the most successful innovative 5 almost smokeless burning. Further, the schemes ever designed in Uganda. Beneficiaries 6 stove design ensures that the pot sits 7 Residents and commercial artisans 8 have already been trained in the pro- 9 duction and use of Rocket Lorena tech- 40111 nologies in the wood-scarce districts of 1 Rakai, Kanungu, Mbale, Kabale, 2 Masindi, Kampala and Bushenyi. The 3 low-cost design of the stoves makes 4 them affordable even for the poorer 5 households in these areas. During the 6 next few months, the EAP will extend 7 the large-scale dissemination to addi- 8 tional districts of the country, thus 9 allowing an even larger share of the 50 Ugandan population to benefit from the 1 Figure 2 Pyramid strategy advantages of the Rocket Lorena stove. 2 3 22 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 23

1111 Household energy, indoor air pollution and health 2 3 at the 14th session of the UN Commission for 4 Sustainable Development 5 6 7 On May 11th 2006, WHO, GTZ, household energy and health in the 8 Practical Action and the Partnership framework of European development 9 for Clean Indoor Air organised a joint assistance, and pledged to raise this 10 side event at the UN Commission for issue in the European Parliament. In 1 Sustainable Development entitled his closing remarks, Arno Tomowski 2 ‘4000 deaths a day from cooking reiterated the daunting challenge 3 fires? Lets prevent them!’ ahead, but showed himself confident 4 By drawing attention to the severe that through working together existing 5 risks of using inadequate technologies knowledge and experiences can be 6 burning biomass and coal for cooking translated into real changes to trans- 7 and heating in developing countries, form people’s lives on a large scale. 8 Figure 1 Maria Neira emphasizing that IAP Overall, household energy, indoor 9 the side-event made the case for the is a neglected health and development issue (photo: IISD/Earth negotiations bulletin) air pollution and health featured 20111 urgent need to improve access to prominently at CSD-14. UN Secretary 1 household energy among the poor. and with respect to raising awareness General Kofi Annan called attention 2 Established by the United Nations about the dangers of smoke. to the problem in his welcome 3 in 1992 to ensure effective follow-up address, and the issue was raised in the 4 to the Rio Earth Summit, the CSD is High-level panellists from different statements of several governments 5 the high-level forum for discussing countries were asked to respond to the 6 sustainable development within the challenge. Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, throughout the two weeks. The com- 7 UN. Energy for sustainable develop- State Minister of Environment and mitment of the European Commission 8 ment is the main theme of CSD-14 Forests in Bangladesh, Paul Mubiru, as well as European Union member 9 and CSD-15. Commissioner for Energy in Uganda, countries, in particular the UK and the 30 Arno Tomowski, Director of the and Surya Sethi, Energy Advisor in Netherlands but increasingly others, 1 Department of Environment and the Planning Commission of the such as Germany, is clear. In preparing 2 Infrastructure at GTZ, who moderated Government of India, gave an over- for CSD-15 in 2007, WHO, GTZ, 3 the panel discussion, and Susanne view of the situation in their countries PCIA and Practical Action are work- Theme 4 Weber-Mosdorf, Assistant Director as well as efforts to address the prob- ing together to appeal for more inter- 5 General, Sustainable Development lem. Notably, Uganda has successfully national action to tackle indoor air 6 and Healthy Environments at WHO, reached more than 150 000 house- pollution and to scale up best prac- 7 welcomed more than 70 participants. holds with improved stoves over the tices. Practical Action was also involved 8 Drawing on the new WHO report past 18 months. Based on the Indian in a photo exhibition and stand high- 9 “Fuel for life: household energy and experience, subsidies on liquefied lighting the dangers of smoke to all 40111 health”, Maria Neira, Director of petroleum gas or other cleaner fuels the delegates 1 Public Health and Environment at the are essential if the poorest households 2 WHO, laid out the challenge: Every are to be reached. Finally, the repre- For further information: 3 year, indoor air pollution (IAP) is sentative of the Dutch Directorate CSD: 4 responsible for more than 1.5 million General for International Cooperation http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/ 5 deaths, mostly among children and (DGIS), Ton van der Zon, stated that WHO: http://www.who.int/indoorair 6 women (Figure 1) . To achieve the household energy was a key element Practical Action: http://www.practi- 7 of Dutch development policy. He calaction.org/?id=smoke_index 8 Millennium Development Goals GTZ: http://www.gtz.de/hera 9 nearly 500 000 people will need to argued that donors will need to PCIA: http://www.pciaonline.org/ 50 gain access to cleaner fuels or modern restructure their development aid by 1 cooking technologies every day setting concrete targets for providing 2 between now and 2015. modern energy services to poor fami- 3 Andrew Scott, Director of Policy lies in developing countries. 4 and Programmes with Practical Following the statements, a lively 5 Action, highlighted the various low- discussion ensued and further high- 6 cost technologies which successfully lighted the significance of the health 7 reduce indoor air pollution levels, but burden as well as difficulties in scal- 8 emphasized the need for building ing up effective solutions. Notably, a 9 capacity at the country level, both with Danish Member of the European 60 respect to supply chains for the deliv- Parliament, Britta Thomson, argued 6111 ery of improved cooking technologies for increasing the attention given to

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1111 The effect of ventilation on carbon monoxide and 2 3 particulate levels in a test kitchen 4 5 Dean Still and Nordica MacCarty , Aprovecho Research Center, PO Box 156 N. Mill St Creswell, Oregon 97426 United 6 States . Phone: 541–895–5677, 541–942–0761 Email: [email protected] 7 8 Abstract holds that use natural gas. Our than is commonly believed’. 9 results suggest that such varia- (Dasgupta et al, 2004). Concentrations of carbon monox- 10 tion between households is ide (CO) and particulate matter 1 strongly affected by structural Kitchen ventilation study 2 were monitored in a test kitchen arrangements: cooking loca- In this study 20 briquettes of charcoal 3 when differing levels of ventilation tions, construction materials, were burned in an approximately 15 4 were introduced to the building. and ventilation practice . . . poor cubic metre test kitchen building with 5 These included: all windows and families may not have to wait for a measured air exchange rate of 6 doors closed; door open; a small clean fuels or clean stoves to approximately 3 air exchanges per 7 hole cut in the roof; cross-ventila- enjoy significantly cleaner air. hour when closed. Testing was only 8 tion to the hole in the roof pro- Within our sample household done on calm days. Charcoal was used 9 vided by a small window. Each con- population, some arrangements instead of wood because it burns con- 20111 figuration was tested three times are already producing relatively sistently without tending, reducing 1 with a constant pollution source. Increasing amounts of ventilation clean conditions, even when variability in the concentration of pol- 2 significantly reduced the levels of lution introduced to the building. The 3 ‘dirty’ biomass fuels are used. carbon monoxide and particulate emissions monitoring equipment con- 4 Since these arrangements are matter. sisted of 6 HOBO carbon monoxide 5 already within the means of poor families, the scope for cost-effec- monitors and one Airmetrics Minivol Introduction tive improvements may be larger pump and filter particulate meter, Smoke from the combustion of bio- mass is found in nearly half of the kitchens in the world. Exposure to smoke has been associated with chronic obstructive lung diseases and Theme acute lower respiratory infections. The WHO has estimated that, every year, about 1.5 million people die prema- 6 turely due to breathing smoke from 7 this source. Although breathing carbon 8 monoxide is dangerous, inhaling par- 9 ticulate matter is probably the single 30 most important health-related con- 1 stituent of wood smoke. (Naeher et al, 2 2005) 3 Data from a comprehensive study of 4 236 houses in Bangladesh suggests 5 that fuel choice has a significant effect 6 on the level of indoor air pollution. 7 Cooking with cleaner burning liquid 8 fuels results in generally lower levels HOBO CO datalogger height 2 at 1 m; 3 at 1.4 m; 1 at 2.3 m 9 of household emissions. However, the CO monitor height ...... 1.4 m 40111 authors also report that: 2 1 Particulate monitor height ...... 1 m ‘. . . household-specific factors 2 All monitors set at 1.3 m horizontally from stove 3 apparently matter more than fuel choice in determining PM con- 4 10 Kitchen dimensions: 3 m wide 2.4 m deep 1.8 m high 2.4 peak centrations (PM is a measure 5 10 6 of the concentration of tiny par- Each door: 0.6 m 1.8 m 7 ticles in the air smaller than ten Window: 0.28 m 0.36 m 8 microns that can damage the Hole in roof: 0.25 m 0.2 m 9 lungs.) In some biomass-burning Stove height: 0.6 m 50 households, concentrations are 1 scarcely higher than in house- Figure 1 Diagram of test kitchen for ventilation study 2 3 24 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 25

1111 drawing room air at 5 litres per minute ventilation from the room being com- sides of the room. The HOBOs and 2 though a filter collecting particles 2.5 pletely closed. Increasing amounts of MiniVols were located across from

3 microns in size or smaller (PM2.5). ventilation significantly lowered lev- each other at 1 meter, 1.4 meters, and 4 Three tests were performed for els of both types of emissions. 1.8 meters in height. Some horizontal 5 each configuration: Figure 3 shows the average CO stratification was observed. It was 6 concentration at the height of 1.4 m apparent that both the CO and PM 1.) All windows and doors closed, 2.5 7 2.) One 0.6 m by 1.8 m door open, above the floor for the duration of tended to collect in higher concentra- 8 3.) One 20 cm by 25cm hole in the each test: Each configuration was tions near the ceiling and to taper off 9 roof, tested three times with a constant pol- to lower levels near the floor. 10 4.) Opening a small 28 cm by 36 cm lution source 1 window along with the 20 cm by Table 1 summarizes the variability Conclusion 2 and potential reduction in IAP result- 25cm hole in the roof. Inhaling even small amounts of partic- 3 ing from the four configurations: 4 The kitchen diagram (Figure 1) ulates can lead to increased mortality. Levels of both CO and PM2.5 doors 5 shows the size and location of open- and windows closed were highly ele- A national study in the U.S. concluded 6 ings as well as the placement of mon- vated, as can be expected. Opening the that there is a 0.5 percent increase in 7 itoring equipment. door was highly effective in this study, the relative rate of death from all 8 The charcoal was left to burn vig- reducing pollution levels by 96%. causes for each increase in the PM10 3 9 orously for 30 minutes. It was then Opening a small hole in the roof also level of 10 g /m . The estimated 20111 quickly removed through a small appears to significantly improve air increase in the relative rate of death 1 opening, which was then closed. The quality. Simultaneously opening a from cardiovascular and respiratory 2 test continued for another 30 minutes small window did little to reduce causes was 0.68 percent for each 3 as levels of carbon monoxide and par- levels of pollution, possibly because it increase in the PM10 level of 10 g 4 ticulate matter declined. Measurement did not add much flow to the move- /m3 (Samet 2000). The very high lev- 5 was started at the time the fire was lit, ment of CO and particles through the els often found in houses using bio- 6 and continued for a total of one hour. smoke hole in the roof. mass for heating and cooking are 7 therefore of major concern. 8 Results Stratification of CO and More than 30 stoves have been 9 Figure 2 shows both the peak concen- PM2.5 in the test kitchen tested for emissions in the Aprovecho 30 tration of carbon monoxide reached Three additional tests were run to test kitchen. In the unventilated (3 1 study stratification in the closed air exchanges per hour) test kitchen 2 after the half-hour of burning, the

kitchen using 6 HOBO CO data log- when burning five different fuels, lev- Theme 3 average level throughout the test, and gers and 6 MiniVol PM monitors at els of PM were between 50 and 4 the average concentration of particu- 2.5 25,000 g/m3. 5 late matter during the four levels of three different heights on opposite 6 7 8 9 40111 (All instruments at 1 m from floor) 1 160 1200 2 3 140 Average CO Level 1000 4 Peak CO Level Average PM Level 5 120 6 800 100 7

8 600 g/m3)

80 9 50 PM ( CO (ppm) 60 1 400 2 40 3 200 4 20 5 6 0 0 7 Closed Hole in roof Cross-vent (small Door open window and hole in 8 roof 9 60

6111 Figure 2 CO and PM2.5 concentrations in the test kitchen; the effects of differing ventilation

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1111 tion include opening spaces in the 2 eaves and using the stove under a sim- 3 ple smoke hood built within the home. 4 In the Bangladesh study, ventilation 5 factors also accounted for large differ- 6 ences in PM10 concentrations across 7 households. Unvented smoky fires 8 used inside houses will create danger- 9 ous conditions injurious to health. 10 Merely increasing the amount of ven- 1 tilation will not solve this problem. 2 However, increased ventilation may 3 be a partial remedy that was found in 4 this laboratory study to be effective in 5 reducing levels of CO and PM . 6 2.5 Figure 3 Average CO concentrations at 1.4m height Both carbon monoxide and particu- 7 late matter seem to stratify by height 8 Table 1 CO and average PM reduction caused by ventilation 9 in a kitchen, collecting densely at the 20111 Average Variation % IAP ceiling and decreasing gradually 1 of Three Reduction Reduction towards the floor. Levels were lowest Tests from for This 2 near the floor suggesting that exposure ClosedVentilation could also be reduced by remaining 3 Kitchen 4 seated or by squatting while cooking. Closed CO Average (ppm) 54 19% This study was funded by a grant 5 Kitchen CO Peak (ppm) 160 38% PM Average (g/m3) 1025 47% from the Shell Foundation supporting Hole in CO Average (ppm) 18 61% 67% the development of an accurate, inex- Roof CO Peak (ppm) 41 75% 75% pensive method for monitoring indoor PM Average (g/m3) 334 69% 67% 70% air pollution. Cross- CO Average (ppm) 14 48% 75% Ventilation CO Peak (ppm) 44 65% 73% References PM Average (g/m3) 345 62% 66% 71% Door CO Average (ppm) 1 40% 97% Naeher L, Smith KR, Brauer M, Chowdhury Theme Open CO Peak (ppm) 6 37% 96% Z, Simpson C, Koenig J, Lipsett, Zelikoff PM Average (g/m3) 66 23% 94% 96% J, Critical Review of the Health Effects of Woodsmoke, 2005. 6 Dasgupta S, Huq M, Khaliquzzaman M, 7 Pandey K, Wheeler D. Indoor Air Quality 8 for Poor Families: New Evidence from 9 Bangladesh, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3393, , 30 September 2004 1 Samet J, Dominici F, Curriero F, Coursac I, g/m3)

2 Zeger S. Fine Particulate Air Pollution 3

PM/ and Mortality in 20 U.S. Cities, 4 CO (ppm) 1987–1994N Engl J Med. 2000 Dec 5 14;343(24):1742–9) 6 7 8 (1.8m) (1.8m) Top Left (1m) (1.4m) (1m) (1.4m) Top Right Ceiling

9 Middle Left Bottom Left Middle Right Bottom Right 40111 Center (2.3m) 1 Figure 4 Stratification of CO and PM by height in an unventilated test kitchen 2 2.5 3 4 5 An effective strategy for decreasing reduction of both carbon monoxide 6 indoor air pollution in houses using and particulate matter. Opening the 7 charcoal (which may also be valid for door was especially effective. Open- 8 other solid fuel burning stoves), seems ing a small hole in the roof seemed to 9 to be increasing the ventilation. Some assist the removal of the smoke from 50 of the interventions tested which the kitchen as it rose up to the ceiling. 1 increased ventilation resulted in a Other successful methods of ventila- 2 3 26 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 27

1111 Methanol stoves for indoor air pollution reduction 2 3 in Delta State, Nigeria – addressing the needs of 4 people for clean energy 5 6 7 Joe Obueh, Centre for Household Energy and Environment (CEHEEN), Plot 28, Notie Ighile Avenue, Off Ekenwan 8 Layout, P.O. Box 3916, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria [email protected] and [email protected] 9 10 Background at best she uses the tripod-supported neglected in the 1990’s and renovation 1 rim stove, which wastes fuelwood that (‘turn around maintenance’) of the Delta State, one of five states that 2 is already in short supply. The stove is refineries has been stalled in recent make up the Niger Delta, is possibly 3 usually in the corner in a poorly venti- years. As a result, the Nigerian refiner- the richest place for oil and gas wealth 4 lated kitchen. The stove emits danger- ies have become virtually inoperable. in sub-Saharan Africa. Endowed with 5 ous particulate matter, carbon monox- This placed the Nigerian govern- 40% of Nigeria’s total oil and gas 6 ide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide, ment in a difficult position. It had to resources, or some 10 to 16 billion bar- 7 formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and ben- purchase all of its refined products 8 rels of oil and some 160 1012 cubic zene. abroad for its domestic market. The feet of natural gas, Delta State is awash 9 government has and continues to ship 20111 in oil and gas wealth. Despite this Fossil fuel issues crude to other African countries for 1 enormous wealth in energy resources, In the peri-urban towns, of low to refining and return to Nigeria. All of 2 the vast majority of the population, medium income families, up to 9% of this has created economic pressure on 3 some 5 million people or 1 million the households depend on kerosene to Nigeria to deregulate its domestic 4 households, are not only extremely supplement fuelwood. In the cities, fuels pricing and remove fuel subsi- 5 poor economically, but energy poor as about 1% of families depend on LPG. dies, a decision which the Obasanjo 6 well. An estimated 98% of households The use of kerosene in the peri-urban government has now pushed through. 7 lack access to quality cooking and towns has been hampered by a corrupt Before deregulation, kerosene prices 8 lighting fuel. This situation compels distribution system, poor quality hovered around 30 cents US. After 9 families to depend wholly on inferior kerosene that burns with high emis- deregulation kerosene was set at vari- 30 and health-damaging fuelwood and sions of soot and volatile organic com- ous prices, now around 64 cents. But 1 kerosene fuels. The people of Delta pounds (the kerosene is high in toxic with the scarcity of refined products 2 State are desperate for energy.

and no domestic production, product Theme 3 aromatics including benzene, toluene, xylene, sulphur and olefins), as well as scarcity has pushed kerosene into the 4 The problems with woodfuel informal market and prices in this 5 prohibitive pricing occasioned by the As one travels throughout Delta State, market are normally at or above 6 government’s withdrawal of subsidy wood gathering from the tropical for- US$1.00. The temptation in this 7 beginning in October of 2003 in its est together with long queues of peo- unregulated market to adulterate the 8 effort to deregulate petroleum prod- ple waiting to purchase kerosene is in fuel has also resulted in poor product 9 ucts in Nigeria. Contaminated kero- evidence everywhere. For the most quality. While these problems are not 40111 sene (often adulterated with gasoline part, women are seen in the afternoon new, the rapid price inflation has 1 when this fuel is cheaper) has, since returning home carrying enormous 2 2001, become an issue of national occurred since early 2004. bundles of fuelwood on their head 3 concern, having claimed more than These problems are compounded 4 after a full day’s drudgery of wood 2000 lives in Nigeria, with Delta State by pollution from years of uncon- 5 gathering. Some of these bundles worst hit. trolled gas flaring from an estimated 6 weigh up to 70 kg. The task of wood All refined petroleum products sold 50 gas flare sites scattered over Delta 7 gathering also falls to young children in Nigeria today are imported, because State. Emissions from the flares 8 and to old men who can no longer Nigeria’s refineries are shut down or impact nearby homes and communi- 9 obtain waged labour for cash earnings. operating at a fraction of capacity. ties. Most communities situated 50 Some of the men own bicycles, which Nigeria’s refineries were built to around the gas flare sites in Delta 1 they load with great bundles of fuel- refine Nigerian crude, which is State are inhabited by poor families 2 wood. extremely low in sulphur. Because whose means of subsistence are fish- 3 It is estimated that a typical rural Nigeria’s low sulphur crude com- ing and farming. These families are 4 woman in Delta State spends six hours mands a premium on the international constantly impacted by emissions 5 gathering fuelwood. The community market, the federal government sold from the flare sites and oil flow sta- 6 forests are being depleted of valuable its oil abroad and purchased high sul- tions. An estimated 80% of the 2 bil- 7 trees. Back home, she spends another phur Venezuelan crude to process in lion standard cubic feet of natural gas 8 six hours exposed to smoke as she its refineries for the Nigerian market. that Nigeria flares is flared daily from 9 chops up and cooks the firewood on This aggravated maintenance prob- the gas fields of Delta State. It is 60 a smoky and inefficient traditional lems at the refineries and resulted in ironic that the people of Delta State 6111 3-stone open fire called a mgbaebo, or their deterioration. Maintenance was must cut down their valuable forests to

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1111 cook, literally in the sight of the oil Table 1 Baseline monitoring survey in Delta State, Nigeria 2 rigs and flow stations! (Figure 1) Section 1 3 Household and home characteristics Identity of primary cook 4 CEHEEN indoor air Type of home structure Age of cook 5 pollution interventions in Educational qualification of cook 6 Delta State Kitchen characteristics 7 Prompted by a 1997 World Health Income of house Section 2 8 Organization (WHO) report, which 9 Fuel purchased and fuel gathered Types of fuel used for cooking revealed that the greatest exposure to 10 Amount spent on fuel if purchased air pollution occurs indoors in the Time spent if fuel is gathered 1 kitchen in developing countries, the Section 3 2 Centre for Household Energy and Energy supply and end use pattern Stove technology 3 Environment (CEHEEN) embarked Cooking habits 4 Cooking utensils on a two-year study of household 5 Section 4 energy in Nigeria, looking particularly 6 Household health Indoor air quality perception at human health, the environment and Household energy route towards 7 gender. The results showed that improved indoor air quality 8 Nigeria is in a crisis. Topics covered Primary cook’s perception of her 9 by baseline study monitoring ques- family’s health 20111 Primary cook’s perception of indoor tionnaire are shown in Table 1. 1 air quality in the home Table 2 shows the average monthly 2 cost of different types of fuel before 3 clinical and laboratory tests showed Table 2 Indicators of stove and fuel price deregulation. Most houses that 4 that symptoms suggestive of acute res- costs used kerosene also used fuelwood. 5 piratory infection and chronic obstruc- Average monthly cooking cost Fuels tive lung disease were reduced for peo- Cost per person per ple in households using the egaga month – fuelwoodUS$0.34 Fuelwood use stoves as opposed to households using Cost per person per month – kerosene US$1.42 In 1998 CEHEEN developed and pro- three-stone open fires. Prevalence of Cost per person per moted an improved version of the tra- symptoms of smoke-related diseases month – LPG US$4.34 ditional egaga stove to help address among families using egaga stoves was this crisis (Obueh, J, 2001 – BP 47). It measured at 32% versus 68% for fami- Kerosene use Theme lies in households using three-stone piloted this stove with 1000 families. The original data showed that 61% of The results were favourable, showing open fires. Thus, egaga was apparently the study households (total 132) used reduced emissions, reduced fuel use able to reduce the symptoms of smoke- kerosene as their primary fuel. A fur- 6 and some savings in cooking times. In related diseases very substantially, but ther 31% used it as their secondary 7 2002, a health evaluation involving this still left more to be done. 8 fuel, and 9% used it both for primary 9 and secondary use. Now, persistent 30 scarcity of kerosene has led to the 1 product selling at an all-time high of 2 US$1.00 per litre, an amount grossly 3 unaffordable for 80 per cent of our 4 sample households. Thus, the cost of 5 fuel to cook food is marginalizing the 6 lower income group (and perhaps 7 even the middle income group) unless 8 they purchase or collect fuelwood. 9 Table 3 shows the likely monthly cost 40111 of kerosene for an average household. 1 Our new baseline surveys con- 2 ducted during the first quarter of 2006 3 for our up-coming 150-stove pilot 4 study have shown a consistent trend 5 away from kerosene back to fuelwood. 6 Thus, the use of the one improved fuel 7 that was in reach of Nigerian con- 8 sumers is now declining and people 9 are returning to primary or complete 50 Figure 1 People must cut down their valuable forests in sight of the gas flares, Delta state reliance on fuelwood. In oil-rich 1 (photo: Project Gaia) Nigeria, this is indeed an irony. 2 3 28 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 29

1111 Table 3 Monthly cost of kerosene for an average household protocol that involves the addition of a 2 Kerosene used per person per month 5.1 litres special dye that colours the methanol 3 Average household size 5.94 persons without affecting the chemical con- 4 Fuel use per household per month 29.76 litres = about US$30.00 stituents and performance of the fuel. 5 The protocol also involves the addi- 6 tion of Bitrex (Denatonium Benzoate 7 Methanol stoves Table 4 Comparison of CleanCook NF), an extremely bitter tasting agent 8 It is true that by use of well-operated and kerosene stoves that renders the methanol bad tasting 9 chimneys and hoods, smoke can be Stove type Cost Lifespan and physically intolerable to swallow. 10 put outside the house. But in densely Kerosene US$8–12 ~ 1 year It will be distributed to the families 1 populated villages and towns this can stoves in special canisters that do not allow 2 lead to heavy neighbourhood pollu- CleanCook US$50 ~15 years people to come in contact with the fuel 3 tion. Even families using cleaner fuels alcohol but only use it in the stove. Trained 4 suffer from exposure to wood smoke. 2-burner stove fuel distributors will deliver the canis- 5 Therefore, we reasoned that unless ters, which will be dispensed in a sim- 6 truly clean-burning biomass stoves ilar way to bottled gas – in a container 7 could be developed, the best course of and trained. They compiled baseline that must be returned for refilling. The 8 action would be to eliminate the use of data for 132 households in three loca- containers hold 1.2 litres of methanol. 9 unprocessed solid fuels altogether. tions: Asaba, the capital of Delta State, Each family will, for now, have four 20111 This made perfect sense for Delta Abraka, the Governor’s town, which fuel containers, as weekly usage in our 1 State and the other states of the Niger is afflicted, like so many towns, with pilot studies has been running six to 2 Delta, since energy resources other the pollution from uncontrolled flares, seven litres, one litre per day, and our 3 than fuelwood are close at hand. The and Warri, the famous oil town. surveyors will be visiting the houses at 4 technology CEHEEN selected for fur- Our full scale pilot study will begin least twice per week. A container of 5 by placing 150 stoves in homes in Delta 1 ther study is the alcohol-fuelled fuel provides about 4 ⁄2 hours of cook- 6 CleanCook stove (Figure 2). Table 4 State in the communities of Abraka, ing at full power. 7 shows the relative cost of this stove Asaba (the state capital) and Warri. The Eventually a family might have 8 compared to a kerosene stove. cost of the pilot study in Nigeria is seven to eight fuel containers that 9 being underwritten by the U.S. transport conveniently in a sack 30 Methanol stove project Environmental Protection Agency, 1 designed for that purpose. One would Government of Delta State, Dometic expect that they would trade their 2 A promising ‘mini-pilot’ study with 15 AB, Stokes Consulting Group, and 3 CleanCook methanol stoves in 2002, empty containers in once a week for Theme other partners. full containers. When the containers 4 supported by Winrock International, The alcohol fuel used will be 5 led to a Ceheen and Delta State full- are charged with methanol, a foil seal methanol with a colorant and a bitter will be placed over the evaporative 6 scale pilot study of 300 stoves. agent to clearly identify it among 7 Funding for this was obtained from surface or mouth of the container, to other household fuels in order to ren- be peeled away when the container is 8 Delta State Government and from the der it unpalatable. To make the fuel 9 USEPA under the Partnership for ready for use. This avoids any loss completely safe for use in the house- from the container, however small, by 40111 Clean Indoor Air. A team of surveyors, hold, the project uses a denaturing 1 all university graduates, was recruited evaporation. 2 Given the high use of kerosene and 3 its cost in Nigeria, it seems that alco- 4 hol fuels – safe and clean-burning – 5 may be the natural replacement for the 6 low-quality kerosene in Delta State. 7 8 References 9 Obueh, J. Boiling Point 47: Using a house- 50 hold energy technology to promote small 1 scale enterprises in rural communities in 2 Nigeria – The egaga stove experience 3 Joe Obueh is the Director of the Centre for 4 Household Energy and Environment (CEHEEN), a Nigerian household energy 5 organisation. He is also the Project 6 Director of Project Gaia – Nigeria, a part- 7 ner of Project Gaia International working 8 in several developing countries to promote 9 the use of safe, efficient and clean burning 60 alcohol fuels for household cooking and 6111 Figure 2 CleanCook stove after three years of constant use (photo: Project Gaia) other related uses.

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1111 Solar cooking and health 2 3 4 Darwin O’Ryan Curtis, Solar Household Energy, Inc. P. O. Box 15063, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, U. S. A. 5 Email: [email protected] 6 7 8 The good news is that it is possible to Where is solar cooking which solar energy is being used to 9 breathe fresh air at the same time as practical? alleviate them: cooking – using a solar cooker. Solar 10 A major requirement of solar cooking cooking produces no smoke at all. Polluted drinking water 1 is, of course, plenty of sun. The US In the past, the main reason for peo- Dr. Mercy Bannerman won a World 2 space agency, NASA, created a data- ple adopting solar cooking was to Bank Development Marketplace prize 3 base for those wishing to cook with reduce the environmental degradation in 2002. With this funding she distrib- 4 solar energy. This database helps peo- 5 caused by using too much fuel wood. uted 1600 solar cookers in northern ple determine where there is adequate Ghana and provided training in their 6 More recently, respiratory diseases sunshine. The term ‘insolation’ is a 7 use to pasteurize water. She noted an caused by toxic smoke from cooking measure of the amount of sunshine 8 immediate and lasting reduction of fires have been recognized as a major and thus is a measure of how much 9 endemic water-borne diseases like health problem. They kill 1.5 million energy is available for solar cooking. 20111 guinea worm. women and children each year, As a technical rule of thumb, monthly 1 according to the World Health Organ- insolation should exceed 4 KwH/ 2 Glaucoma ization (WHO). Solar cookers address meter squared/day on average, to 3 these major threats to health as well. merit consideration for solar cooking Glaucoma is the name for a group of 4 Solar cooking technology has been promotion. eye conditions in which the optic 5 around for decades, but has been Another requirement for successful nerve is damaged at the point where it poorly understood and has not been introduction of solar cooking is the leaves the eye. This is identified as a widely disseminated. Here are some pressing need for alternative energy. major health problem, and it is ideas on what solar cooking is about, (Places in the world where solar cook- believed that people are considerably and its capabilities – as well as its ing is done as a matter of preference more at risk when exposed to toxic limitations. are few. They occur where there is a smoke. well-educated population and rising The danger from open fires

Theme Overcoming barriers to prices of traditional biomass fuels.) acceptance Otherwise, the greatest demand is Thousands of small children are where biomass fuel shortages are most maimed each year through falling into Solar energy was promoted as an cooking fires. For example the Burn 6 severe. Considerations of health alternative cooking fuel from the Unit of the Red Cross War Memorial 7 should one day become another strong 1980s. Two principal barriers blocked Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, 8 incentive. its initial acceptance, however: South Africa admits almost 1000 9 Solar cooking seasons are much longer and the need for alternative patients a year, ranging from newborn 30 Cultural resistance; people have energy generally much more urgent in babies to 13-year-old children 1 used wood to cook since the tropical and semi-tropical areas. These (Children’s Hospital Trust). 2 inception of the domestic fire. include most of Africa, South Asia, 3 Acceptance of so radical a change Australasia, Central and Northern Violence 4 as cooking with solar energy can 5 South America. Solar cooking may Wherever there is political unrest, as only happen where there is real also be a useful alternative in a band in Darfur and Somalia now, women 6 need. With ever-increasing deserti- 7 running from Turkey through the Mid- are at high risk of rape and murder fication on one hand and popula- dle East to the Himalayas and southern when they leave their villages to for- 8 tion increases on the other, the 9 North America. For example, for eight age for fuel wood. And, because of the need is growing rapidly. 40111 months of the year solar cooking is environmental degradation caused by The other initial barrier to solar 1 practical as far north as Mazar-e Sharif this practice, they have to go ever far- cooking’s broad acceptance was 2 in northern Afghanistan. There, critical ther to find it. the indifferent quality and/or high 3 shortage of household energy could Insufficient and unsafe diet 4 cost of available solar cooking make its adoption worthwhile. We 5 equipment, and the lack of experi- have counted 67 countries where Increasingly, the diets of people in the 6 ence introducing it. Today, several abundant insolation and varying developing world are being adversely 7 efficient solar cookers are available degrees of need coincide. affected by shortages of fuel wood. 8 at relatively modest cost; experi- Improving food safety, through mak- Benefits to health 9 ence has sharpened advocates’ ing it cheaper and easier to cook food 50 understanding of how to achieve Here are some health problems, apart so that it contains less pathogens, can 1 cultural acceptance. from respiratory diseases, and ways in improve health. In some places, people 2 3 30 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 31

1111 are forced to barter some of their lim- gang Scheffler, that cooks for 20,000 What if the main meal is eaten 2 ited food supplies to obtain fuel with pilgrims a day! The fuel, of course, is after dark? 3 which to cook the rest. Reducing the free. There is an elegant solution. It used to 4 cost of fuel increases money for food. The utility of a solar cooking device be called the ‘hay box’ but today, the 5 should be judged by what it can do in Cultural acceptance of solar more descriptive ‘retained heat 6 the location in which it is set to work. cooker’ or ‘fireless cooker’. It is sim- cooking 7 In the right location, it can reduce ply a container lined with insulation in 8 There are very large numbers of exposure to toxic smoke, protect from which a pot of cooked food can be 9 reports of uses of, and demands for, the dangers of fire, improve women’s kept hot for several hours. It was once 10 solar cookers. For example, we have quality of life. It can also reduce fuel in common use in Europe and the U.S. 1 letters from village officials in Bolivia costs and alleviate stress on the envi- Figure 1 shows a model that Wietske 2 pleading for more solar cookers; simi- ronment. What solar cookers won’t do Jongbloed designed for use in the 3 lar letters from women’s groups in is cook in the dark, or under overcast Sahel. 4 Senegal; the assertions of Haitian or rainy skies. (Thus, it will not pre- 5 women that they often solar cook two pare one’s morning tea unless, of How do you solar cook in the 6 meals a day; pictures of a solar restau- course, one stays in bed till very late!) early morning or when the sky is 7 rant in northern Chile, and so on. Many people say that solar cooked overcast? 8 food is better because little or no water In addition, there are scientific You don’t. Solar cookers can be an 9 needs to be added, which would other- evaluations of solar cooking education important, sometimes main, means of 20111 and distribution programs. For exam- wise dilute the taste. Try it and see. 1 cooking, but never the only one. There ple: 2 Frequently asked questions must be another way to cook, and low- 3 In 1995, Solar Cookers emission, fuel-efficient stoves are best. Growing realization of a need for However, it is as unnecessary to burn 4 International conducted a training alternative ways to cook has stimu- 5 program at the Kakuma refugee fuel under a blazing sun as it is foolish lated new interest in solar ovens. Here to deploy a solar cooker at night. 6 camp in northwestern Kenya. In are answers to some of the things peo- 7 1998, the program was evaluated. ple want to know: How can people cook when 8 A random sampling of the women there isn’t any sun? 9 who had been trained three years How fast does it cook? 30 They have to use combustible fuels. before continued to solar cook Many things affect cooking speed: 1 54% of their meals. A similar eval- The percentage of time a solar oven 2 closeness to the Equator, altitude, time can be used varies widely with factors uation conducted at the Aisha of year, time of day, weather condi- Theme 3 refugee camp in Ethiopia in 2001 like weather, skill of the cook, and the 4 tions, type of food. To give some idea, urgency of the need. (The GTZ con- determined that fuel wood usage assume you need about twice as long 5 in the camp was down 32% ducted a solar cooking project in 6 as if cooking over flame. (However, following the introduction of solar South Africa and concluded that solar 7 when the time required to obtain fuel cookers. cookers were used an overall average 8 wood and tend the fire are considered, of 40% of the time. Solar cookers will In 2005, an evaluation was 9 solar ovens demand less of the cook’s never be THE solution. They are an completed in a series of Bolivian 40111 time.) Solar-cooked food will not burn important addition to the kitchens of villages. It assessed promotions 1 on the bottom of the pan, so stirring is the world. 2 conducted by David and Ruth unnecessary. Pots require no scrub- 3 Whitfield in preceding years. It bing, nor are they covered with soot. What are the problems 4 found that solar cooking families Furthermore, solar energy in the associated with solar cooking? 5 had reduced their fuel expenses tropics and at high altitudes is so pow- 40% in the dry season and 35% in With some cookers, even though 6 erful that cooking speed is not neces- tough, tempered glass is usually used, 7 the wet season. sarily an important issue. Consid- 8 Unlike photovoltaic solar devices erations of simplicity, durability, ease 9 that convert solar energy to electricity, of use, pleasant appearance, and low 50 passive ones simply catch solar energy cost are considered of comparable 1 and convert it directly to heat. They importance. 2 are much simpler and much less 3 costly. Other ‘passive’ solar devices How quickly will it boil water? 4 contributing to good health include: Parabolic solar ovens can do that in a 5 food driers, through-the-wall solar matter of minutes. Box and panel 6 ovens permitting access from indoors, ovens take longer – but will in fact 7 autoclaves which sterilize equipment boil water. It should be noted that 8 for rural hospitals, and ovens that can 9 cooking does not even require boiling burn medical waste. In India there is a 60 in most cases – food cooks at 82C, and Figure 1 Retained heat cooker (photo: giant solar oven, designed by Wolf- water is pasteurized at only 65C. Darwin Curtis)

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1111 there is the possibility of breakage. 2 This danger must be compared to the The basics of solar oven 3 risks presented by open fires. There is design 4 a possibility of a burn if the black 5 cooking pot used for solar cooking is There are three practical models of solar cookers. 6 touched while hot; but this is true of The box oven was introduced 7 any cooking pot. There is no danger of in the 1950s by Dr. Maria Telkes. 8 burns from the other components of A popular model has a hinged, 9 solar cookers. There are undoubtedly transparent top of glass or plas- 10 places where it is inadvisable to leave tic and the inside of the box is 1 black. Sunlight passes through a solar cooker unattended because of the glass, strikes the black- 2 animals or children or thieves or, as painted inside of the box and 3 has been suggested to us, poison. The the light is converted into heat, 4 same problems confront those who which cooks whatever is in 5 cook outdoors over three stone fires. the box. Box cookers can be of any size and can contain 6 We know of no solution but to keep an 7 several pots. They can be hand eye on the cooker from a shady place made, even out of cardboard, 8 nearby. and work well. The way they 9 work is very similar to ovens 20111 Are solar ovens affordable in the (Figure 2). Figure 3 Scheffler cooker (photo: Heike 1 Hoedt) developing world? 2 3 Not by the people who need them the The third and most recent 4 most – virtually nothing is. However, design is the panel cooker. Its 5 there are now durable, efficient mod- major features are low cost and ern designs which can retail for $50 or increased portability, as the less. There are continuing efforts to panels are hinged and can be folded up. Invented by Dr. Roger reduce that cost further. Creative Bernard, it was initially adapted financing will always be necessary to by Solar Cookers International achieve the widest possible distribu- for use in refugee camps. A tion. This includes micro banking, lay commercial model developed by away plans, barter arrangements and Solar Household Energy, Inc. is Theme now available. In this model, subsidies. And since solar energy is called the HotPot, a black steel free, people eventually pay for their cooking pot with a wide flange ovens with the money they have saved Figure 2 Box oven, Bolivia (photo: David is suspended inside a transpar- 6 Whitfield) by reducing their need for traditional ent glass bowl with a space of 7 fuels. 1.3cm between the two. This 8 assembly is covered with a 9 The most powerful solar glass lid and placed in front of a 30 References cooker is composed of a para- foldable reflector designed to 1 boloid reflector and a bracket deliver solar energy through WHO Global burden of disease due to to hold a pot. The reflector the glass bowl to the black pot. 2 indoor air pollution http://www.who. bends the rays of light so that The resultant heat is retained 3 int/indoorair/health_impacts/burden_ they are concentrated at a focal between bowl and pot by the 4 global/en/index.html point under the pot, making it pot’s flange (Figure 4). 5 Children’s Hospital Trust: http://www. very hot indeed. The focal point 6 childrenshospitaltrust.org.za/news.asp? is so hot that this kind of solar 7 PageID=263 cooker can fry food, unlike the other types of solar cooker. Knudson, B and B. Lankford. 1998. Execu- 8 These cookers work like the 9 tive Summary of a Solar Oven Promotion burner on an LPG stove. Dr. 40111 Program Evaluation in Kenya._ Solar Dieter Seifert developed a series 1 Cookers International, Sacramento, of very efficient cookers of this 2 California. type that are now in use around Pell, C. 2005. Solar Cookers in Bolivia: 3 the world. Wolfgang Scheffler Patterns of usage, social impacts and designed an 11-square meter 4 complexities of enumeration. Masters reflector that concentrates 5 thesis, the Anthropology Department, intense solar energy onto an 6 University College London. area about 30 centimeters in 7 Solar Cookers International (SCI). 1999. diameter. It is used for solar 8 Executive Summary of a Solar Oven cooking on an institutional scale. Figure 4 HotPot panel cooker (photo: Christine Danton, SHE Inc). 9 Promotion Program in Ethiopia. Solar (Figure 3) 50 Cookers International, Sacramento, 1 California. 2 3 32 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 33

1111 Fuel briquettes from wastes 2 3 4 Sanu Kaji Shrestha, Foundation for Sustainable Technologies (FoST), P.O. Box 10776, Galkopakha, Thamel, 5 Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 4361574 and 2190473. Email: [email protected] 6 7 Background 8 More than two billion people globally 9 use biomass for cooking food. Smoke 10 from burning biomass is one of the 1 fourth leading causes of death and dis- 2 ease in the world’s poorest countries 3 (WHO, 2002). We are both suffering 4 from indoor air pollution because of 5 excessive use of fire wood in tradi- 6 tional stoves, whilst heavily depleting 7 forest, converting it into deserts. The 8 time is right for creating sustainable 9 livelihoods in rural communities, 20111 through providing options to the tradi- 1 tional cooking habits of the people in 2 Nepal which are incompatible with 3 natural resource management, and are 4 ineffective, costly and unhealthy. 5 6 The Foundation for Sustainable 7 Technologies (FoST) has introduced a 8 wide range of easily applicable, sus- 9 tainable technologies to meet the daily Figure 1 Women displaying a tray of briquettes (photo: FoST) 30 needs of the urban and rural commu- nities in Nepal. Due to shortages in 1 about 600 tonnes of waste generated ment and donor offices, or trading kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas 2 in Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts houses, because they are mostly col- (LPG) and fire wood, resulting in sub- Theme 3 each day. The wastes contains 3% lected by the scrap traders. So, there is stantial price rises, people are experi- 4 clothing, 4.5% construction materials, an abundant source of paper wastes in encing hardships in purchasing fuel. 5 8.5% paper, 9.5% plastic, 2.5% glass, the capital that is more than enough to Since 2002, FoST has been designing, 6 70% organic and 2% others. A bri- set up a major briquetting plant in developing and disseminating sustain- 7 quette business using only paper order to meet growing demand for able technologies to relieve such hard- 8 wastes will have about 20,000 tonnes alternative fuels in the Kathmandu 9 ships in a cost-effective way. The of raw materials in a year from which Valley and also to create jobs. 40111 process described in this article was 16,000 tonnes of briquettes can be 1 demonstrated during the Sustainable produced without mixing any other An alternative energy 2 Resources 2004 Conference in materials as binders. If sawdust is source 3 Colorado by the Legacy Foundation added in a 20:80 ratio, 100,000 tonnes 4 Fuel briquettes are treated as an alter- (see BP 49, 2003). FoST has taught raw material is available, which pro- 5 this method to 60 women in the vil- native energy source for household duces about 80% of this weight in fin- use. They are made from grass, leaves, 6 lages of Gamcha, Matatirtha and ished products. Ultimately, ash pro- saw dust, rice husk and any type of 7 Machhe Gaon in Kathmandu in 2005. duced from burning briquettes is used paper, all of which are compressed 8 Of the 60 women trained under the in enriching soil in farming. This after processing in a lever press into 9 programmes, one third of them have activity generates lot of employment the required sizes. Unlike charcoal, 50 started producing briquettes for their opportunities in the urban cities, these fuel briquettes are made without 1 use (Figure 1). FoST has interacted reduces outdoor air pollution from polluting the environment, they are 2 with the briquette producers in these 3 burning the paper wastes, reduces environmentally-friendly as they uti- villages to form a briquette coopera- 4 garbage problems, minimizes possibil- lize waste materials (Figure 2). They tive in each village in order to run the 5 ity of blocking drains, reuses and recy- provide an energy-efficient and cost- briquette businesses smoothly. 6 cles paper wastes into energy efficient effective alternative energy source for fuel, and minimizes costly cooking 7 Availability of raw materials cooking, water heating and room heat- 8 fuels – kerosene and LPG. ing. The briquettes can be used in any 9 According to the Solid Waste The above data does not cover of the fan-operated stoves available in 60 Management and Resource Mobiliz- paper wastes generated by the publish- the market to reduce smoke. Using a 6111 ation Center of Kathmandu, there are ing houses, printing presses, govern- gasifier stove is even more efficient

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1111 briquettes as an environment-friendly, restaurants, thirdly, pop-corn bakers, 2 easily applicable modern fuel, and a barbeque stalls, trekking lodges, 3 good technology for generating resorts, picnic spots, departmental 4 employment in the community level. stores, trekking stores, highway 5 restaurants, boarding schools etc. 6 Skills’ training Once the women groups are trained 7 No prior technical training is required on briquette making process, they will 8 other than a basic knowledge of be able to produce briquettes by using 9 accounting for starting the business. their own resources first, later collect- 10 The process is one that rural women in ing wastes from their neighbours and 1 the community can easily learn, and from other surrounding villages and 2 the briquettes can be used initially for cities. There appears to be a ready 3 cooking food, and subsequently for market for the briquettes, and the 4 income generation once their skills are women themselves test the products 5 Figure 2 Environmentally friendly drying of sufficiently developed. To date, the and improve the quality to bring it to 6 briquettes (photo: FoST) project has targeted deprived women the market and make profitable busi- 7 of all ages, particularly those in the ness. 8 villages who have dropped out of 9 Impacts of the programme 20111 education. Once they are trained at FoST, they will be the trainers in their 1 Proper use of household and agri- locality. 2 cultural wastes for producing fuel 3 Raw materials briquettes 4 Paper waste will be well utilized 5 There are plenty of sources for the in an economic way necessary raw materials in the cities Consumption of costly kerosene and in the rural areas to start a busi- and LPG will be heavily reduced ness locally. If the paper wastes are Fire wood consumption at house- not sufficient in the villages, entrepre- hold level will be reduced neurs can buy them in nearby cities or Financial companies and coopera- Figure 3 Heavy-duty gasifier stove for cook- from scrap traders. Similarly, sawdust tives will be more active with ing and room heating (photo: FoST) and rice husk or grasses are usually the increased number of micro- Theme than the fan-operated stoves to reduce available locally or in surrounding vil- enterprises based on briquette indoor air pollution in the kitchen. lages. business This type of stove costs Rs.1200 to A healthy environment in the vil- 6 1500 per stove. Potential markets lages and in the cities through 7 There are plenty of potential markets proper management and earning 8 Cost effectiveness for fuel briquettes in the cities and in from the waste can be achieved 9 There are various types of briquettes the rural areas (Figure 4). The poten- Less possibility of getting fire 30 produced in Nepal, mainly of two tial customers for the briquettes are when cooking because of more 1 types: log briquettes from rice husk initially the producers themselves, controlled flame 2 and bee-hive briquettes from charcoal. secondly, kerosene and LPG users, Reduction of indoor air pollution 3 Log briquettes cost Rs.16 per kg, local small businessmen, tea shops, making the family free from 4 whereas bee-hive briquettes cost smoke-borne diseases. 5 Rs.36 per kg. The briquettes from 6 FoST believes that such a briquet- 7 wastes described in this article cost ting technology, which is new to 8 Rs.12 to Rs.16 based on estimated Nepal, will spread rapidly as a small 9 wages of Rs.80 per day for women in industry throughout the environs of 40111 the villages and paper waste costing the Kathmandu Valley and beyond to 1 Rs.4 per kg, dung Rs.2/kg, saw dust meet the daily energy needs for cook- 2 Rs.3/kg, and biomass (agri- and forest ing in a cost-effective way. The small 3 residues) Rs.2/kg. For cooking pur- level of support for transferring the 4 poses, the average family of 4–6 peo- technology at community level will 5 ple would need about 1.5 kgs bri- play a vital role in improving the 6 quettes in a day, which costs about quality of life for people in the rural 7 NRs.22. If they used kerosene, they areas. 8 would need 750 ml – costing about 9 NRs.38, and for gas they would pay Reference 50 NRs.32 for about half a kilogram. Legacy Foundation, 4886 Highway 66 1 Thus communities see these new fuel Figure 4 Briquettes for sale (photo: Fost) Ashland, Oregon, 97520 USA 2 3 34 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 35

1111 Charcoal making from agricultural residues 2 3 4 S.Ganesan and B.P. Nema, Principal Scientists, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Berasia Road, Bhopal- 5 462038, India. 6 7 Charcoal making heat and light. The smoke consists of temperature may rise to nearly 400°C 8 volatile and particulate matter. The and carbonisation and subsequent con- Traditionally, charcoal is made from 9 resultant product of such uncontrolled version to ash is very rapid. forest wood cut into pieces and par- 10 combustion is generally ash, which is tially burnt. However, charcoal can be 1 rich is potassium carbonate. Charcoal Construction of a charcoal made from agricultural residues such 2 is made when the fuel is not com- kiln as stems and twigs that would other- 3 pletely burned – called incomplete wise be left in the field and burnt away In designing the kiln, both the require- 4 combustion. In this process, all the as waste. Some of the common crops ments of a controlled rate of combus- 5 volatile matter in the woody matter is whose stems are suitable for charcoal tion and the need to stop the process 6 driven out and only carbon, in the making are soyabean and red gram. when all of the agricultural residues 7 form of charcoal and a small quantity Any kind of wood can be used to have been converted to char have been 8 of ash, is retained. make charcoal. However, if softwood addressed. The charcoal kiln consists 9 When woody matter is heated to a is used, it will make soft charcoal and of a cylinder made of mild steel (ms) 20111 temperature of 259°C or higher, it therefore burn more quickly. Also, the sheet or modified from a ready-made 1 decomposes to yield gases, vapours 2 method used for softwood would not oil drum. The schematic is shown in and solids. Incomplete combustion of 3 be applicable for hard wood as the lat- Figure 1. At one end the cylinder, an wood is achieved by restricting the 4 ter is denser and tends to burn slowly. L-shaped chimney is formed from two supply of air, and volatile elements are 5 The process described in this article is pipes of diameter 100 mm, joined at driven off as smoke. The smoke con- 6 one that uses the heat given off from an elbow and attached close to the top. 7 the wood or residues as it becomes sists of non-condensable gases and The other end of the cylinder has a 8 charcoal to make the charcoal itself. condensable vapours. The principal fixed lower half and the upper half 9 The rate of combustion is controlled gases are carbon monoxide, oxygen is a hinged door. The lower half of this 30 by regulating the amount of air and nitrogen. The vapours are water- end has a small opening of 50 mm 1 allowed into the burning chamber, and acids, alcohols, tars, oil and other diameter to accept a bent pipe, which 2 when all the volatiles have been given organic compounds. A small amount serves as the air inlet for the lower 3 off and the charcoal itself begins to of these gases and vapours remain in portion. The 50 mm bent pipe has Theme 4 burn, the process is stopped by keep- the charcoal. Controlled and proper a number of holes drilled along it, 5 ing out all the air. This process is burning of the woody matter can yield and this perforated section is pushed 6 developed from the age-old method charcoal comprising 75% to 95% of some way into the kiln to permit the 7 used by colliers to make charcoal in a carbon. With the escape of most of the entry of air into the fuel mix (see 8 pit, pile (clamp) or, more recently, in gases and vapours in the smoke, a Figure 2). The other end is bent away 9 metal or masonry chambers (kilns). charcoal fire is a clean, efficient and and juts above the surface of the soil 40111 In this direct burning process of safe source of heat, both from the when the kiln is buried, as described 1 converting agricultural residues, the environment and health points of below. 2 charcoal produced weighs about view. Conversion to carbon starts at a The whole unit is buried in soil so 3 20–25% of the weight of raw material. temperature of 250°C: in the case of that only the chimney and the air inlet 4 Many factors are responsible for the fire where the air is not controlled, the pipes jut out. In this manner, the unit 5 quality and yield of the char, such as 6 initial moisture content, composition 7 of the biomass, and ambient tempera- 8 ture and humidity. The resulting 9 charred biomass generally consists of 50 small black pieces of very lightweight 1 and low density charcoal which are 2 compressed into briquettes. The char- 3 coal burns hot and clean; and it can be 4 easily ignited. 5 6 The combustion process 7 8 When wood is burnt in the open, with 9 an adequate supply of air, its con- 60 stituents, mainly, carbon, hydrogen 6111 and nitrogen, get oxidised, giving out Figure 1 Schematic drawing of charring kiln for agricultural residues (dimensions in mm)

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1111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 Figure 2 Schematic of the kiln buried ready for use 2 3 is insulated from all sides and the heat ing one’s hands and feet. The chimney 4 of combustion is conserved to a large should be extended to a height of 1500 5 extent. After burying the unit, a small to 1800 mm above the ground so that 6 slope is made on the hinged side so the operator is not directly exposed to 7 that the hinged door can be opened for the smoke emitted by the kiln. The 8 easy feeding of raw material; this is extension pipe is made detachable so 9 20111 left unfilled. The unit is ready for that the outlet can be covered once the 1 making charcoal out of agricultural burn process is completed. A spade 2 residues. Wherever it is not possible to with a long handle is needed to unload 3 weld in the pipes (e.g. lack of electric- the charcoal once it is ready in the 4 ity), it will suffice to make the holes kiln. 5 using a chisel and hammer into which the pipes are pushed. To prevent leak- Loading and firing the kiln age of air, the joint may be covered Agricultural waste in the form of dried with thick mud paste. Since the whole stems and twigs are collected and kept unit is buried, problems of air leakage ready. The semi-circular door on one and over burning of the soft wood are side is opened and a small quantity of Figure 4 Fully loaded kiln giving white smoke (photo: CIAE) minimised. the agricultural waste is pushed into Some of the exposed portions of the kiln so as to cover the whole Theme the kiln may become very hot and cau- length. A piece of flaming paper or from the colour of the smoke from the tion must be exercised to avoid burn- grass is lit and pushed into the kiln so chimney. As the material inside the that the material catches fire and starts kiln burns away and the volatile mat- 6 burning. This is allowed to burn till all ter escapes away as exhaust, the 7 the material turns into red hot embers. colour of the smoke turns from white 8 This state is shown in Figure 3. to grey and then to black gradually. 9 At this point, additional material is This state is shown in Figure 4. 30 pushed into the kiln with the help of a 1 stout pole till the drum is completely Stopping the process 2 filled. It will be seen that the kiln It is necessary to have about 2–3 bags 3 starts to emit thick white smoke indi- 4 of sand for this operation, and the cating the escape of volatile gases in 5 same amount can be held in reserve the raw material. The hinged door is 6 nearby. Insulated gloves are also now closed and the kiln left to burn 7 needed. When all the material inside away the material inside it. Since the 8 the kiln gets converted to red hot door is not fully airtight and the small 9 embers, the smoke completely van- 40111 air inlet pipe also allows some air into ishes and only colourless convection 1 the kiln, air is available for the com- of hot gases can be seen. At this stage, 2 bustion process to continue, which can all entry of air into the kiln is stopped. 3 be seen from the smoke coming from Firstly, the sand kept near the feeding 4 the chimney. end is pushed with a spade to cover 5 For a fully loaded kiln with agri- the opening completely. The sand 6 cultural residues derived from red seals off the closed semicircular lid. 7 gram stems, it has been found to take The extension to the chimney is 8 between 90 to 120 minutes for com- removed with the help of insulating 9 plete conversion of the biomass into gloves and the open end is closed with 50 Figure 3 Initial burning of waste in the kiln char. The right time for stopping the a slab of stone or a lid made especially 1 (photo: CIAE) combustion process is determined for this purpose. The small air inlet 2 3 36 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:30 AM Page 37

1111 pipe at the feed end is also closed off Briquettes The briquettes thus produced are quite 2 in a similar way. Thus the whole kiln convenient and occupy considerably The charcoal produced in the above 3 is made airtight. If there is a leak lower volume than the original agri- process is of very low density and 4 around the kiln, all the material will cultural residues. very brittle with large quantities of 5 turn into ash. It is left to cool for 5–6 powdery material. It does not burn 6 hours. It is advisable not to open the Acknowledgements: The authors are efficiently or produce much heat in a 7 kiln to remove the material whilst it is grateful to the Director, Central stove in this state. Therefore, it is nec- 8 hot, as hot char may catch fire and Institute of Agricultural Engineering, essary to convert it into briquettes of a 9 cause accidents. After a few successful Bhopal for the facilities provided to suitable size and shape with reason- 10 runs, it is possible to judge and oper- undertake this work. able density. The charcoal obtained by 1 ate the kiln without any difficulty. the above process is ground to a pow- 2 Sometimes, it may be necessary to der using a small grinder. A bonding 3 chop the twigs into smaller pieces for agent is needed to make the briquettes 4 easy feeding. 5 stick together, and this can be boiled starch or fresh cow dung. Starch is 6 Char from the kiln 7 preferable for a more smoke-free fire, 8 The woody content of dry agricultural whilst fresh cow dung as bonding 9 residues contains about 50% carbon, agent creates slight smoke during the 20111 and 15% moisture. In some cases, it initial 8–10 minutes. Nevertheless, 1 may be drier. The remaining matter is cow dung is locally available and the briquettes are less smoky than the cow 2 unwanted tar, alcohols, lignin etc. dung cakes used by the villagers for 3 Even when the kiln appears to be fully cooking. It has been found experimen- 4 filled, there will be lot of space around tally that no more than 5% by volume 5 the pieces of fuel. Therefore, after of binder is sufficient for adequate 6 complete conversion, there will be 7 bonding that withstands handling considerable reduction in volume, as 8 without crumbling. Briquettes are the long twigs will have crumbled to 9 made using a screw type extruder to smaller pieces. Even after a successful 30 which the char and binder mixture is burn, there will be a small portion that 1 fed gradually. A flow chart of the bri- 2 has been converted to ash and also quette making process is shown in 3 some woody mass in the corners that Figure 5. Theme 4 did not get enough air or heat to con- The wet briquettes are laid out in 5 vert to char. These can be separated the open sun to dry out completely. 6 at a later stage. Some of the charcoal Depending on the weather, it may take 7 will have turned to powder. These two to three days to dry all the way 8 products are quite acceptable. The through. Thus no charcoal is wasted in 9 charcoal produced in this way is the drying process, and the resulting 40111 shown in Figure 5. briquettes have high calorific value. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 60 6111 Figure 5 Flow chart of the charcoal briquette-making process

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1111 2 3 What’s happening in 4 5 household energy? 6 7 8 Nepal’s first CDM project earmarked by governments for sus- The journal is scheduled for launch 9 tainable timber production, only 25 as a quarterly journal in 2007 and is A project that is bringing clean, effi- 10 million are actually being managed seeking contributions in terms of full cient energy to rural communities in 1 sustainably, says the report. It adds papers, short notes, case studies, Nepal is Nepal’s first under the Kyoto 2 that governments have enacted man- industry insights, and papers from Protocol’s Clean Development 3 agement plans for only 2.4 per cent of doctoral theses for publication in the Mechanism, which allows industri- 4 the 461 million hectares of forest that journal. Please refer to the Journal alised nations to offset some of their 5 are supposedly protected. The report Statement, Author Guidelines, and emissions by investing in clean energy 6 urges the international community to paper review guidelines, available at projects in developing nations. The 7 create incentives for tropical nations http://www.hedon.info/goto.php/view/ Nepal Biogas Project promotes the use 8 to protect their forests. 224/library.htm, for additional infor- of underground digesters that use bac- 9 Trees contain and absorb vast quan- mation on the scope of the journal, teria to generate methane gas from 20111 tities of atmospheric carbon dioxide – manuscript preparation and paper cattle dung. Using methane instead of 1 the main greenhouse gas. The review process. wood or kerosene to power stoves or 2 Coalition for Rainforest Nations wants Submissions should be sent, prefer- lamps can reduce a household’s green- 3 international carbon trading schemes ably by email (for email address go to house gas emissions by five tonnes a 4 to include payments to countries that HEDON website), or by post to Ms 5 year. Under an agreement signed on 3 preserve their forests. The Association Vicky Williams, Managing Editor, 6 May 2006, the World Bank’s for Tropical Biology and Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 7 Community Development Carbon Conservation, a scientific society with 60/62 Toller Lane, Bradford BD8 9BY, 8 Fund will pay Nepal US$7 per tonne 1,200 members in 70 countries, has United Kingdom. 9 of avoided emissions to reduce them officially endorsed the call. On a more 30 by one million tonnes over the next positive note, the ITTO report says The 5th Better Air Quality 1 seven years by increasing the use of that sustainable management of (BAQ) workshop September 2 biogas units. forests has risen from one million 3 The money will be used to build 13–15, Yogyakarta, hectares of tropical forest managed 4 more digesters, which will be sold for Indonesia sustainably in 1988 to 36 million 5 no profit to poor households. Since hectares today. The 5th Better Air Quality (BAQ) 6 1992, the project has constructed workshop will be held 13–15 7 145,000 biogas units and aims to Source – SciDev: September 2006 in the historic city of 8 install about 83,500 more units by http://www.scidev.net/content/news/e Yogyakarta in Central Java, Indonesia. 9 2009. The project will bring additional ng/report-urges-rethink-on-value-of- The theme of BAQ 2006 is called a 40111 benefits by attaching latrines to the forest-resources.cfm “Celebration of Efforts” to highlight 1 biogas units to improve sanitation. the success stories that Asian coun- 2 Farmers will be able to use the resid- New energy journal to be tries, cities and communities have 3 ual material from the digesters as a launched achieved over the last years in 4 fertiliser, and women and children will addressing air pollution while at the 5 The International Journal of Energy not have to collect as much firewood. same time highlighting the efforts that 6 Sector Management, to be launched in are still ahead in improving air quality 7 Source – SciDev: 2007, will be a peer-reviewed, inter- in Asia. Source PCIA website: 8 http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm disciplinary international platform for http://www.pciaonline.org 9 ?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2852 disseminating results of research 50 &language=1 related to and/or relevant for the man- Further information: 1 agement of the energy sector. http://www.baq2006.org 2 Need for support to tropical The journal aims to focus on holis- 3 forestry tic, applied research on energy sector Publications management and to disseminate prac- 4 The largest ever survey of tropical Fuel for life: household energy and tical solutions of difficult decision- 5 forests released in May 2006 by the health making problems by providing a com- 6 International Tropical Timber Eva Rehfuess 7 mon forum for wider interaction, Organization (ITTO) indicates that 95 8 information sharing and publication of This new publication gives an per cent of tropical forests are unpro- 9 relevant applied research, thereby try- overview of the health impacts of tected or not being managed sustain- 60 ing to bridge the gap between industry indoor air pollution from solid fuel use ably. Of 353 million hectares of forest 6111 and academia. and describes solutions to promote

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1111 health and development in the context Evaluating the impacts of house- and development into access to elec- 2 of the household energy challenge. hold energy projects and tricity services in remote rural areas 3 Innovative policy approaches and a programmes will shed light on and the sustainability of these ser- 4 rigorous acceleration of investments is how different technical solutions vices. 5 needed now to save lives and enable could be fine-tuned to maximize This small enterprise model was 6 development. their health, social and environ- designed with the clear objective of 7 mental benefits. Learning from ensuring efficient financial and techni- 8 their experience will provide a cal management to take into account 9 recipe for putting into action suc- the social and economic environment, 10 cessful, large-scale programmes. and to encourage the committed par- 1 ticipation of the community. The con- The book is available at no cost on 2 cept of private management is intro- line at: 3 duced, where a micro-enterprise is http://www.who.int/indoorair/publica- 4 responsible for the running of the sys- tions/fuelforlife/en/index.html 5 tem and receives payment in exchange Printed copies can be obtained 6 for the management of the service. from: 7 To date, the model has been piloted World Health Organization 2006, 8 in five small hydroelectric plants in ISBN 92 4 156316 8, CHF 15.00/US$ 9 the north of Peru, with very positive 13.50 20111 results. It is proposed that this model In developing countries: CHF 1 could also be used successfully in 10.50/US$ 9.45, Order no. 11500665 2 other energy-generating systems 3 To order a copy, please contact: (diesel, solar, wind-powered) with 4 World Health Organization, WHO only minor changes. 5 Press, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, This book will be of interest to all 6 Tel: +41 22 791 3264, Fax: +41 22 stakeholders in rural electrification: 7 791 4857, Email: bookorders@who. rural electrification organizations at 8 int or order on line at http://www. The publication concludes with the government and private level, 9 who.int/bookorders researchers on sustainable energy, 30 following key points: Disease Control Priorities in implementers of rural energy schemes, 1 Cooking with wood, dung, coal Developing Countries – chapter: policy makers, and also students and 2 and other solid fuels is a major Indoor Air Pollution teachers of courses related to rural 3 risk factor for pneumonia among Nigel Bruce, Eva Rehfuess, Sumi energy. 4 children and chronic respiratory Mehta, Guy Hutton, and Kirk Smith 5 disease among adults ISBN 1–85339–620–6, ITDG The second edition of this major work 6 To halve, by 2015, the number of Publishing GBP £17.95, USD $31.95, (DCP2), written by more than 350 7 people without access to clean Euro €24.95, Paperback 104 pages, specialists in diverse fields from 8 fuels, 485 000 people will need 234156mm. Available at 10% dis- around the world, provides the results 9 to gain access to modern energy count from of in depth research and analyses, and 40111 services every day for the next www.developmentbookshop.com 1 proposes policy recommendations to 10 years. 2 reduce significantly the burden of dis- Health and productivity gains can 3 ease in developing countries and to more than pay for lifting people 4 improve the quality of life for all peo- out of energy poverty. For exam- 5 ple. The chapter ‘Indoor Air Pollution’ ple, investing US$ 13 billion per 6 can be downloaded from the web: year to halve, by 2015, the number 7 http://www.dcp2.org/pubs/DCP/42 of people worldwide cooking with 8 Disease Control Priorities in solid fuels by providing them with 9 Developing Countries (2nd Edition), access to liquefied petroleum gas 50 ed., 793–816. New York: Oxford Uni- shows a payback of US$ 91 1 versity Press. DOI: 10.1596/978– billion per year. 2 0–821–36179–5/Chpt-42. 3 Taking household energy solutions 4 to scale will overcome a major Electricity Services in Remote 5 barrier to achieving the Millen- Rural Communities 6 nium Development Goals. The Small Enterprise Model 7 Improved household energy prac- Teodoro Sanchez 8 tices promote education, empower This book describes an innovative 9 women, save the lives of children model for the organization of electric- 60 and their mothers and benefit our ity services, developed and tested by 6111 forests and our climate. Practical Action as part of its research

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1111 2 3 Energy news from Practical Action 4 5 Boiling Point now and into the future 6 7 8 Liz Bates, Practical Action, Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby CV35 9 9HP, UK. 10 1 In 2004, Boiling Point sent out a sur- Table 1 Access to electronic versions of Boiling Point vey to every reader. This was partly to 2 Question (Total population: 162) No Yes No 3 see if the high cost of sending out print answer 4 copies was -effective, and partly to see Do you need a printed copy of BP because 30 North: 4 North: 35 5 how people felt about the journal. you don’t have access to a computer? South: 51 South: 42 6 Each edition contained a single two- Total: 55 Total: 77 7 sided questionnaire and an envelope – Could you download PDF files sent 30 North: 35 North: 7 8 so those choosing to return the form to your email? South: 20 South: 70 9 had to fill in the form and put postage Total: 55 Total: 77 20111 on the envelope. Filling in the form Would you find a searchable CD ROM 33 North: 21 North: 15 1 was intended to take around ten min- version acceptable? South: 44 South: 49 Total: 65 Total: 64 2 utes maximum. 3 Of those who responded, 54 were Do you have access to the Practical 31 North: 36 North: 7 Action website from which to South: 29 South: 59 4 in the North and 108 were from the download Boiling Point? Total: 65 Total: 66 5 South. At present these audiences 6 receive a printed copy of the journal 7 and the readership was asked whether 8 they could access it electronically. A 9 summary of the survey results is pre- 30 sented in Table 1: 1 This sample suggests that although 2 several readers (particularly in the 3 North) are able to access the informa- 4 tion electronically, roughly a third of 5 the readers have no access to comput- 6 ers and would not benefit from receiv- 7 ing information electronically – these 8 are primarily Southern NGOs, CBOs 9 and government bodies. 40111 1 Readership 2 The respondents were asked to clas- 3 sify their organisation by a tick-list 4 and it was noted that a high number of 5 respondents were either from NGOs 6 or from academic institutions. The 7 Figure 1 Institutions responding to the survey 8 number of academic institutions does 9 not mirror the general readership that readers per copy; this probably my subscription’ and ‘People don’t 50 is largely NGOs and CBOs – who are reflects the high number of academic read English’. On the positive side, 1 also well represented, as shown in establishments responding to the sur- there seem to be a strong feeling of 2 Figure 1. It could be argued that the vey who wrote down the numbers of ownership and desire for the journal. 3 high number of academic institutions students with access to the journal. 4 taking the trouble to answer the ques- tionnaire is a good indicator of the Technical & socio-economic 5 Comments articles: 6 interest that Boiling Point generates in universities and colleges. 7 Perhaps the most interesting part of When designing a cookstove I had Of the 106 responses which pro- 8 the survey for an editor was the to go through many issues to see if vided data on the number of people 9 diverse comments coming from our a better design could have been reading the journal, a surprising num- 60 readers. The most negative responses produced to avoid duplication 6111 ber suggested that more than 10 we received were; ‘Please discontinue

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1111 HEDON Knowledge Base, allow- 2 ing everyone to make comments 3 and suggestions on the articles. 4 The articles will also be linked to 5 the author’s profiles and other rel- 6 evant documents and projects on 7 the site. 8 For those without web access, 9 there will be a section in the sub- 10 sequent issue of Boiling Point for 1 comments and feedback and news 2 from the household energy 3 community 4 5 HEDON is committed to reaching those without access to computers as 6 Figure 2 7 well as those who can use the web. 8 Explanations accompanied by On readership This is a time of transition, and as edi- 9 tor for the past few years I would urge illustrations. Vast case studies that The research and training unit 20111 everyone who enjoys Boiling Point to have a bearing on many other situ- library which is my responsibility 1 ations and a number of lessons to think about what they can do to make 2 services a number of programmes. it even better in the coming years. If be learnt by the reader Most are rural based or remote 3 you have not written for the journal . . . have helped me to fabricate a and they look forward to the 4 briquetting machine for converting before, then why not disseminate your 5 Boiling Point magazine work to a worldwide audience. charcoal wastes into briquettes I copy articles for partners in rural 6 If you have used the journal in the BP was helpful during our work areas in East Africa who have no 7 on Economic Analysis of Rural past in one of your projects, why not 8 access to internet nor fax, some- write a letter to the new editor describ- Pollution in Northern India times I would have more articles 9 Experts on rural women affairs ing what has been achieved. 30 for illiterate women in villages, Additional funding is always wel- and rural development technology even a poster for a women’s group 1 read it come as sending it out at no cost is 2 how to do this and that Articles related to gender / women very expensive indeed. 3 I pass the printed copy around to and energy have been used / circu- Boiling Point has been going now 4 workers in our organization that lated amongst network members since 1982, with ongoing support from 5 do not have computer access Practical articles [. . .] provided both Practical Action (then ITDG) and 6 We have an information centre of information of value to resource- GTZ. I would like to sign off by wish- 7 technology. Maybe 5–10 persons ing HEDON every success, and pay- poor farmers visiting the informa- read our copies 8 ing tribute to the original editor Ian tion centre Over 500 people as it is placed in 9 Grant whose vision and dedication led We need a hard copy to show peo- a library 40111 this journal from two pages of A4 ple who visit our facility that effi- 1300 people for reading of Boiling 1 paper stapled together in the corner cient stoves are real and air quality Point 2 into a journal very similar to today's is a world problem, not something All 13 staff of my NGO with a 3 version. 4 we are making up multiplying effect of 5 5 The new ideas, case studies and 6 the resources it mentions. I prefer Future plans the print version because I share it 7 As those of our readers with computer with volunteers who don’t have 8 access will know, the HEDON House- access to computers. It lacks 9 hold Energy website (www.hedon. colourful pictures, but we 50 info) provides a wealth of information understand about the cost. We 1 on household energy. In the future, often make copies of articles and 2 Boiling Point will not only deliver the use them in our training events 3 same quality of information in the and also share with Moroccan 4 paper edition, but will have the fol- counterparts 5 lowing additional features: 6 We have used BP to answer practi- 7 cal questions from our farmers An electronic version of the jour- 8 We pass the information on to our nal distributed to those who would 9 grassroots partners in developing prefer this format 60 countries. BP is a resource tool for An online interactive version of 6111 us to share with our partners Boiling Point articles as part of the

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1111 directly and inefficiently, leading to thermal efficiency of 39% during the 2 fuel wastage, poor indoor air quality, temperature rising phase. Today in 3 and significant health risks. rural areas, several types of household 4 In the early 1980s, biomass short- stove combustion units can be pur- 5 ages led to the development, through chased and installed in hand-built bod- 6 the government-based National ies. One of these models, the NG-1, 7 Improved Stove Program (NISP), of won the golden price at the 1985 8 fuel-saving stoves that focused on World Expo in Tsukuba, Japan. 9 more complete combustion (Figure 1). This successful programme, run by 10 To achieve better performance, NISP the Minister of Agriculture, was res- 1 staff made several changes to conven- ponsible for installing energy efficient 2 tional stoves: stoves in 60 to 80% of rural house- 3 holds, raising national awareness of lowered the combustion chamber 4 the need for cleaner household energy and decreased its volume 5 solutions, and creating regional and reduced the size of the stove door 6 local infrastructure for an improved added a grate 7 stove industry. While NISP has been 8 added a flame baffle less active in recent years, there are 9 added a smoke-recirculation duct, government and multilateral initia- 20111 air duct, and chimney. Figure 2 Luoyang gasifier stove installed in tives to promote sustainable rural kitchen (photo: CEIDH) 1 They found that when the height of development and improve living con- 2 the chimney was more than three ditions in more remote rural areas. living are rising. The industry is worth 3 meters, they achieved thermal effi- 240 million RMB ($29.6 million US) 4 Stove commercialisation 5 ciencies of 30% or more based on sim- and growing at rate of 10% per year. 6 ple water-boiling tests. However, Chinese stove entrepreneurs are now Currently 90% of its revenue comes 7 recent research indicates that these designing highly efficient biomass from coal stoves, but some innovative 8 efficiency rates may not be consistent stoves that employ densified, com- manufacturers see the opportunity to 9 across fuel types and may not have pressed, or pelletized fuels and gasifi- increase the sales of biomass stoves. 30 held up over time (Sinton et al). cation technologies (Figures 2 & 3); Some Chinese companies have now 1 As NIPS progressed, a semi-fabri- (gasification is when the gases in solid developed a range of cast iron gasifier 2 cated approach was adopted to fuel are driven out of the fuel and and semi-gasifier biomass stoves. 3 improve the performance of hand- these gases are burnt cleanly to pro- Biomass fuel is converted to gas fuel, Theme 4 built stoves. A standardized cast iron duce the heat.) These innovations are resulting in greater fuel quality and 5 secondary air ring could be purchased driven and financed by a stove indus- efficiency. Theses stoves have thermal 6 and installed by a trained technician try that is successfully selling more efficiencies of 65%–80%, and their 7 into the hand-built stove body. This than 10 million improved cookstoves emissions have been tested using the 8 further improved performance: for annually, in areas that are becoming Ringelmann test (which compares the 9 example, 1.9 kg firewood could heat more urban, and where standards of darkness of the smoke against a stan- 40111 35kg of water in 28 minutes with a dard scale). This test shows that the 1 smoke density is less than 50mg/Nm3 2 and thus they meet the strictest envi- 3 ronmental protection standards in 4 China. Due to the current government 5 emphasis on sustainable development, 6 it can be highly beneficial to the com- 7 pany’s reputation, brand, and image to 8 develop low-emissions stove tech- 9 nologies, and 60 000 units are cur- 50 rently manufactured annually. 1 Despite these significant gains, mil- 2 lions of poor rural households, espe- 3 cially in western China, continue to 4 use inefficient stoves that emit health- 5 damaging pollutants. The scaling up 6 of production, marketing, and distrib- 7 ution of new biomass stove technolo- 8 gies targeted to this market segment is 9 key to improving health and well 60 being in rural China. 6111 Figure 1 Improved non-gasifier stove being tested in factory (photo: CEIDH)

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1111 preferences. Stove design standards 2 would ensure that the industry 3 achieves uniform product quality. 4 The transportation and commercial 5 infrastructure in rural areas does not 6 easily support stove distribution. 7 Facilities for producing pelletized 8 or briquette fuels need to be estab- 9 lished in areas where such stoves 10 are to be sold. 1 The industry lacks channels for dis- 2 tributing advanced stove technolo- 3 gies in other developing countries 4 5 Future partnership activities 6 In the final phase of the project, Phase 7 3, the project will focus on building 8 9 the capacity of the winning enterprises 20111 and promoting the award-winning 1 stoves outside of China. It will aim to identify market and export opportuni- 2 Figure 3 Looking down into the cast iron combustion chamber (photo: CEIDH) 3 ties for these stoves elsewhere in Asia, and in Latin America and Africa. 4 small particles and other unhealthy Fuels for stoves Currently evaluation of potential mar- 5 pollutants has not yet been established The stoves with the lowest emissions kets in Asia is underway. The first under field conditions. These stoves and the best gasification results burn venue is India, where indoor air pollu- have yet to be manufactured and mar- either block-pressed or pelletized bio- tion is widespread and where there are keted on a large scale. mass fuels, which provide a more uni- a number of ongoing programmes form feedstock than raw biomass. The Current challenges to which might benefit from a Chinese cost of the block-press biomass cubes spreading innovation and stove in the growing portfolio of or briquettes is about RMB 250 per improved biomass cookstoves.

Theme adoption tonne ($30), while fuel pellets average This project is intended to serve as 400 RMB per tonne ($50), depending While the need for the clean house- the pilot for a permanent award pro- on the region. Since these fuels are hold energy provided by gasifier tech- gramme that would stimulate on- 6 more expensive than unprocessed bio- nology is great, there are currently sig- going innovation and highlight to gov- 7 mass, they are currently only afford- nificant barriers to dissemination and ernments and the public the important 8 able to wealthier farmers. However, adoption. role that cleaner-burning stove tech- 9 nologies play in sustainable rural these fuels are generally cheaper than The producers of gasifier tech- 30 development and improved quality of coal, which costs approximately 500 nologies are primarily smaller 1 life in rural communities. In China, RMB per tonne ($62) and, like coal, companies with limited resources. 2 the programme could also be they can be used for heating the home They lack the capital and manage- 3 expanded to other energy products, in winter, as well as for cooking ment capacity to expand produc- 4 such as household coal stoves. throughout the year. The distribution tion and distribution over a vast 5 networks for these processed biomass 6 geographic area. References fuels are currently limited, but produc- 7 Rural populations are not aware tion and distribution are both expected Jonathan E. Sinton, Kirk R. Smith, John W. 8 of the importance of indoor air to expand rapidly, creating better quality to human health. They lack Peabody, Liu Yaping, Zhang Xiliang, 9 Rufus Edwards, Gan Quan, An 40111 availability and lower prices. familiarity with these stoves and Assessment of Programmes to Promote 1 Some manufacturers are targeting do not recognize the need for Improved Household Stoves in China, 2 less affluent farmers with gasifier cleaner burning technologies. This Energy for Sustainable Development 3 stoves designed to burn unprocessed need will only be turned into 8(3):33–52, 2004. 4 fuel such as twigs and straw. The demand once the dangers are Hao, Fangzhou. Development and Counter- measures of Rural Stove in China. 5 farmer cuts the fuel into segments understood. Xiliang, Y. and Smith, K. Programmes pro- 6 before feeding it into the stove. The The ease with which a person can gasification efficiency of this kind of use the stove on some household moting improved household stoves in 7 China, Boiling Point No. 50 8 stove in laboratory tests is more than biomass gasifier stoves still needs Report from the NISP Dissemination 9 60%, with thermal efficiency of 45%. to be addressed. Stove producers Workshop 2005, Beijing, January 14–16, 50 Although these stoves do not emit need to conduct additional research 2005, http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/hem/ 1 dark smoke, their total emissions of to identify consumer product page.asp?id=29#7 2 3 8 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 9

1111 Pollution factors affecting health and safety in 2 3 rural Zimbabwe 4 5 Davidzo Muchawaya; University Of Pretoria,Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Human Sciences Building, 6 Lynwood Street, Pretoria 0002, South Africa Email: [email protected] 7 8 Background Zimbabwe, as part of a project on rural (approximately US$1) which is 9 electrification and its impacts. unaffordable for most people. 10 Households in developing countries 1 are characterised by the use of ineffi- Research design Key factors associated with cient and polluting energy sources. 2 Various qualitative methods were used ill health 3 The implications of such on the health in this research: Some key factors for continued high 4 and safety of family members in rural 5 households is rarely explored with the In depth interviews levels of ill-health associated with 6 commitment it deserves. Life histories indoor air pollution are highlighted 7 Smith (2002); Cecelski (2005); Participant observation below: 8 Mishra (2003) and Charron (2005) are Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) Households that cannot afford the 9 some of the scholars who have written Photographs list price of paraffin often buy it from 20111 on indoor air pollution. Charron Case studies unscrupulous dealers: in some instances 1 (2005:12) draws attention to the fact households buy paraffin that is mixed 2 that indoor air pollution is now rated Indoor air pollution in with water. This further exacerbates the 3 by the World Health Organization as Zimbabwe danger of indoor air pollution. Rural households that can no longer 4 the second most dangerous environ- Whilst the debate on indoor air pollu- 5 mental health risk in rural areas (after afford to buy paraffin have improvised tion has been mainly centred on the other energy sources for lighting in the 6 dirty water and poor sanitation). kitchen, this project work in Zim- 7 This article is based on qualitative evenings. Some now use diesel, oil, babwe has looked also at effects of lev- rubber tyres in place of paraffin. 8 fieldwork done by the author in rural els of pollution in the rest of the house. 9 areas of Zimbabwe from September Worse still, households that cannot 30 2005 to the end of January 2006. The Biomass use afford all the above use burning fire- 1 wood sticks as a source of light. The study was done to examine energy con- Biomass (including agricultural resi- 2 sumption patterns in rural Zimbabwe, options given above pose serious dues) is the principal source of energy Theme 3 as part of a project on rural electrifica- indoor air pollution for rural house- 4 used in rural Zimbabwe. Biomass is holds in Zimbabwe. tion and its impacts. The rationale used for cooking, space heating and 5 behind the study was to find out the 6 lighting. According to the CSO (2002: House construction knowledge, attitude, behaviour and 133), the percentage of rural people 7 The type of houses that are normally practice of rural people in Zimbabwe using biomass as an energy source is 8 with regards to issues of indoor air pol- constructed in rural Zimbabwe worsen 9 94% although other energy sources lution within the context of energy con- the indoor pollution problem. Both 40111 such as paraffin, electricity, dung and sumption. This was based upon the rea- kitchens and bedrooms are not well 1 solar are also used. It was noted that soning that the way people consume ventilated. Some do not have windows 2 due to fuel wood shortages, the use of household energy has a bearing on and the small houses are such that 3 dung as an energy source is growing indoor air pollution. Pollution levels smoke gets trapped in the kitchen. In 4 popular, however the use of electricity, were not monitored scientifically. buildings that have windows, the win- 5 paraffin and solar is insignificant Indoor air pollution in Zimbabwe is because of prohibitive costs. dows are small, V-shaped and less 6 than 30cm in diameter. Sometimes, 7 an area that is largely ignored and understudied compared to other health Paraffin use sacks are stuffed into the small win- 8 dows further inhibiting the circulation risks. Consequently occupants of rural Prior to paraffin (kerosene) shortages, 9 of air. Figure 1 shows an external view households in Zimbabwe are inhaling lamps called zvibani were used for 50 of the type of unventilated kitchen large amounts of polluted air in lighting using unadulterated paraffin. 1 normally seen in Zimbabwe. kitchens and bedrooms; far above the Whilst these lamps emitted smoke, 2 Cooking in the kitchen is the norm 3 recommended WHO levels. they were better than the current sur- in rural Zimbabwe. People do not cook 4 The participants of the study were vival strategies employed due to the out doors unless if it is for a very big 5 drawn from rural children (aged above current paraffin scarcity discussed in function and they are using big pots 6 10 years); rural women and men; rural the following paragraphs. when the heat in the kitchen would be 7 health workers; community leaders, Zimbabwe has serious problems too great. Cooking indoors is cultural; 8 policy makers and workers in the with indoor air pollution because of the kitchen is the point focus for all the 9 energy; health, environment and the unavailability and lack of afford- household members and also for 60 development sector. It examined ability of paraffin. Paraffin is currently 6111 energy consumption patterns in rural pegged at $Z 200 000.000 a litre socialisation and relaxing. Other rea-

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1111 Are messages reaching the they use for raising awareness for 2 grassroots? other diseases; for example: using 3 Radio Zimbabwe which has an It can be argued that years after the 4 audience of more than 80% in dangers associated with indoor air pol- 5 rural areas. The print media can lution emerged, the language of indoor 6 also be used to raise awareness air pollution is still circulating among 7 through pamphlets and flyers in researchers, professionals and acade- 8 local languages. mics. The message has not yet reached 9 It is important for the government the intended beneficiaries; hence they 10 of Zimbabwe to consider including continue to suffer from indoor air pol- 1 indoor air pollution in the school 2 lution without recognising its dangers. People cannot act unless they have curriculum. 3 Churches in rural areas can be 4 knowledge. Hence if rural dwellers do not know about indoor air pollution used to raise awareness on indoor 5 air pollution in rural areas. 6 and its dangers, they do not have an Posters can be put on walls in 7 incentive to reduce or to come up with shops were people normally go to 8 Figure 1 Woman standing in front of typical strategies that reduce it. unventilated kitchen, Zimbabwe (photo: Indoor air pollution is not accorded buy basic commodities as such 9 Muchawaya) 20111 in terms of danger, the same position places are popular. 1 sons that are given for cooking in the as that given to malaria, cholera or 2 kitchen include: the smoke protecting tuberculosis just to mention a few. Recommendations 3 the thatch; smoke deters cockroaches, People do all they can to prevent and There is need for widespread 4 insects and rats: smoke preserves food: seek attention for the latter health con- indoor air pollution campaigns to 5 and cooking is a private affair and the ditions but not for those caused by kitchen provides such privacy. indoor air pollution. raise awareness among the grass- The failure to take indoor air pollu- roots about indoor air pollution HIV/AIDS confining people to the tion as a serious health threat is largely and its effects. home a problem of policy at national level Rural households need to partici- With the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in rather than at household level. Indoor pate actively in defining local Zimbabwe, home based care activities air pollution has not been taken seri- strategies for mitigating indoor air are now very common in rural house- ously as a public health issue in Zim- pollution. Theme holds, exposing the patients to indoor babwe and as a result people in rural Indigenous knowledge systems air pollution that exacerbates their areas do not also consider it as such. need to be promoted in the fight medical conditions. against indoor air pollution. 6 Campaigning at grassroots level Rural households should be 7 Lack of knowledge on the Raising awareness on indoor air pollu- educated on the advantages of 8 dangers of indoor air pollution tion remains one of the most pragmatic improving air quality. 9 Are rural people aware of the effects ways that can work effectively in pre- Governments and the international 30 of indoor air pollution and do they venting and mitigating the effects of community should put more politi- 1 take them seriously? It is saddening to indoor air pollution in Zimbabwe. cal commitment towards indoor air 2 note that many of those people who Effective methods include: pollution. 3 suffer from symptoms of respiratory 4 Social mobilisation campaigns in References infections do not seek medical atten- rural areas by both the government 5 tion. This is because such symptoms Cecelski, E. 2005. Is gender a key variable in 6 and the NGOs. The government of are considered to be normal and are Zimbabwe can use the already household energy and indoor air inter- 7 vention? Boiling Point, 50:17–18. not taken seriously in the community. existing health systems (for exam- 8 This study found the following: Central Stastics Office (CSO). 2002. Census 9 ple rural community health Report 2002. Harare: CSO 40111 Rural dwellers are not aware of outreaches) run by health centres. Charron, D. 2005. The Ecostove – getting rid 1 the effects of indoor air pollution These outreach programmes have of nearly 90% of kitchen wood smoke. 2 other than the fact that it causes proved very effective in preventing Boiling Point, 50:12–13. 3 some mild headache and sore eyes and combating other diseases. Flick, U. 1998. An introduction to qualitative 4 They do not take indoor air pollu- While rural health centres run research. London: Thousand Oaks. Mishra, V. 2003. Indoor air pollution from 5 tion as a serious health threat so health education meetings every do not seek medical attention for morning. such meetings can be biomass combustion and acute respira- 6 tory illness in pre school age children in respiratory problems caused by used as a platform for dissemina- 7 Zimbabwe. International Journal of 8 indoor air pollution. tion of information on indoor air Epidemiology. 32:847–853. 9 House ventilation is not considered pollution. Smith, K.R. 2002. Indoor air pollution in 50 important; hence households opt The Government and NGOs can developing countries: Recommendations 1 not to install means of ventilation. play their part using the methods for research. Indoor air 12(3): 198- 2006. 2 3 10 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 11

1111 Protecting children from indoor air pollution 2 3 exposure through outdoor cooking in rural 4 South Africa 5 6 7 Brendon Barnes1, Angela Mathee1, Nigel Bruce2, Liz Thomas1 8 1Health and Development Research Group, Medical Research Council of South Africa 9 2Department of Public Health, University of Liverpool 10 Introduction 1 2 Over half the global population is 3 reliant on solid fuels such as wood, 4 coal, crop residues and animal dung 5 for their domestic energy require- 6 ments.1,2 This results in high concen- 7 trations of pollutants such as particu- 8 late matter (PM) and carbon monoxide 9 (CO) in the peoples’ homes3,4 when 20111 such fuels are burned indoors in open 1 fires or rudimentary appliances. 2 Amongst other health problems, in- 3 door air pollution exposure has been 4 associated with acute lower respira- 5 tory infections (ALRI) (such as pneu- 6 monia) amongst children younger than 7 five years old.5,4 8 By the late 1990s, there was a Figure 1 Outside view of segotlo (photo: Brendon Barnes) 9 growing consensus of the probable 30 links between indoor air pollution and are unlikely to benefit from improved address this shortage of information, 1 child ALRI to call for studies to mea- technologies in the short term. Despite this article reports on the effectiveness 2 sure the effects of interventions on this, no published studies have evalu- of promoting outdoor cooking in a Theme 3 health.6 Changing the way people ated how changes in behaviour can poor rural South African community 4 behave has been identified as a possi- relate to the way that children are to reduce ill-health caused by kitchen 5 ble strategy, particularly where people exposed to indoor air pollution.7To smoke. 6 The study was conducted in two 7 poor rural villages in the Mafikeng 8 local municipality, North West prov- 9 ince of South Africa. Over 98% of 40111 households were reliant on a combina- 1 2 tion of wood and cow dung, collected 3 free of charge, for their domestic 4 energy requirements. In this region, 5 every household had a square-shaped 6 outdoor burning area (segotlo) in the 7 homestead, which was enclosed by a 8 wall of interwoven dried sticks approx- 9 imately 1.6 m in height (Figure 1). It 50 typically had a small entrance with a 1 door (usually a piece of corrugated 2 iron) that could be closed, thus creating 3 a roofless kitchen. Inside is found a 4 place for fuel storage (dried wood and 5 cow dung), tables and chairs, pots, 6 crockery and utensils (Figure 2). 7 Outdoor cooking was widespread dur- 8 ing summer but less so during winter 9 when open fires are burned indoors 60 where space heating is needed (Figure 6111 Figure 2 Outdoor cooking inside the segotlo (photo: Brendon Barnes) 3). At the start of the project, only one

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1111 Child age and sex. 2 Caregiver age and formal 3 education 4 Household characteristics: monthly 5 income, number of people, 6 dwelling type (traditional versus 7 formal) and dwelling size. 8 Ambient temperature. 9 10 Process 1 2 Caregivers were interviewed (using a 3 questionnaire) to find out the location 4 of the fire, information on the house- 5 hold, and characteristics of both care- 6 giver and child. Researchers carried 7 out the interview in the local language, 8 and filled out the appropriate res- 9 ponses in the questionnaire. Exposure 20111 of the child to carbon monoxide (CO) Figure 3 Children experience high levels of indoor air pollution when fires are brought 1 indoors (photo: Brendon Barnes) was measured using tubes that change 2 colour with exposure to CO (Dräger 3 third of households (see below) hold (the ‘caregiver’). This was fol- passive diffusion tubes). The carbon 4 reported using the segotlo for cooking lowed by a discussion of how that per- monoxide (expressed as parts per mil- 5 during winter. son currently dealt with household lion) was measured over a 24-hour energy and possible ways in which she period. The CO tubes were attached to Aim and objectives of the (or he) could change her behaviour to the clothing of the youngest child or study reduce the dangers of smoke. Each close to where the child was sleeping, being bathed or changed. Ambient The aim of the study was to evaluate household was visited one week later temperatures were obtained from the the effectiveness of a low-cost ‘inter- to determine how household members South African Weather Bureau, mea- vention’ affecting peoples’ behaviour. were coping with the agreed changes in behaviour, and encouraging them to sured at a weather station near to the

Theme The intervention in this case involved continue. villages. promoting the health benefits of out- door cooking on the exposure of chil- Baseline data were collected in August 2003 (late winter) in both the Results 6 dren to indoor air pollution. Two alternative behaviours – improving intervention and control group. The Comparisons of the background infor- 7 household visits were implemented mation between baseline and follow- 8 ventilation and keeping children away immediately thereafter in the ‘inter- up showed that only household 9 from fires – were promoted amongst vention group’ only with no further income and ambient temperature 30 people who found it difficult to burn contact with the two groups until 12 changed significantly in both interven- 1 outdoors. However, this paper focuses months later when post-intervention tion and control groups. Despite 2 mainly on outdoor burning. The objec- data were collected from both groups colder winter temperatures at follow- 3 tives were to determine the impact of: up, both the intervention and control 4 in August 2004. Using the fire out-of-doors groups showed an increase in the 5 Exposure of children to carbon Participants 6 number of households burning fires monoxide (CO) 7 The study obtained baseline and fol- out of doors. In the intervention group, the number of households that burned 8 Methods low-up information from 219 house- 9 holds (98 households in the interven- outdoors was increased from 24.5% at 40111 The study involved monitoring house- tion group and 121 households in the baseline to 45.9% at follow-up. 1 holds before and after the intervention, control group). Baseline and follow- Similarly, in the control group, the 2 amongst an ‘intervention group’ in one up data on child exposure to CO was number of households burning out- 3 village, and comparing these house- obtained from a random sample of 74 doors increased from 25.6% at base- line to 42.2% at follow-up. Table 1 4 holds to a ‘control group’ (in a village (36 in the intervention and 38 in the summarizes the location of the fire for 5 some 40 km distant) that did not control group respectively) study chil- the intervention group and control 6 receive the intervention. dren. Measurements were made on the In the intervention village, a mem- group. 7 following: 8 ber of the project field staff provided In terms of child exposure (Table 9 information about the health effects of Location of the fire (indoors 2), children living in outdoor-burning 50 breathing in smoke with the person versus outdoors). homes showed significantly lower 1 responsible for childcare in the house- Child CO exposure. (88%–90%) levels of exposure to CO 2 3 12 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 13

1111 Table 1 Number of households that generated by burning inside homes) child ALRI and other health problems. 2 burned outdoors and this is why they chose to burn out- It is equally important for large-scale 3 Group doors. In relation to warmth, partici- efforts to continue to promote 4 pants who burned outdoors said that improved technologies, and to address 5 Intervention Control (n=98) (n=121) they dressed more warmly and heated the poverty-related issues that are the 6 themselves next to fires outdoors. underlying causes of excessive levels 7 Baseline 24 (24.5%) 31 (25.6%) After dark, participants used candles of indoor air pollution in developing Follow-up 45 (45.9%) 51 (42.2%) 8 to provide light indoors. They men- countries. 9 tioned that children do not care where 10 Table 2 Mean child exposure to CO fires are located as they usually play References by burning location 1 outdoors and only heat themselves for 1 The World Resources Institute. World 2 Burning location at intervals for a very short time.10 resources: a guide to the global environ- 3 Indoor Outdoor Amongst those who found it too ment 1998–99. Oxford: Oxford Univer- 4 burning burning difficult to burn outdoors and burned sity Press, 1999. 5 2 Ezzati M, Bailis R, Kammen D et al. Baseline 4.2 ppm hrs 0.5 ppm hrs indoors, the space heating benefits Energy management and global health. 6 (n=56) (n=18) of indoor burning often outweighed Annual Review of Environment and 7 Follow-up 3 ppm hrs 0.3 ppm hrs any other motivations. In addition, 8 (n=40) (n=34) Resources 2004; 29:383–419. amongst certain participants (particu- 3 9 Smith KR. Biofuels, air pollution and larly in the control group) the belief 20111 health. New York: Plenum Press, 1987. that indoor smoke was not harmful to 4 Bruce N, Perez-Padilla R, Albalak R. 1 compared to indoor-burning homes Indoor air pollution in developing coun- 2 at both assessments. Interestingly, health was a major barrier to change. amongst those that brought a fire For example, some participants said tries: a major environmental and public 3 health challenge. Bulletin of the World indoors at both assessments (i.e. those that smoke was an acceptable part of 4 Health Organisation 2000; 78(9): rural life, that their parents and grand- 5 that found it too difficult to burn out- 1078–92. 6 doors), child CO was reduced by 26% parents inhaled wood smoke with no 5 Smith KR, Samet JM, Romieu I, Bruce 7 in the intervention group but increased health effects and questioned why N. Indoor air pollution in developing 8 by 15% amongst the control group they should be concerned about it. countries and acute lower respiratory 9 (discussed in more detail elsewhere). Certain female participants also men- infection in children. Thorax 2000; 30 tioned that even if they wanted to burn 55:518–32. 6 1 Discussion and conclusion outdoors, their male partners would von Schirnding Y, Bruce N, Smith KR, Ballard-Tremmer G, Ezzati M, Lvovsky 2 This study provides support for out- often not allow it.

K. Addressing the impact of household Theme 3 door burning as a strategy to reduce Changes in behaviour are not energy and indoor air pollution on the 4 air pollution exposure to children in intended to replace technical interven- health of the poor. Geneva: World Health 5 poor rural areas during winter in this tions in poor rural households, but to Organisation, 2002. 6 specific context. However, the fact provide an alternative until such inter- 7 Barnes BR. Interventions to reduce child 7 that the control group also improved ventions are feasible. The fact that indoor air pollution exposure in develop- 8 suggests that exposure to the interven- having the fire out of doors, which ing countries: behavioural opportunities and research needs. Children, Youths and 9 tion, and by implication the way that reduced child exposure substantially 40111 the Environment 2005; 15(1):67–82. caregivers think about the health even after 12 months, suggests that it 8 1 Dicken K, Griffiths M. Dicken K, effects of indoor air pollution, was not may be an effective and sustainable 2 Griffiths M. Designing by dialogue a pro- the only reason for a shift to outdoor option for between 42–46% of the gram planner’s guide to consultative 3 burning. Other factors emerged from rural households in this study. A pro- research for improving young child feed- 4 qualitative interviews that may have portion of those cooking out of doors ing. Washington DC: Health and Human 5 were possibly doing so as a result of Resources Analysis (HHRAA) Project, 6 influenced caregivers’ decision to burn outdoors or remain indoors during the participation in the study. In addition, 1997. 7 9 many of the non-health factors identi- Bowling A. 2002. Research methods in 8 study period. fied in the study are very difficult to health. Buckingham: Open University 9 While health concern was the main Press change e.g. the need for indoor space 50 reason for outdoor burning in the 10 Barnes BR, Mathee A, Moiloa K. 1 intervention group, amongst the con- heating, and the status of women in Assessing child time-activity patterns in 2 trol group a small group of partici- the family. Nonetheless, the study relation to indoor cooking fires in devel- 3 pants mentioned that they tried to cre- highlighted the potential role of oping countries: a methodological com- 4 ate a good impression to the study behavioural change in reducing expo- parison. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2005; 208(3): 5 team with the expectation that they sure of children to indoor air pollution 219–25. 6 would get services such as electricity in a poor rural context. Further studies 7 sooner (called a ‘Hawthorne effect’9), are needed to explore behavioural 8 while others perceived outdoor burn- change in more detail. There is a need 9 ing to be a symbol of higher social for bigger studies to explore the 60 standing (there was often stigma impact of all kinds of interventions 6111 attached to the dirt/soot and smell (not just changes in behaviour) on

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1111 Direct contact hazards of cookstoves: Burns, cuts, 2 3 and scalds 4 5 Nathan G Johnson – Doctoral Student; Mechanical Engineering, International Development; Iowa State University 6 ([email protected]) 7 Mark Bryden – Associate Professor, Associate Chair; Mechanical Engineering; Iowa State University 8 ([email protected]) 9 10 1 Background Burns and hair catch on fire from open flames (Figure 2). These injuries are charac- 2 Burns are the most common form of Cooking with biomass often results in terized by charred skin or muscle tissue 3 injury. They vary in severity and can significant injuries in the forms of and can result in loss of limb or eye 4 occur through contact with hot sur- burns, cuts, and scalds. Though much function. Minimizing open flames is 5 faces or flames. Less severe burns, research has been conducted in the central in preventing injury (Figure 3). 6 such as redness and minor blistering, fields of air pollution and respiratory Testing is done by inspecting the 7 are prevalent with stoves that have infection, there has been little work amount of open flames surrounding the 8 excessively hot exterior surfaces 9 done that investigates methods to cookpot or coming out of the fuel load- reduce injuries from direct contact near the combustion chamber or 20111 chimney. ing area. Greater risk comes with with stoves. As these direct contact 1 Three of the safety guidelines des- greater amounts of open flames. These injuries can be severe and life threat- 2 cribe the temperature ranges likely to ratings are strict since even small ening, there is a need to produce safer 3 give rise to burns. In addition, these flames can produce serious injuries. 4 household stoves. To address this guidelines take into consideration the Scalds 5 need, guidelines have been developed way some structural materials (metals) to pinpoint hazardous areas and pro- produce burns more quickly than oth- Scalds present a safety hazard to both vide options for producing safer ers (clay, mud). Furthermore, stoves cookstove users and children in the stoves. With easy-to-use and standard- nearer to the ground have more strin- vicinity of a stove. Boiling liquids are ized procedures, these guidelines pro- gent guidelines because they present a easily spilled with stoves that are light- vide designers and manufacturers with greater risk of injury for children weight and close to the ground, as is effective methods for evaluating stove (Figure 1). To test for the hazard of hot often the case with hand-made stoves. safety. Even non-technical persons can

Theme surfaces, thermocouples or thermal These characteristics present the great- evaluate stove safety and improve sensitive paints are used to evaluate est hazard to children playing in small stoves by using the guidelines. temperatures. kitchens. However, even taller models More severe burns are the conse- have the potential to cause scald 6 Developing the safety quence of contact with open flames. As injuries if the main construction of the 7 principles women in the South are traditionally stove is far from the ground so that it 8 responsible for cooking; they are often overturns easily. Safety testing within 9 Forty-seven stove models from around the victims of accidents when skirts a laboratory for scald injuries includes 30 the world were examined during the 1 development of the stove safety prin- 2 ciples. From this analysis several haz- 3 ards were found to present dangers to 4 stove users. These hazards can result 5 in personal injuries such burns, cuts, 6 and scalds; and also in loss of property 7 due to house fires. The hazards and 8 their severities were used to create 9 ten guidelines corresponding to the 40111 many potential areas of harm. With 1 2 each guideline comes four levels of 3 safety that pinpoint and rate hazardous 4 areas for inspection by designers. Fur- 5 ther, the ratings can be used to demon- 6 strate stove safety improvement as 7 designers make modifications and re- 8 test their stoves. In this manner the 9 guidelines give standardized methods 50 for testing and improving the safety of 1 stoves. Figure 1 Burn to hand from falling on to fire (photo: Don O’Neal) 2 3 14 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 15

1111 combustible materials just as open 2 flames do. If stoves are placed near a 3 wall, the temperatures of this wall are 4 taken and measured against acceptable 5 levels to prevent house fires. 6 7 Cuts and abrasions 8 9 Cuts and abrasions (scratches) are the 10 least severe injuries but can still cause 1 much discomfort and can lead to infec- 2 ted wounds. Often hand-made metal 3 stoves have sharp edges and points 4 resulting in harm to stove users or chil- 5 dren playing near a stove. Evaluation 6 of this risk is done by counting the 7 Figure 2 Third degree burns from skirt fire (photo: Don O’Neal) number of hazardous points and sharp 8 edges present on a stove. Rubbing a 9 tipping a test stove slightly away from involves when a stove is overturned cloth along the surfaces of a stove and 20111 upright and finding the angle at which and burning fuel is spilled onto the inspecting areas where the cloth 1 the stove will tip over on its own ground or surrounding materials that becomes caught or ensnared easily 2 accord. Stoves with most of their can catch fire. Additional concerns finds these. 3 weight higher from the ground will tip arise with stoves that do not enclose 4 sooner and thus present greater risk. the combustion chamber and leave 5 Making safer stoves Scalds also occur when pots are the burning fuel exposed. A problem 6 being moved from a stove. As pots are The development and implementation 7 arises when cooking with non-dried moved they can collide with small of the safety guidelines has taken place 8 wood that can ‘crackle’ and send protrusions, such as handles on the over the past three years. Continued 9 small pieces of fuel flying. This flying stove or a sunken cooking surface, and development of the procedures is done 30 fuel can in turn set other things on result in a pot being overturned. The fire, including clothes. To rate the with help of stove researchers at the 1 Aprovecho Research Center, at Trees, 2 size of this risk is calculated using the safety of the stove against this hazard,

Water & People in the United States, Theme 3 height of vertical protrusions near the the size of the opening through which and in the field by workers at the 4 cookstove surface. fuel can be seen (and could thus fly Asociación Hondureña Para El Desar- 5 out) is measured. Further risks for House fires and their rollo (translated as ‘The Honduran 6 property loss arise when poorly insu- prevention Association for Development’). Addi- 7 lated stoves are put close to the walls 8 Though not itself an injury, a house of a home. Intense heat from stove tional discussions take place each year 9 fire is highly undesirable. One concern surfaces can ignite surrounding among over 100 stove specialists at the 40111 international conference of Engineers 1 in Technical and Humanitarian Oppor- 2 tunities of Service (ETHOS). Through 3 their assistance these guidelines have 4 become an instrumental and effective 5 resource for rating cookstove hazards 6 and increasing safety. Further use and 7 development of these guidelines is 8 occurring in Latin America, West 9 Africa, China, and the Philippines, 50 leading to thousands of safer stoves. 1 To discuss how to implement safer 2 stoves in your community, please con- 3 tact Nathan Johnson (atlas@iastate. 4 edu) or download the tests with full 5 explanations at www.vrac.iastate.edu/ 6 ~atlas/safety.htm You may also request 7 guidance or copies of the tests via mail 8 by writing to Nathan Johnson, 1620 9 Howe Hall, Iowa State University, 60 Figure 3 Open flames are dangerous, and can lead to severe burns and cause house fires Ames IA 50011, USA. 6111 (photo: Don O’Neal)

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1111 Introducing alcohol stoves to refugee communities; 2 3 a case study from Kebrebeyah, Ethiopia 4 5 Cheryl O’Brien, Project Gaia Research Studies, Stokes Consulting Group, P.O. Box 4190, Gettysburg, PA 17325, USA; 6 [email protected]. 7 8 Project Gaia in Ethiopia families cook and sleep in the one ing to one attendee, who stated, ‘Since 9 building. The refugee community is the women make the homes, there is Project Gaia’s pilot study of the 10 situated on arid and semi-arid land. the problem of rape and assault.’ ethanol-fuelled CleanCook Stove 1 Deforestation and subsequent soil ero- The camp doctor observed: ‘There seeks to bring an alternative cooking 2 sion appears to be the cause of the is the issue of energy, tremendous fuel to refugees in order to alleviate the 3 absence of most forms of vegetation physical energy being lost when gath- environmental and health and safety 4 and scarce natural water sources in the ering fuel (Figure 2). They go for long problems related to fuelwood gather- 5 areas surrounding the camp (Protti- hours. There is the rape of fuel gather- ing. The work is being funded by 6 Alvarado 5). ers. If a woman is in the camp for a 7 the Shell Foundation with assistance long time, the locals target her, 8 from the United Nations High Com- Risk of physical assault and because they know she is from the 9 missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) injury camp. There is no time for education 20111 Regional Liaison Office and the or for income-generating activities. In October 2005, staff from Project 1 United Nations Development Pro- There are insufficient well-educated Gaia attended a UNHCR Kebrebeyah 2 gramme (UNDP). women here to provide female social meeting in Jijiga. The camp’s Protec- 3 A total of 130 ethanol stoves are workers. Out of fifteen social workers, tion Officer stated passionately that 4 being tested in the Kebrebeyah camp. only three are female due to a lack of most of the problem is caused by the 5 The camp is divided into seven admin- education among girls.’ Other atten- need for firewood, which takes from istrative zones. A team comprising two dees mention that it is difficult for the team leaders, two field surveyors and six to ten hours a journey to collect girls to go to school when they have to translators attended a UNHCR Kebre- (often four or more times per week), as help gather fuelwood or fetch water. beyah meeting in Jijiga and visited a people need firewood three times a day. As evidenced by the statements total of 20 study households, and Women and children have lots of prob- above from those who work closely neighbouring homes without ethanol lems with farmers. Women and girls with the Kebrebeyah refugees, addres- stoves, selected from six of the seven find it difficult to describe to a male

Theme sing the problems associated with zones in the camp. The team asked doctor the kidney pains and backaches fuelwood gathering is paramount to about the CleanCook stove, cooking from gathering firewood; likewise, improving the lives of refugees in the and fuelwood gathering. rape victims are reluctant to discuss UNHCR Kebrebeyah Camp. 6 This report outlines some of the what has befallen them. They ask for a 7 findings on how the project is address- separate woman doctor or nurse, and Narratives from refugees 8 ing needs through the introduction of they ask for counselling for rape and living in Kebrebeyah 9 this ethanol stove (Figure 1). women’s issues. There are many serious issues identi- 30 A spokesperson for the Admin- 1 fied by those living in the camp. The The Kebrebeyah refugee istration for Refugees and Returnees problems they indicate and the 2 community Affairs (ARRA) noted, ‘Girls and 3 changes brought about by the ethanol children spend 8 to 10 hours a day 4 The UNHCR Kebrebeyah Camp, stove are illustrated by quotations journeying to get firewood. The farm- 5 established in 1991, is home to from the women themselves; many of ers take the wood from them. I believe 6 approximately 13,000 Somali refugees these observations were common to the biggest challenge in the camp is 7 from various communities. Some the fuelwood gathering and charcoal 8 households have a small kitchen sepa- 9 rate from their sleeping quarters; most production with the locals and refu- 40111 gees.’ 1 The UNHCR Assistant Program 2 Officer in Jijiga, reported, ‘The biggest 3 challenges I find for the camp are: child 4 labour, the rape of girls, and physical 5 abuse while collecting firewood, espe- 6 cially for women and children. We 7 need to ensure physical protection.’ 8 In addition to the demand for fuel- 9 wood, the collection of wood for building dwellings was the major 50 Figure 2 Woman sitting beside a load of 1 Figure 1 Ethanol-fuelled CleanCook stove challenge to the housing issue accord- wood she has recently collected 2 3 16 Boiling Point No 52 2006 Boiling Point 52/correx 9/27/06 11:29 AM Page 17

1111 several of those being interviewed. J . . . said that she and her sister I left in the morning and returned 2 Note that the team were only asking know someone who was raped – at 3 pm. I gathered wood for 5–6 3 about the stove, cooking and fuelwood this was not confirmed by her hours.’ 4 gathering. Thus, the benefits of chil- sister, however . . . ‘I collected wood before the Clean- 5 dren not breathing in polluting fuels, . . . based on testimony from the Cook Stove 2 times each week. 6 and the improved cleanliness of the camp’s doctor and other advocates Most times I was gone from 7 am 7 stove were evident to those visiting at the UNHCR meeting a day ear- to 8 pm. Sometimes I was only 8 the households, but did not feature lier, it is possible that the sister did gone for 5 to 8 hours. The problem 9 highly in the responses. not confirm the statement because is scarcity of wood. It takes a long 10 of the stigma of rape and because time to search for wood.’ 1 Fuel collection – physical assault the sister may herself have been the ‘Before, we used wood. It took us 2 Beatings, rape, risk of death, fuel victim. Also, it is often difficult for 7 hours, 3 days each week to col- 3 taken away women and girls to speak of rape lect wood.’ 4 to male translators or doctors. ‘Before I used wood. I had back The landlords hit the women with 5 pain from collecting wood 8 sticks. ‘I was beaten by farmers. I 6 Dangers from the terrain – pain hours, 4 times each week.’ had marks and bruises on my body; 7 and injuries ‘Before we had the stove, my two I felt a lot of pain. The farmer owns 8 daughters collected wood three the land. There is some rape. 9 Fuel gatherers carry several kilos days each week. They would make Women and girls are raped.’ 20111 of firewood on their backs and two trips each time [day] from ‘The farmers beat you and take 1 walk many miles, causing dehy- morning until 7 pm. The wood your wood.’ When asked if she 2 dration, physical pain and injuries, lasts about 5 days for 10 people.’ had ever been beaten while gather- 3 especially to their back, legs, and ‘I collected wood for 8 hours, 3 ing wood, G. . . exclaimed, ‘Yes, 4 kidneys, according to the doctor in times each week.’ 5 they beat me! They punched me the Kebrebeyah camp. 6 and hit me with sticks. I had Amar’s hands and wrists are badly Fuel collection – education 7 bruises on my back and legs.’ injured from a fall sustained when impacts 8 When asked how they try to pro- carrying a large load of fuelwood 9 tect themselves when gathering when it was rainy. Dried up blood ‘Before we had the stove, my two 30 fuelwood, the woman crouched was visible on her hands. Amar daughters collected wood three 1 down and tip-toed, saying, ‘We said, ‘My hands are broken, so my days each week.’ 2 sneak like this and hide in groups.’ son is cooking for me. I cannot ‘My sister and I [aged 14 & 15] 3 ‘There’s no problem with males cook with my hands. miss school 2 or 3 days each week Theme 4 collecting wood, because males ‘I fell down one time carrying to collect wood. Missing school is 5 can fight back. So the farmers wood, and I have a scar on my a problem. We walk very far and 6 don’t bother us like they do the head.’ carry 4 or 5 kilos on our backs. 7 women and girls,’ one man stated. ‘I had pain in my back, kidneys, Teacher asks us, ‘Why don’t you 8 R . . . pointed to the horizontal scar and legs.’ come to school?’ Missing school 9 on her forehead caused by the beat- ‘I collected wood before, and it to collect firewood hurts our 40111 ing and motioned her hand around was heavy on my back and it left grades.’ (Figure 3). 1 her head, saying, ‘They [the med- marks on my neck.’ A . . . showed Before, I collected firewood 7 2 ical staff] put a bandage around my us where she had marks from her hours a day, 3 to 4 times a week. I 3 head.’ R . . . added, ‘After they beat collarbone over her shoulder due left early to collect firewood and 4 me, they stole my firewood.’ to the ropes that are tied to the my children stayed home alone. 5 ‘There is rape sometimes of girls load of wood. She adds, ‘I They were absent from school, 6 and women by the locals. Some- collected wood 4 times each week 7 times the place where you collect for 5 hours each time. My 3 8 wood belongs to the locals. They daughters also collected wood. 9 say they’ll kill you, they’ll rape. ‘Also, I get backaches and leg 50 Sunnis have been raped.’ pain from collecting wood.’ ‘Landlords can kill you and take 1 ‘Before we had this stove, I had 2 your wood.’ coughing and eye irritation. I had 3 ‘They are killing and beating the back pain from collecting wood.’ women and girls who collect wood.’ 4 ‘When I collected wood, I had ‘These women [neighbours with- 5 back and kidney pain.’ 6 out stoves] spoke in agreement 7 about women and girls being Fuel collection – time impacts 8 raped and beaten when gathering Time collecting fuel 9 fuelwood.’ 60 ‘We [the women] gathered ‘When I gathered wood, I was Figure 3 Missing school to collect fuel hurts 6111 fuelwood together for safety.’ very tired. I had to walk very far. our grades

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1111 because I had to collect firewood. Assessment 2 Now I cook food early so the chil- The narratives alone speak of the posi- 3 dren go to school.’ tive effects of the CleanCook Stove in 4 Benefits of CleanCook stove use the Kebrebeyah refugee camp. The 5 twenty study homes that were visited 6 ‘The CleanCook is much faster prefer the ethanol-fuelled CC Stove to 7 than the traditional stove.’ their other stoves and fuels. Women 8 ‘Now I rest with the CleanCook and girls say they have more time, with 9 Stove, because I do not have to col- the CC Stove, to care for children and 10 lect wood. And it is faster cooking attend school; they speak of the risk of 1 with the CleanCook Stove.’ rape and being beaten when gathering 2 ‘It saves me from going very far fuelwood. Their neighbours asked how 3 to get wood, and I no longer have they too can receive a CC Stove. 4 eye irritation. Now I have more The UNHCR Kebrebeyah staff 5 Figure 5 Mother carrying her baby while time for a social life and my kids.’ noted that since some of the Somali 6 cooking ‘From the time saved from not col- study households are sharing the stove 7 lecting wood with the CleanCook and cooking for several families on it, Instead of contracting for the purchase 8 Stove, I take care of my 4 children they must value the stove. We were of wood, a switch to the ethanol-fuelled 9 and family. I have no back pain stove would decrease or eliminate the 20111 told that the Somalis assist each other now.’ need for fuelwood, whether purchased 1 and only share something if they like ‘Now I do not use wood since I it; if they do not like something, they or gathered. This action would: 2 have this stove.’ will sell it. Project Gaia’s plan for Decrease or eliminate accidental 3 ‘I had eye irritation and coughing 2006 is to distribute a total of 1000 injuries, violent confrontation and 4 from the wood stove. I don’t have new stoves to UNHCR’s Kebrebeyah sexual assaults of women and 5 eye irritation or coughing with the camp and to reach all families in 2007. children. CleanCook Stove.’ Due to the sensitive issue of discrimi- Decrease the negative effects or ‘The CleanCook Stove is better nation among the different communi- ‘fall out’ in the community associ- than the charcoal; it is quicker and ties, Project Gaia and UNHCR will ated with competition for the use cleaner. Also, the charcoal causes monitor the distribution of the stoves of scarce biomass resources. eye irritation.’ so that all communities with qualify- Eliminate the likelihood that contin- ‘I like the stove. It’s very good. ing households receive the opportu- ued reliance on fuelwood would

Theme We need more stoves. The neigh- nity to participate in the study. continue to degrade the environ- bours want stoves. I would like to ment. Currently, the deforestation in have another stove. I cook tea, Policy implications/ the area is so extreme that the need enjera and milk on the stove.’ recommendations 6 for firewood of both the locals and (Figure 4) 7 Given the acceptance of the Clean- refugees is harming the environ- ‘Before I used wood for cooking. 8 Cook Stove by residents and the result- ment and causing conflict. Look at my ceiling! It is black 9 ing decrease in fuelwood gathering by Reduce exposure to indoor air pol- from the wood. I have no eye irri- 30 those families using the stove, the lution. Mothers often cook while tation and I have no coughing with 1 UNHCR should consider expanding carrying their babies (Figure 5). the CleanCook Stove.’ 2 its use to other refugee camps within Indoor air pollution is a major ‘I had coughing and eye irritation 3 and outside of Ethiopia, wherever a cause of pneumonia in children with the charcoal stove. I no longer 4 supply of ethanol is available for pur- under five years, and of chronic have those problems, and the 5 chase. In Kenya, as in Ethiopia, there respiratory diseases among women. CleanCook Stove is safer for my 6 is an existing domestic ethanol supply Reduce the administrative and children than the charcoal stove.’ 7 with potential for expansion that could financial burdens on the UNHCR 8 be used to fuel the stove in UNHCR and its partners caused by health 9 camps. The 2006 refugee population in and resource conflict problems that 40111 Ethiopia has been estimated at come with the use of fuelwood. 1 120,000, while Kenya’s is estimated at 2 twice that number. Works cited In Kenya UNHCR purchases and 3 Protti-Alvarado, Fernando and Dr. Amare G- 4 imports fuelwood into several camps. Egziabher. UNHCR/EESS Environmental 5 It may eventually have to do this in Management Fact Sheet. UNHCR: Addis 6 Ethiopia. ‘To try to reduce the number Ababa, Ethiopia, 2003. 7 of women being sexually assaulted as Wilkinson, Ray, Ed. ‘Crossing the Rubicon.’ 8 they collected firewood outside two Refugees Vol. 2, No. 139. UNHCR: 9 major camps in Kenya, UNHCR paid Geneva, Switzerland, 2005. 50 Figure 4 Stove with hotplate for cooking local contractors to haul the wood Images: Cheryl O’Brien, James 1 enjera a staple food directly into the sites’ (Wilkinson). Murren and Melat Esayas. 2 3 18 Boiling Point No 52 2006 BP/52/Back Cover correx 9/26/06 10:31 AM Page 1

Boiling Point is a technical journal for those working with stoves and household energy. It deals with technical, social, financial and environmental issues and aims to improve the quality of life for poor communities living in the developing world.

Contents Theme editorial: Household energy for life 1 Eva Rehfuess and Nigel Bruce Update on the health and climate impacts of household solid fuels 3 Kirk R. Smith Spreading innovative biomass stove technologies through China and beyond 6 Laura Spautz, Dana Charron and JoAnn Dunaway, Hao Fangzhou and Chen Xiaofu Pollution factors affecting health and safety in rural Zimbabwe 9 Davidzo Muchawaya Protecting children from indoor air pollution exposure through outdoor cooking in rural South Africa 11

Brendon Barnes, Angela Mathee, Nigel Bruce and Liz Thomas Theme Direct contact hazards of cookstoves: Burns, cuts, and scalds 14 Nathan G. Johnson and Mark Bryden Introducing alcohol stoves to refugee communities; a case study from Kebrebeyah, Ethiopia 16 Cheryl O’Brien GTZ pages 19 Editor: Agnes Klingshirn GTZ HERA convencd the African ‘stove community’ for a second meeting on household energy 19 Dr Marlis Kees

The Inkawasi Stove: A success story in the Peruvian Andes 20 GTZ Editor: Agnes Klingshirn Mass dissemination of Rocket Lorena stoves in Uganda 21 Rosette Komuhangi Household energy, indoor air pollution and health at the 14th session of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development 23 The effect of ventilation on carbon monoxide and particulate levels in a test kitchen 24 Dean Still and Nordica MacCarty Methanol stoves for indoor air pollution reduction in Delta State Nigeria – adressing the needs of people for clean energy 27 Joe Obueh Solar cooking and health 30 Darwin O’Ryan Curtis Theme Fuel briquettes from waste 33 Sanu Kaji Shrestha Charcoal making from agricultural residues 35 S. Ganesan and B. P. Nema What’s happening in household energy? 38 Energy news from Practical Action 40

Our mission is to build the technical skills of poor people in developing countries, enabling them to improve the quality of their lives and that of future generations

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