One aspect of energy poverty is lack of access to clean, modern fuels and technologies for cooking. As of 2020, more than 2.6 billion people in developing countries routinely cook with fuels such as wood, animal dung, coal, or kerosene. Burning these types of fuels in open fires or traditional stoves causes harmful household air pollution, resulting in an estimated 3.8 million deaths annually according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and contributes to various health, socio-economic, and environmental problems.
A high priority in global sustainable development is to make clean cooking facilities universally available and affordable. Stoves and appliances that run on electricity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), piped natural gas (PNG), biogas, alcohol, and solar heat meet WHO guidelines for clean cooking. Universal access to clean cooking facilities would have large benefits for environmental protection and for gender equality.
Stoves that burn wood and other solid fuels more efficiently than traditional stoves are known as "improved cookstoves" or "clean cookstoves". With very few exceptions, these stoves deliver fewer health benefits than stoves that use liquid or gaseous fuels. However, they reduce fuel usage and thus help to prevent environmental degradation. Improved cookstoves are an important interim solution in areas where deploying cleaner technologies is less feasible.
Initiatives to encourage cleaner cooking practices have yielded limited success. For various practical, cultural, and economic reasons, it is common for families who adopt clean stoves and fuels to continue to make frequent use of traditional fuels and stoves.
IRENA's 2023 series reveals slow progress toward universal clean cooking, with 2.3 billion lacking access in 2021 and 1.9 billion potentially still without it by 2030. The series emphasizes the need for more investment and policy support for renewable-based clean cooking technologies—like biogas and bioethanol—which are crucial for health, environment, and climate but are often neglected in favor of fossil fuel options like LPG. Sharing experiences from Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, the series calls for a strategic shift in approach to meet growing demand and align with sustainable development goals, underscoring the importance of scaling up renewable clean cooking solutions through targeted actions. [1]
As of 2020, more than 2.6 billion people [2] in developing countries rely on burning polluting biomass fuels such as wood, dry dung, coal, or kerosene for cooking, which causes harmful household air pollution and also contributes significantly to outdoor air pollution. [3] The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that cooking-related pollution causes 3.8 million annual deaths. [4] The Global Burden of Disease study estimated the number of deaths in 2017 at 1.6 million. [5]
In traditional cooking facilities, smoke is typically vented into the home rather than out through a chimney. Solid fuel smoke contains thousands of substances, many of which are hazardous to human health. The most well understood of these substances are carbon monoxide (CO); small particulate matter; nitrous oxide; sulfur oxides; a range of volatile organic compounds, including formaldehyde, benzene and 1,3-butadiene; and polycyclic aromatic compounds, such as benzo-a-pyrene, which are thought to have both short and long term health consequences. [6]
Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) nearly doubles the risk of childhood pneumonia and is responsible for 45 percent of all pneumonia deaths in children under five years of age. Emerging evidence shows that HAP is also a risk factor for cataracts, the leading cause of blindness in lower-middle-income countries, and low birth weight. [7] Cooking with open fires or unsafe stoves is a leading cause of burns among women and children in developing countries. [8]
Health effects are concentrated among women, who are likely to be responsible for cooking, and young children. [3] The work of gathering fuel exposes women and children to safety risks and often consumes 15 or more hours per week, constraining their available time for education, rest, and paid work. [3] Women and girls must often walk long distances to obtain cooking fuel, and, as a result, face increased risk of physical and sexual violence. [9] Many children, particularly girls, may not attend school in order to help their mothers with firewood collection and food preparation. [9]
Traditional cooking facilities are highly inefficient, allowing heat to escape into the open air. The inefficiency of fuel burning results in more wood needing to be harvested and also causes emissions of black carbon, a contributor to climate change. [10] Serious local environmental damage, including desertification, can be caused by excessive harvesting of wood and other combustible material. [11]
While biomass harvesting in sensitive areas is problematic, it is now determined that the great majority of biomass clearing is due to agricultural expansion and land conversion. [12] Use of crop residue and animal waste for domestic energy has detrimental results on soil quality and agricultural and livestock productivity as it means these materials are not available as soil conditioners, organic fertilizer, and livestock fodder. [13]
The term "clean cookstove" has often been used without defining what the term means. [14] Organizations vary in how they define "clean":
The WHO has criticized the marketing of biomass cookstoves as "improved" when they have not been tested against standards and their health benefits are unclear. [15]
A high priority in global sustainable development is to make clean cooking facilities universally available and affordable. [19]
According to the WHO, stoves and appliances that are powered by electricity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), piped natural gas (PNG), biogas, alcohol, and solar heat are "clean". [18] Best-in-class fan gasifier stoves that burn biomass pellets can be classified as clean cooking facilities if they are correctly operated and the pellets have sufficiently low levels of moisture, but these stoves are not widely available. [20]
Electricity can be used to power appliances such as electric pressure cookers, rice cookers, and highly efficient induction stoves, in addition to standard electric stoves. Electric induction stoves are so efficient that they create less pollution than liquified petroleum gas (LPG) even when connected to coal power sources, and are sometimes cheaper. [21] For stews, beans, rice and other foods that can be adapted to electric pressure cookers, the savings are even greater. [22] [ better source needed ]. As of 2019, 770 million people do not have access to electricity, [23] and for many others electricity is not affordable or reliable. Because access to electricity is also a high priority in global sustainable development, integrated planning for new and improved electricity infrastructure that includes both typical electric loads as well as cooking loads is beginning to gain momentum. Indeed, this kind of integrated resource planning for electricity systems may deliver faster and lower-cost solutions to both access to electricity and to clean cooking. [24] [25]
Natural gas stoves, which are widely used in richer countries, are not without health risks. They emit high levels of nitrogen dioxide, an atmospheric pollutant that is linked to oxidative stress and acute reduction in lung function. [26] Studies on the effects of indoor cooking with natural gas have yielded inconsistent results. [26] According to a 2010 meta-analysis, the evidence suggests that the practice leads to small reductions in lung function in children, and that children with allergies may be more susceptible. [26]
Biogas digesters convert waste, such as human waste and animal dung, into a methane-rich gas that burns cleanly. Biogas systems are a promising technology in areas where each household has at least two large animals to provide dung, and a steady supply of water is also available. [27]
Solar cookers collect and concentrate the sun's heat when sunshine is available. [18]
Improved cook stoves (ICS), often marketed as "clean cookstoves", [28] are biomass stoves that generally burn biomass more efficiently than traditional stoves and open fires.
Compared to traditional cook stoves, ICS are usually more fuel-efficient and aim to reduce the negative health impacts associated with exposure to toxic smoke. [29] As of 2016, no widely-available biomass stoves meet the standards for clean cooking as defined by the WHO. [30] A 2020 review found only one biomass stove on the market that met WHO standards in field conditions. [17]
Despite their limitations, ICS are an important interim solution where deploying fully clean solutions that use electricity, gas, or alcohol is less feasible. [31] As of 2009, less than 30% of people who cook with some sort of biomass stove use ICS. [32]
Improved cookstoves are more efficient, meaning that the stove's users spend less time gathering wood or other fuels, while reducing deforestation and air pollution. However, a closed stove may result in production of more soot and ultra-fine particles than an open fire would. [33] Some designs also make the stove safer, preventing burns that often occur when children stumble into open fires.
The efficiency improvements of ICS do not necessarily translate into meaningful reductions in health risks [34] because for certain conditions, such as childhood pneumonia, the relationship between pollution levels and effects on the body has been shown to be non-linear. This means, for example, that a 50 percent reduction in exposure would not halve the health risk. [20] A 2020 systematic review found that ICS usage led to modest improvements in terms of blood pressure, shortness of breath, emissions of cancer-causing substances, and cardiovascular diseases, but no improvements in pregnancy outcomes or children's health. [35]
Substantial variations in emissions and fuel consumption have been observed across ranges of cookstove designs and between laboratory and field test conditions. At present, a standard testing mechanism does not exist to establish the true impact of alternative cookstove designs as well as descriptive language for exposure. Stove testing studies are not always consistent depending largely on the discipline of investigators and their scientific specialization. [36] [29]
The World Health Organization encourages further research to develop biomass stove technology that is low-emission, affordable, durable, and meets users' needs. [30]
Behavioral change interventions, in reducing childhood household exposures, have the potential to reduce household air pollution exposure by 20–98%. Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) exposure can be greatly reduced by cooking outdoors, reducing time spent in the cooking area, keeping the kitchen door open while cooking, avoid leaning over the fire while attending to the meal preparation, staying away while carrying children when cooking and keeping the children away from the cooking area. Negative impacts can also be reduced by changes to the environment (e.g. use of a chimney), drying fuel wood before use, and using a lid during cooking. [37]
Opportunities to educate communities on reducing household indoor air pollution exposure include festival collaborations, religious meetings, and medical outreach clinics. Community health workers represent a significant resource for educating communities to help raise awareness regarding reducing the effects of indoor air pollution. [38]
Many users of clean stoves and fuels continue to make frequent use of traditional fuels and stoves, a phenomenon known as "fuel stacking" or "stove stacking". [40] For instance, a recent study in Kenya found that households that are primary LPG users consume 42 percent as much charcoal as households that are primary charcoal users. [40]
When stacking is practiced, the introduction of clean cooking facilities may not reduce household air pollution enough to make a meaningful difference in health outcomes. [18] There are many reasons to continue to use traditional fuels and stoves, such as unreliable fuel supply, the cost of fuel, the ability of stoves to accommodate different types of pots and cooking techniques, and the need to travel long distances to repair stoves. [18] [41]
Research and implementation efforts are frequently pursued with insufficient coordination with supporting organizations, which, in many cases has led to widespread implementation of so called "improved" stoves that have sometimes failed to deliver on the promise of reducing indoor air pollution. Cookstove implementation efforts have often achieved mixed results because of technical and social complexities, such as the need to involve both women (who typically are responsible for cooking) and men (who typically control household spending).[ citation needed ]
Efforts to improve access to clean cooking fuels and stoves have barely kept up with population growth, and current and planned policies would still leave 2.4 billion people without access in 2030. [2]
Transitioning to cleaner cooking methods is expected to either slightly raise greenhouse gas emissions or decrease emissions, even if the replacement fuels are fossil fuels. There is evidence that switching to LPG and PNG has a smaller climate effect than the combustion of solid fuels, which emits methane and black carbon. [42] The burning of residential solid fuels accounts for up to 58 percent of global black carbon emissions. [43] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in 2018, "The costs of achieving nearly universal access to electricity and clean fuels for cooking and heating are projected to be between 72 and 95 billion USD per year until 2030 with minimal effects on GHG emissions." [44]
Universal access to clean cooking is an element of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7, whose first target is: "By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services". [45] Progress in clean cooking would facilitate progress in other Sustainable Development goals, such as eliminating poverty (Goal 1), good health and well-being (Goal 3), gender equality (Goal 5), and climate action (Goal 13). [19] An indicator of Goal 7 is the proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating, and lighting, using the WHO's definition of "clean". [46]
Biogas is a gaseous renewable energy source produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste, wastewater, and food waste. Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms or methanogens inside an anaerobic digester, biodigester or a bioreactor. The gas composition is primarily methane and carbon dioxide and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, moisture and siloxanes. The gases methane and hydrogen can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used in fuel cells and for heating purpose, such as in cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat.
Liquefied petroleum gas, also referred to as liquid petroleum gas, is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, n-butane and isobutane. It can sometimes contain some propylene, butylene, and isobutene.
A stove or range is a device that generates heat inside or on top of the device, for local heating or cooking. Stoves can be powered with many fuels, such as electricity, natural gas, gasoline, wood, and coal.
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenhouse gas emissions and social and economic aspects such as energy poverty. Renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectric power, solar, and geothermal energy are generally far more sustainable than fossil fuel sources. However, some renewable energy projects, such as the clearing of forests to produce biofuels, can cause severe environmental damage.
In developing countries and some areas of more developed countries, energy poverty is lack of access to modern energy services in the home. Today, 759 million people lack access to consistent electricity and 2.6 billion people use dangerous and inefficient cooking systems. Their well-being is negatively affected by very low consumption of energy, use of dirty or polluting fuels, and excessive time spent collecting fuel to meet basic needs.
Clean fuel may refer to type of fuel used for transport or a type of fuel used for cooking and lighting. With regards to cooking, the Sustainable Development Goal 7 aims to "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all." Clean fuel there is defined by the emission rate targets and specific fuel recommendations included in the normative guidance WHO guidelines for indoor air quality. Clean fuel is one component of sustainable energy.
Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass fuel, in the form of wood, charcoal, dung, and crop residue, in indoor environments that lack proper ventilation, millions of people, primarily women and children face serious health risks. In total, about three billion people in developing countries are affected by this problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that cooking-related pollution causes 3.8 million annual deaths. The Global Burden of Disease study estimated the number of deaths in 2017 at 1.6 million. The problem is closely related to energy poverty and cooking.
ClimateCare is a profit for purpose environmental and social impact company known for its role providing carbon offset services, with a particular focus on using carbon and other results based finance to support its 'Climate+Care Projects'. It also provides businesses and governments with sustainable development programmes, environmental and social impact measurement and project development.
Renewable energy in developing countries is an increasingly used alternative to fossil fuel energy, as these countries scale up their energy supplies and address energy poverty. Renewable energy technology was once seen as unaffordable for developing countries. However, since 2015, investment in non-hydro renewable energy has been higher in developing countries than in developed countries, and comprised 54% of global renewable energy investment in 2019. The International Energy Agency forecasts that renewable energy will provide the majority of energy supply growth through 2030 in Africa and Central and South America, and 42% of supply growth in China.
A wood-burning stove is a heating or cooking appliance capable of burning wood fuel, often called solid fuel, and wood-derived biomass fuel, such as sawdust bricks. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal closed firebox, often lined by fire brick, and one or more air controls. The first wood-burning stove was patented in Strasbourg in 1557. This was two centuries before the Industrial Revolution, so iron was still prohibitively expensive. The first wood-burning stoves were high-end consumer items and only gradually became used widely.
Project Gaia is a U.S.-based non-governmental, non-profit organization engaged in developing alcohol-based fuel markets for household use in Ethiopia and other developing countries. The organization identifies alcohol fuels as a potential alternative to traditional cooking methods, which they suggest may contribute to fuel shortages, environmental issues, and public health concerns in these regions. Focusing on impoverished and marginalized communities, Project Gaia is active in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Brazil, Haiti, and Madagascar. The organization is also planning to expand its projects to additional countries.
E+Co is a non-governmental organization based in Bloomfield, New Jersey, United States, that from its founding in 1994 to its restructuring in 2012 made over 250 clean energy investments in developing countries. Over these 18 years, E+Co maintained field offices in San Jose, Costa Rica, Bangkok, Thailand, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Accra, Ghana. The company's name is pronounced, "E and Co".
Energy use and development in Africa varies widely across the continent, with some African countries exporting energy to neighbors or the global market, while others lack even basic infrastructures or systems to acquire energy. The World Bank has declared 32 of the 48 nations on the continent to be in an energy crisis. Energy development has not kept pace with rising demand in developing regions, placing a large strain on the continent's existing resources over the first decade of the new century. From 2001 to 2005, GDP for over half of the countries in Sub Saharan Africa rose by over 4.5% annually, while generation capacity grew at a rate of 1.2%.
Air pollution in India is a serious environmental issue. Of the 30 most polluted cities in the world, 21 were in India in 2019. As per a study based on 2016 data, at least 140 million people in India breathe air that is 10 times or more over the WHO safe limit and 13 of the world's 20 cities with the highest annual levels of air pollution are in India. 51% of the pollution is caused by industrial pollution, 27% by vehicles, 17% by crop burning and 5% by other sources. Air pollution contributes to the premature deaths of 2 million Indians every year. Emissions come from vehicles and industry, whereas in rural areas, much of the pollution stems from biomass burning for cooking and keeping warm. In autumn and spring months, large scale crop residue burning in agriculture fields – a cheaper alternative to mechanical tilling – is a major source of smoke, smog and particulate pollution. India has a low per capita emissions of greenhouse gases but the country as a whole is the third largest greenhouse gas producer after China and the United States. A 2013 study on non-smokers has found that Indians have 30% weaker lung function than Europeans.
The Clean Cooking Alliance, formerly the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, is a non-profit organization operating with the support of the United Nations Foundation to promote clean cooking technologies in lower and middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization, 4.3 million people a year die from health problems attributable to household air pollution from the use of polluting open fires and inefficient fuels for cooking. The Alliance was announced in 2010 by then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Dymphna previously worked as CEO for the Clinton Climate Initiative organization.
A clean-burning stove is a stove with reduced toxic and polluting emissions. The term refers to solid-fuel stoves such as wood-burning stoves for either domestic heating, domestic cooking or both. In the context of a cooking stove, especially in lower-income countries, such a stove is distinct from a clean-burning-fuel stove, which typically burns clean fuels such as ethanol, biogas, LPG, or kerosene. Studies into clean-burning cooking stoves in lower-income countries have shown that they reduce the emissions of dangerous particulates and carbon monoxide significantly, use less fuel than regular stoves, and result in fewer burn injuries. However, the emissions some supposedly clean-burning cookstoves produce are still much greater than safe limits, and in several studies in lower income countries they did not appear to be effective at reducing illnesses such as pneumonia induced by breathing polluted air, which may have many sources.
BioLite is a New York City-based startup company that produces off-grid energy products for outdoor recreational use and emerging markets. The company is known for its wood-burning stoves that use thermoelectric technology to create usable electricity from the heat of their fires. It was founded in 2006.
InStove (Institutional Stove Solutions) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2012.
Give Up LPG Subsidy is a campaign that was launched in March 2015 by the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is aimed at motivating LPG users who are able to afford to pay the market price for LPG to voluntarily surrender their LPG subsidy. As of 23 April 2016, 10 million people had voluntarily given up the subsidy. The surrendered subsidy is being redistributed by the government in order to provide cooking gas connections to poor families in rural households free of cost. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are the top five states to give up the subsidy.
African Clean Energy is a B Corp-certified enterprise which produces and distributes solar-biomass hybrid energy systems in developing countries. The company was founded in Lesotho, where it manufactures the ACE One Energy System. The company's headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
According to the Global Burden of Disease study 1.6 million people died prematurely in 2017 as a result of indoor air pollution ... But it's worth noting that the WHO publishes a substantially larger number of indoor air pollution deaths..
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