Use of Biomass Briquettes: Its Effect on Indoor Air Pollution and on Pneumococcal Nasopharyngeal Carriage

August 14, 2012 · 12 comments

Use of Biomass Briquettes: Its Effect on Indoor Air Pollution and on Pneumococcal Nasopharyngeal Carriage. A Randomized Clinical Trial – Source: ClinicalTrialsFeeds.org

Verified by: Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia, August 2012
First Received: May 18, 2012 | Last Updated: August 6, 2012
Phase: N/A | Start Date: January 2012
Overall Status: Active, not recruiting | Estimated Enrollment: 500

Personal exposure to Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is a known risk factor of severe pneumonia, which is the number one killer of children under five in developing countries. The main source of IAP in developing countries is cooking fires, with an estimated 3 billion people still reliant on biomass stoves for their daily cooking. This study will test the effectiveness of an intervention aimed to reduce IAP, as well as help to quantify the relationship between exposure (IAP) and infection (pneumococcal carriage).

In Phase I (adjunct pilot study L2010.99), 3 fuels and 5 stoves were tested to measure harmful pollutant emissions. The preliminary results showed that the largest difference was found in the fuels (briquettes cleaner than wood), with a smaller difference found between a couple of the improved stoves and the traditional 3-stone. Re-testing of selected stove/fuel combinations to confirm findings has just been completed. Phase II (this proposal) will test the biomass briquettes in a randomized clinical trial to measure actual IAP reductions in households. A proof of concept pneumococcal survey will also be conducted as a secondary study to see whether reduced exposure to IAP affects pneumococcal carriage in babies and mothers

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Household Biogas Digesters—A Review

August 14, 2012 · 0 comments

Household Biogas Digesters—A Review, Energies Aug 2012

Karthik Rajendran, et al.

This review is a summary of different aspects of the design and operation of small-scale, household, biogas digesters. It covers different digester designs and materials used for construction, important operating parameters such as pH, temperature, substrate, and loading rate, applications of the biogas, the government policies concerning the use of household digesters, and the social and environmental effects of the digesters.

Biogas is a value-added product of anaerobic digestion of organic compounds. Biogas production depends on different factors including: pH, temperature, substrate, loading rate, hydraulic retention time (HRT), C/N ratio, and mixing. Household digesters are cheap, easy to handle, and reduce the amount of organic household waste. The size of these digesters varies between 1 and 150 m3. The common designs include fixed dome, floating drum, and plug flow type. Biogas and fertilizer obtained at the end of anaerobic digestion could be used for cooking, lighting, and electricity

Marketing Assessments – Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

August 8, 2012 · 0 comments

The Marketing Assessments summarize country cookstove markets and were conducted by Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) on behalf of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Sixteen assessments were conducted across the world as part of a broader effort by the Alliance to enhance sector market intelligence and knowledge. They are intended to provide a high level snapshot of the sector (based on mid 2012).

Some of the titles include:

  • VIETNAM MARKET ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • UGANDA MARKET ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • TANZANIA MARKET ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • GHANA MARKET ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • BANGLADESH MARKET ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • SOUTH AFRICA MARKET ASSESSMENT SECTOR MAPPING
  • RWANDA MARKET ASSESSMENT SECTOR MAPPING

Kiva – New Field Partner: Entrepreneurs du Monde expands access to clean cookstoves in Burkina Faso

August 8, 2012 · 1 comment

July 31, 2012 – New Field Partner: Entrepreneurs du Monde expands access to clean cookstoves in Burkina Faso

Please join us in welcoming our newest Field Partner in Burkina Faso, Entrepreneurs du Monde (EdM).

As a nonprofit that helps low-income families start and develop small businesses in 13 countries worldwide — including Burkina Faso — EdM will use Kiva funding to expand distribution channels for clean metal cookstoves. Use of these stoves positively impacts health, household finances and the environment.

EdM’s Save for a Stove program is designed to expand penetration of and market access to energy-efficient cookstoves, which are currently in use by only 15% of the rural population.

These gas stoves improve health, safety and productivity for all family members. Kiva will provide an invaluable source of flexible, risk-tolerant capital for EdM’s Save for a Stove program, allowing stove retailers and users to access energy-efficient cookstoves on credit. EdM will fundraise two types of loans on Kiva:

1) Loans for distribution outlets: Prospective retailers offering gas stoves and gas refills need start-up funds to open stores. The retailers repay EdM on a flexible schedule as they sell the stoves.

2) Loans for stove buyers: Cookstove buyers in remote, rural communities need funding to afford the upfront cost of the equipment. Loans are tailored for both professional buyers who make and sell street food and households. Many of these end users are women.

We are proud to partner with EdM and offer loans that will make households safer, improve livelihoods, and empower women while combating climate change.

Have questions about EdM or our other partnerships? Send us an email at blog@kiva.org.

Knowing the Score-Stove — revolutionary sound-powered stove tested on the ground

August 8, 2012 · 0 comments

Source: Aug 7 2012, phys.org

Knowing the Score-Stove — revolutionary sound-powered stove tested on the ground

A revolutionary sound-powered stove and electrical generator is currently being tested in the conditions it was designed for — rural villages in Nepal and Bangladesh. 

The Score-Stove project brings together researchers from across the world to develop a wood-powered generator capable of cooking food. Led by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Nottingham, the project team uses thermo-acoustic technology to convert biomass fuels into energy, powering the stove and generator. The generator has already broken electricity-production records in the lab. The thermo-acoustic wood-powered engine built by Score-Stove™ partner City University produced 23 watts. And an electrically-heated wood-burning stove built by the Nottingham team produced 36 watts of power.

Now researchers at The University of Nottingham’s Malaysia Campus, Kathmandu University, the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and partner charity Practical Action, will adapt the stoves to replicate power production in their local environments. Energy company Alstom has provided €100,000 of funding for field trials in Nepal. And Engineers Without Borders is supporting four students in developing the Score-Stove stove at Kathmandu University.

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Evaluating the relative strength of product-specific factors in fuel switching and stove choice

August 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Takeshi Takama, Stanzin Tsephel, Francis X. Johnson

Evaluating the relative strength of product-specific factors in fuel switching and stove choice decisions in Ethiopia. A discrete choice model of household preferences for clean cooking alternatives, Energy Economics, Available online 24 July 2012.

Switching from conventional stoves to modern clean, safe, and efficient stoves will improve health and social welfare for the 2.7 billion people worldwide that lack reliable access to modern energy services. In this paper, we critically review some key theoretical dimensions of household consumer behaviour in switching from traditional biomass cooking stoves to modern efficient stoves and fuels. We then describe the results of empirical research investigating the determinants of stove choice, focusing on the relative strength of product-specific factors across three wealth groups.

A stated preference survey and discrete choice model were developed to understand household decision-making associated with cooking stove choice in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study found that, with the exception of price and usage cost factors for the high wealth group, the product-specific factors that were investigated significantly affect stove and fuel choices. The relative strength of factors was assessed in terms of marginal willingness to pay and provides some evidence that consumer preference for higher quality fuels and stoves tends to increase with increasing wealth.

Increasing the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries

August 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Wouter H. Maes, Bruno Verbist

Increasing the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries: Policy implications, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 16, Issue 6, August 2012, Pages 4204-4221

Although 40% of the global population relies on traditional biomass use, mainly firewood and charcoal, for cooking, traditional biomass has received very little attention in the current biomass debate, because of its considered primitive and unsustainable nature. In this review, we discuss how the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries can be improved.

Indoor air pollution due to incomplete combustion of traditional biomass causes the death of 1.45 million people every year, mainly of women and children, who also carry the heavy burden of fuelwood collection. In addition, charcoal production and combustion is responsible for very high greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy. On the other hand, fuelwood production and trade is of vital importance for local economies and serves as safety net for the poorest people. Moreover, fuelwood collection is not a driver of deforestation and global fuelwood shortage will not occur, despite local problems of fuelwood provision.

There are two distinct policy alternatives to increase the sustainability of cooking in developing countries. The first option is to climb the energy ladder and to switch from solid fuels to fossil fuels (LPG or kerosene), biogas or electricity. As this largely avoids the severe health damages of traditional biomass use, this option is considered the most desirable by numerous countries and by international organizations. However, as most developing countries are far away from meeting the necessary requirements, related to infrastructure, economics and local culture, expecting a large-scale switch to liquid fuels or electricity is unrealistic.

In that case, the second policy option, increasing the sustainability of the current traditional biomass system, must be considered. This can be realized by an integrated approach, in which national and regional fuelwood policies are adapted, improved systems for charcoal production are implied and improved stoves, in combination with chimneys, are distributed.

 

Performance evaluation and emission characterisation of three kerosene stoves

August 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Tafadzwa Makonese, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott, James Robinson, David Kimemia, Harold Annegarn

Performance evaluation and emission characterisation of three kerosene stoves using a Heterogeneous Stove Testing Protocol (HTP), Energy for Sustainable Development, Available online 12 July 2012, 10.1016/j.esd.2012.06.002.

The combustion of kerosene fuel in poorly designed cookstoves is a major domestic source of poor indoor air quality and burn injuries in the developing world. It is argued that these challenges are best addressed by the development and dissemination of clean, safe and efficient cookstoves. In this study, three kerosene stoves including two wick stoves and one pressurised stove were tested for thermal performance and CO gas emissions using the Heterogeneous stove Testing Protocol (HTP) developed at the SeTAR Centre, University of Johannesburg.

Results from the testing showed that the diameter of the pot had little effect on the performance of the tested kerosene stoves in terms of CO emissions, but it did have an effect on the thermal efficiency at the high power setting. Power setting was found to influence the thermal efficiency and combustion performance of all stoves tested, indicating the need for assessment of the appliances across the full range of power settings (where feasible). The pressurised stove had lower CO emissions compared with the wick stoves. Conversely, the wick stoves depicted lower specific times to boil water and higher fuel efficiencies.

These results provide essential information to stove designers, regulators and authorities interested in the dissemination of improved kerosene stoves. The variation of emissions and performance across the power band may be useful for improving national standards by correctly characterising novel technologies and improving the design of existing appliances under different operating conditions. Implications of improved kerosene stoves are improved health, improved access to modern energy, reduced fuel consumption and a reduction in energy poverty.

 

The benefits and potential impacts of household cooking fuel substitution with bio-ethanol

August 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Elijah I. Ohimain,

The benefits and potential impacts of household cooking fuel substitution with bio-ethanol produced from cassava feedstock in Nigeria, Energy for Sustainable Development, Available online 21 July 2012, 10.1016/j.esd.2012.06.003.

The major cooking fuels in Nigeria, which are fuel wood and kerosene, face supply difficulties, price instabilities, safety, health and environmental challenges. In response to these challenges, the Federal Government of Nigeria recently announced the partial replacement of these cooking fuels with bio-ethanol produced from cassava in a project called ‘cassakero’. The project involves the installation of 10,000 micro-scale bio-refineries across the country with a combined capacity of 4 million liters per day. The project includes the establishment of a 400,000 ha cassava farm to supply cassava feedstock to the ethanol refineries. Though the detailed design of the project is not yet available, the aim of this paper is to appraise the project with the aim of highlighting the benefits of the project for enhancement while emphasizing the potential negative impacts for mitigation.

The results of the appraisal revealed that the project will be beneficial in terms of job creation, boost rural agriculture, conserve forest from fuel wood exploitation, alleviate poverty and prevent indoor pollution. The impact of the project on greenhouse gas emission is ambiguous. While the shift to ethanol cooking fuel will release less CO2 comparatively, the conversion of 400,000 ha of forest to cassava farm, the use of fossil fuel for processing cassava tubers to ethanol, fermentation of cassava starch and the use of agro-chemicals will release CO2 as well. Other potential negative impacts of the project include large input of water and energy and the production of large volume of waste stream, which need to be handled. There is a potential food versus fuel conflict, especially if the current production of cassava is not scaled up to meet the several emerging projects in Nigeria requiring cassava feedstock.

 

Lessons from the promotion of improved cooking technologies in Kenya

August 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Temilade Sesan

Navigating the limitations of energy poverty: Lessons from the promotion of improved cooking technologies in Kenya, Energy Policy, Volume 47, August 2012, Pages 202-210, 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.04.058.

Energy poverty has been defined as the lack of access of households in developing countries to modern energy sources, and their consequent reliance on solid biomass fuels for cooking. Improved stoves have been promoted by development actors since the 1970s to alleviate various environmental and health problems associated with biomass use, with largely disappointing outcomes. Against this background, this paper examines the intervention of an international development organisation – Practical Action – in West Kochieng, Kenya, where the organisation’s energy poverty alleviation efforts are aimed at addressing the health hazards of biomass smoke with six ‘low-cost’ improved cooking technologies.

The study reveals that the cooking technology most valued by poor West Kochieng households is the one which most reflects their priorities, rather than those expressed by Practical Action. The findings point to three aspects of appropriateness of energy poverty alleviation interventions – technological, economic and cultural – which combine to influence acceptance and uptake of such interventions. The evidence highlights some of the limitations inherent in the generic policy recommendation to ‘leapfrog’ towards the resolution of energy poverty-related problems, and suggests that more measured steps which respond to the socio-economic realities of poor households are likely to engender more appropriate solutions.

 

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