European Cookstove Implementers Group, 2011. HEDON.
This publication highlights the activities of the majority of implementers currently within this group.
Contents
European Cookstove Implementers Group
A Call to the EU 1
Ashden
International Programme 3
GERES
Improved Cookstoves 5
The New Lao Stove 7
GIZ
Energy is Life 9
Energising Development 11
Energising Development Kenya 13
This Dec. 16, 2011 issue of the WASHplus Weekly contains links to a wiki on financing methods, presentations on innovative financing programs in Nepal and Uganda, and other studies and reviews. Please let WASHplus know if you have additional resources on this topic or suggestions for future issues of the Weekly.
THE POTENTIAL AND PROSPECTS OF IMPROVED COOKSTOVES (ICS) IN ZIMBABWE, 2011.
Tafadzwa Makonese
In Zimbabwe, alternatives to grid electricity are being sought in the light of limited electricity supply and under-performance of major electricity generation plants following the economic meltdown affecting the country since the mid-1990s, triggered by the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP), and more recently due to political instability. Extensive black-outs routinely up to 12 hours per day and even for several days are common in some areas.
Consequently, the majority of households continue to rely substantially on wood fuel to meet their basic daily energy needs. Yet the provision of modern energy services and technologies to these households does not seem to be a priority for national energy policy makers. Although improved cookstoves (ICS) are in greater use in rural areas than urban settlements of Zimbabwe, their potential remains largely unexploited.
This research aims to highlight the marked potential and current prospects of improved cookstoves in rural and urban communities of Zimbabwe. Ultimately, this research will better inform policy makers, government, academia and the public about cookstove technologies with reduced fuel use, reduced energy costs, and user friendly capacity to improve health in rural and urban communities.
Indoor Air. 2011 Oct 10. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2011.00750.x.
Exposure to indoor air pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, toluene, benzene) in Mexican indigenous women.
Pruneda-Álvarez LG, Pérez-Vázquez FJ, Salgado-Bustamante M, Martínez-Salinas RI, Pelallo-Martínez NA, Pérez Maldonado IN. Departamento de Toxicología Ambiental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, México.
Indoor air pollution is considered to be a serious public health issue in Mexico; therefore, more studies regarding this topic are necessary. In this context, we assessed exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds in: (i) women who use firewood combustion (indoor) for cooking and heating using traditional open fire; (ii) women who use firewood combustion (outdoor) for cooking and heating using traditional open fire; and (iii) women who use LP gas as the principal energy source.
We studied 96 healthy women in San Luis Potosi, México. Urine samples were collected, and analyses of the following urinary exposure biomarkers were performed by high-performance liquid chromatography: 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP), trans, trans-muconic acid, and hippuric acid (HA). The highest levels of 1-OHP, trans, trans-muconic acid, and HA were found in communities where women were exposed to indoor biomass combustion smoke (or products; geometric mean ± s.d., 3.98 ± 5.10 μmol/mol creatinine; 4.81 ± 9.60 μg/l 1-OHP; 0.87 ± 1.78 mg/g creatinine for trans, trans-muconic acid; and 1.14 ± 0.91 g/g creatinine for HA). Our findings indicate higher exposure levels to all urinary exposure biomarkers studied in women who use indoor firewood combustion for cooking and heating (using traditional open fire).
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: High mean levels of 1-hydroxypyrene, t,t-muconic acid, and hippuric acid were found in women who use firewood combustion (indoor) for cooking and heating using traditional open fire and taking into account that millions of women and children in Mexico are living in scenarios similar to those studied in this report, the assessment of health effects in women and children exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds is urgently needed. Moreover, it is immediately necessary an intervention program to reduce exposure.
Sci Total Environ. 2011 Nov 15;409(24):5243-52.
Analysis of indoor PM2.5 exposure in Asian countries using time use survey.
Shimada Y, Matsuoka Y. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Setsunan University, Osaka, Japan. shimada@led.setsunan.ac.jp
Most household fuels used in Asian countries are solid fuels such as coal and biomass (firewood, crop residue and animal dung). The particulate matter (PM), CO, NOx and SOx produced through the combustion of these fuels inside the residence for cooking and heating has an adverse impact on people’s health. PM 2.5 in particular, consisting of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less, penetrates deep into the lungs and causes respiratory system and circulatory system diseases and so on. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) established guideline values for this type of particulate matter in 2005.
In this study, the authors focused on PM 2.5 and estimated indoor exposure concentrations for PM 2.5 in 15 Asian countries. For each environment used for cooking, eating, heating and illumination in which people are present temporarily (microenvironment), exposure concentrations were estimated for individual cohorts categorized according to sex, age and occupation status. To establish the residence time in each microenvironment for each of the cohorts, data from time use surveys conducted in individual countries were used. China had the highest estimate for average exposure concentration in microenvironment used for cooking at 427.5 μg/m3, followed by Nepal, Laos and India at 285.2 μg/m3, 266.3 μg/m3 and 205.7 μg/m3, respectively.
The study found that, in each country, the PM2.5 exposure concentration was highest for children and unemployed women between the ages of 35 and 64. The study also found that the exposure concentration for individual cohorts in each country was greatly affected by people’s use of time indoors. Because differences in individual daily life activities were reflected in the use of time and linked to an assessment of exposure to indoor air-polluting substances, the study enabled detailed assessment of the impact of exposure.
Reducing Indoor Air Pollution in Developing Countries through Diffusion of Clean Cookstove Technology, Nov. 2011.
Elizabeth Hendrickson, MA, Hawaii Pacific University, USA, echendrickson@gmail.com
Art Whatley, Ph.D., Hawaii Pacific University, USA, awhatley@hpu.edu
Indoor air pollution (IAP) produced from incomplete combustion of biomass fuel affects three billion people worldwide and results in two million premature deaths each year. Clean cookstove technology has been proposed as the most cost-effective method for reducing IAP and improving health in the developing world. Based on Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovation theory, a model to effectively diffuse clean cookstove technology was constructed. To increase the likelihood of widespread adoption of improved cookstoves, this model addresses cross-cultural preferences in cooking practices and commercialization of innovation through “bottom of the pyramid” market development.
Intra-Household Externalities and Low Demand for a New Technology: Experimental Evidence on Improved Cookstoves, November 2011.
Grant Miller, Stanford University
This paper studies the behavioral underpinnings of low demand for a technology with substantial implications for population health and the environment: improved cookstoves. We conduct a multi-pronged field experiment in rural Bangladesh to investigate two commonly-cited reasons for low demand: (1) intra-household externalities and (2) tradition-based aversion.
On the former, we find that women – who bear disproportionate cooking costs – have stronger preference for improved stoves, especially health-saving stoves, but lack the authority to make purchases. On the latter, we find that revealing information about technology choices by respected community members sharing common traditions influences adoption decisions more for technologies lacking self-evident benefits and more before common experience accumulates.
Overall, our findings suggest that (1) if women cannot make independent choices, public policy may not be able to exploit gender differences in preferences to promote technology adoption absent broader social change; and (2) marketing and persuasion techniques may only increase adoption temporarily and may be less effective for technologies that
households can evaluate for themselves.
Environmental Research, Nov. 30, 2011
Impaired lung function in individuals chronically exposed to biomass combustion
Luiz Fernando Ferraz da Silvaa, , , , Silvia Regina Dias Médici Saldivab, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Saldivaa, Marisa Dolhnikoffa and Bandeira Científica Project
The use of biomass for cooking and heating is considered an important factor associated with respiratory diseases. However, few studies evaluate the amount of particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5), symptoms and lung function in the same population.
Objectives – To evaluate the respiratory effects of biomass combustion and compare the results with those of individuals from the same community in Brazil using liquefied petroleum gas (Gas).
Methods – 1402 individuals in 260 residences were divided into three groups according to exposure (Gas, Indoor-Biomass, Outside-Biomass). Respiratory symptoms were assessed using questionnaires. Reflectance of paper filters was used to assess particulate matter exposure. In 48 residences the amount of PM2.5 was also quantified. Pulmonary function tests were performed in 120 individuals.
Results Reflectance index correlated directly with PM2.5 (r=0.92) and was used to estimate exposure (ePM2.5). There was a significant increase in ePM2.5 in Indoor-Biomass and Outside-Biomass, compared to Gas. There was a significantly increased odds ratio (OR) for cough, wheezing and dyspnea in adults exposed to Indoor-Biomass (OR=2.93, 2.33, 2.59, respectively) and Outside-Biomass (OR=1.78, 1.78, 1.80, respectively) compared to Gas. Pulmonary function tests revealed both Non-Smoker-Biomass and Smoker-Gas individuals to have decreased %predicted-forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) as compared to Non-Smoker-Gas . Pulmonary function tests data was inversely correlated with duration and ePM2.5. The prevalence of airway obstruction was 20% in both Non-Smoker-Biomass and Smoker-Gas subjects.
Conclusion – Chronic exposure to biomass combustion is associated with increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms, reduced lung function and development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These effects are associated with the duration and magnitude of exposure and are exacerbated by tobacco smoke.
