Flying To Support Clean Cookstoves

Brussels Airlines has started an initiative called as “Carbon Offset Programme” in association with CO2Logic, which provides its travelers the prospect to compensate for the CO2 emissions of their flight by making a small financial contribution which will be used to support the woodstove project in Uganda, as per a report on Brussels Airlines. The Project aspires to guard the trees, reduce deforestation and ensure better living conditions for the inhabitants by plummeting their exposure to toxics emitted from traditional stoves.

The passengers can calculate their CO2 footprint based on international norms and offset the emissions by paying money. The contributions will go exclusively towards supporting an internationally recognised clean cookstoves project in Africa that helps to reduce CO2 as per Gold Standard which guarantees carbon offset of a high quality. The contributors will be certified with a digital certificate as a proof of their effort.

CO2 compensations are entirely voluntary in nature and do not impact the ticket rates as it is the choice of the traveler to offset his flight. Also, the prices of the offset programme are nominal at around €22 exclusive of VAT per tonne of CO2.

For example, one of the projects that the contributions will go towards is the purchase of ecologically-friendly wood stoves in Uganda for the local population who continue to use wood and charcoal as fuel – a situation which has led to deforestation in the country. With these new efficient stoves, the amount of wood consumed per family can be reduced by nearly 40% and CO2 emissions reduced by 1.4 tonnes per family per year.

The stoves will reduce the impact of toxic smoke fumes which affect the health of women and children in Africa and cause diseases like pneumonia, which accounts for 20 per cent of all child deaths globally, as per the first-ever Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas, published by the World Lung Foundation in November 2010.

Brussels Airlines will cater to its responsibility too in the meantime to reduce emissions by ways of using up all its fuel and reducing the weight of its aircrafts and a lot of other eco-friendly initiatives.

Photo courtesy: Brussels Airlines

Read the full story on: Brussels Airlines Passengers Can Now Offset their CO2 Emissions

The Role Of Micro-Entrepreneurs In Promoting Stove Sales

The enterprise route to addressing development issues is finding resonance in efforts to provide both a solution and a lasting, self-sufficient entity that can sustain the change, as in the case of improved cookstoves to combat indoor air pollution. A Forbes CSR blog posting by Nicole Skibola, for example, highlights the efforts of Adventure Project to create mirco-entrepreneurs to sell stoves in rural villages earlier in Africa and now in Haiti.

The Adventure Project works with on-the-ground partners who then manufacture and distribute a poverty-alleviating product or service tailored to customers at the bottom of the consumer pyramid.

According to the report, Adventure Project works with nonprofit International Lifeline Fund (ILF), which has been building stove programs in Uganda, Sudan, & Kenya. The stoves are produced locally, and ILF trains a sales force of female micro-entrepreneurs to sell the stoves in rural villages. The ILF stove is coal powered, but uses half the amount of coal of current stoves and has very low emissions. It has an insulated combustion chamber as opposed to an open fire. It cooks food at a higher temperature, as well, cutting down on the time spent cooking.

The stoves are sold at subsidized rates villagers can afford. ILF, in partnership with the Adventure Project, scaled the project to Haiti after the earthquake hit. ILF is now in the process of setting up a local factory so it can continue to distribute more stoves in Haiti, and build a sustainable social enterprise.

According to the ILF website, "Understanding that the long-term sustainability of its fuel efficient stove program depends on the genius of the free market, Lifeline has developed an affordable metallic version of its stove and set up a “factory” in Northern Uganda with the capacity to produce more than 1,000 of them each month.

Lifeline has since fostered a vibrant commercial market for these stoves through a concerted advertizing campaign and the creation of a sales force of some three dozen female micro-entrepreneurs who it has set up as stove vendors. In short, Lifeline’s FES program is building local capacity – creating jobs for skilled laborers and independent salespersons while, at the same time, improving the health and livelihoods of their customers."

Pointing out that the aid and charity model to fix social problems fail to deliver poverty alleviation strategies, Beck Straw, co-founder of the Adventure Project, says supporting a new class of micro-entrepreneurs results increating a lifestyle of self-sufficiency, rather than one of aid-dependence.

“In today’s economy, businesses and their consumers understand the importance of creating jobs. It’s a matter of changing perceptions – we need to teach our businesses, and our consumers, that investing in social ventures will save lives and spur economic growth,” Straw is quoted as saying.

Read the full story, "Cleaner Cookstoves For Christmas"

The Priority Is Building Better Stoves And Creating Awareness

Shell Foundation is promoting clean stoves in India through "a market-based approach with private sector participation, focusing on availability, affordability, accessibility and accountability" says a report by IANS published in The Times of India which draws attention to indoor air pollution being a killer almost on par with AIDS.

According to the report, "Stove fumes as big a killer as AIDS", Shell Foundation is collaborating with stove manufacturers and microfinance institutions in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to promote the improved kitchen stoves.

"Given that firewood will continue to be used in most rural households, it is now largely accepted that the most effective way to reduce smoke is through improved stoves," the report quotes Anuradha Bhavnani, regional director of Shell Foundation.

"This is why building better stoves and finding a way to persuade the poor to use them has become a priority," she added.

Over the past one year, the Foundation has tested several strategies in collaboration with the Anganwadi workers, stove manufacturers and microfinance institutions.

The report also notes the efforts of the Global Alliance on Clean Cookstoves. Simon Bishop, Head of the Room to Breathe initiative of the Shell Foundation says that the fund being raised by the alliance will address key issues in propagating the use of clean cookstoves. Says Bishop, "To create a global market for clean cookstoves, there needs to be direct support for the stoves market, indirect research on health, climate change, materials and other areas, and a general increase in awareness and knowledge about the issue and the sector."

Read the Full Story: Stove fumes as big a killer as AIDS

Clean Cookstoves: Inexpensive Solution to Maternal Mortality

Health professionals from various medical institutions and organizations at  a conference organized by the University of Delaware made the point that high-tech developments have reduced maternal and infant mortality in developed nations while suggesting that solutions for attaining less maternal mortality in developing countries is available and is inexpensive. Health experts stated that low-cost clean cookstoves can significantly reduce deaths in poor nations, where women typically cook over open fires in enclosed spaces with babies and young children nearby. Cleaner cookstoves will reduce the exposure to toxic smoke from the stoves and thus prevent a  lot of respiratory diseases and hence, a better health for both the mother and the child.
  
These were among the issues discussed by close to 250 health professionals from various medical institutions and organizations attending a conference organized by the University of Delaware and sponsored by the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance(DHSA) to address women and children’s health research as per a report in  the UDaily.

The meeting aimed at finding same ground for formalized collaborations, to highlight areas of research which have precarious mass being affected and to meet the needs of  the communities at large which effect the health outcomes.

The central discussion was on reproductive health of women with regard to maternal mortality. Sarah Berga, M.D., the James Robert McCord Professor and Chair of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Emory University School of Medicine, cited challenges like maternal mortality, substandard adolescent reproductive health, affordability and access, and a highly variable level of health literacy which results in a substantial number of cases of maternal mortality every year in the United States.

Photo Courtesy: UDaily

Read the full story on: DHSA draws diverse crowd to discuss women and children's health research

Cancun Talks Pave Way for Environmental Benefits

The UN Climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, wrapped up with some important developments leading the world on a path towards constructive global action on climate change, United Nations Foundation President Senator Timothy E. Wirth has said in a statement.

The UN Climate Agreements, endorsed by 193 countries, are seen to be the "building blocks for global action" by the UN Foundation that will advance the world toward improvements on key environmental issues, such as deforestation, technology cooperation, adaptation, and financing. The agreements are aimed at persuading the countries to practice low-carbon development plans and strategies, which will ensure economic strengthening and national security whilst protecting the environment.

 "The agreements themselves, as well as the resulting measures that will be implemented around the world, will build confidence in the multilateral negotiations process. These efforts will deliver environmental benefits and pave the way for additional agreements on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the reduction of powerful warming agents such as methane, refrigeration gases, and black carbon from diesel engines and cookstoves.”, said Timothy E Wirth

Wirth said, “The evidence of a destabilized climate is everywhere – from the global temperature record to the shrinking Arctic ice cap to the increasing incidence of extreme weather events. Negotiators in Cancún made important progress toward cooperative action to combat the destructive results of climate change. As the Cancún Agreements are implemented and the world looks at ahead to two more rounds of talks, we should continue the strategy of developing the building blocks that will move us to a greener energy economy.”

For the full statement: Statement by Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation

EPA and Peace Corps to Assist Clean Cookstove Distribution

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S Peace Corps have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to assist stronger institutional ties between the two organizations and explore opportunities to collaborate on a wide range of environmental issues -- including efforts to bring cleaner cookstoves to millions in the developing world – while connecting with the youth, enhancing the dialogue on environmentalism and supporting communities in problems in the United States and across the world, according to an EPA Press Release.

Under the MoU, EPA and the Peace Corps will delve into prospects to connect on issues such as distributing clean cookstoves. It will try to aid easy availability to fuel-efficient stoves, bio-digesters and solar ovens at the household and school levels so that the people are able to make informed decisions on issues that affect the environment.

EPA Administrator, Lisa P Jackson and Director of Peace Corps, Aaron Williams signed the MOU. “The partnership between EPA and the Peace Corps marks an important advance in the work and mission of both organizations,” said Jackson. “EPA and the Peace Corps can expand our efforts both here at home and throughout the world, combining our experiences and knowledge to tackle complex and pressing environmental issues confronting our global community.”

“Every day, thousands of Peace Corps volunteers around the planet work with local communities to find sustainable solutions to some of the most pressing environmental issues,” said Williams. “Our collaborative work with the EPA will help empower more communities to make environmentally friendly choices.”

The organizations will also work on environmental education, community monitoring, solid waste, waste water and safe water management, and climate change.

For the full press release: EPA and Peace Corps Sign a Memorandum of Understanding

The Making Of Estufa Finca

Efforts to build improved cook stoves are resulting in solutions that combine an appreciation of thermodynamics with the social and culinary needs of people and their environment. A Seattle area artist Art Donnelly, for example, invented a clean-burning biochar stove which he now propagates through a non-profit organization called Seachar in Costa Rica.

Donnelly's stove runs on garden waste and was inspired by his experience while travelling in South America, says a report in Kuow.org by Joshua McNichols. He explains that when a piece of wood is burnt, it actually burns twice. At the beginning the fire is bright, with lots of flames. Later, after all the resins and things have burned off, the flame dies down a bit and one is left with glowing embers,charcoal. This is when the wood releases most of its carbon to the atmosphere.

Donnelly says that his stove makes efficient use of the first stage when the fire is bright. The smoke is consumed in the flames and therefore there is almost no emission. He further says,"Because it is so efficient you don't need to go to the second stage of the fire. Instead, you remove the burning embers from the stove with a pair of tongs and drop them in a bucket full of water."

These stoves do not need to use wood for fuel. One can fuel these stoves with garden waste including corncobs and goat poop. And that is why Donnelly has taken his stoves down to Costa Rica. He has brought stoves to the same women and children he saw cooking at smoky fires years ago. Over the next cacao harvest season, Donnelly will carefully track what they put into their stoves — and what they take out.

According to SeaChar.org, it is working with partners around the globe to Reinvent Fire. "Our elegant and affordable Estufa Finca (Farm Stove) works by burning the smoke that would escape a traditional fire. Able to use a wide range of waste biomass as fuel, these stoves will save lives and trees. As an add benefit the stoves produce the soil building charcoal known as biochar, a form of fixed biocarbon which can store excess CO2 for thousands of years."

To read the full story: Clean-Burning Cookstoves
Also see SeaChar.org

Malta Joins Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves

As part of its 2010 fast-start climate finance pledge, the government of Malta donated €125,000 ($165,000) to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an initiative led by the United Nations Foundation. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership, which aims at replacing traditional cookstoves with modern and clean cookstoves in developing countries, according to a report in the Malta Independent Online and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

The announcement was made at a signing ceremony in Cancun, Mexico, by George Pullicino, Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs, and Timothy Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, which leads the work of the Alliance.

“Malta is proud to be making this financial contribution to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves as part of its 2010 fast-start finance pledge made in the context of the Copenhagen Accord,” said Minister Pullicino. “We fully support the work being undertaken by the Alliance to promote the adoption of clean and efficient cooking solutions in the developing world, particularly in neighbouring Africa. We appreciate that this will help reduce the exposure of women and children to unhealthy cooking smoke, and lead to a reduction in the use of fuel, including firewood, as well as in the emission of gases that contribute to climate change.”

“Malta is making a welcome and needed contribution to assist the mission of the Alliance, pursuant to its national pledge to support climate finance mechanisms,” said United Nations Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth. “These resources will help the Alliance develop standards for clean stoves, support climate and health research, and mount an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the severe health and environmental impacts from dirty cookstoves and the toxic smoke they create. Sustainable technologies, such as clean and efficient cookstoves, are essential in order to expand access to energy while drastically reducing the pollution it produces.”

Malta joins Germany, the United States, Denmark, Peru and Norway as government supporters of the Alliance, in addition to Shell, the Shell Foundation, Morgan Stanley and half a dozen U.N. agencies, including the World Health Organization, World Food Programme and UN Environment Programme.

Photo Courtesy: Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves

Halima's Prize Winning Stove In Dafur

Halima, a 28-year-old-mother has designed a stove that burns efficiently, consumes less wood and produces less smoke as compared to her partakers in a contest conducted by World Food Programme (WFP) in Northern Darfur. The contest was among local women who were trained by WFP to see who could design the most efficient model.

Halima has won a US $300.00 cash prize for the stove and its innovative design which can burn anything from wood to cow dung to household waste. Halima learned the laws of thermodynamics and the skill to make an efficient stove during a training course organised by WFP as part of its Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy (SAFE) initiative in Northern Darfur.

Halima has named the stove Sabrin after the name of a dear friend and proudly shows the way the pot sits over the cooking surface for maximum use of the heat. “It produces less smoke and saves me time,” she says proudly. “Instead of spending hours and hours gathering wood, I can look after my family and work in my vegetable garden.”

In the arid plains of northern Darfur, gathering firewood takes hours and exposes women to the threat of belligerence; and also a lot of deforestation takes place, increasing the possibilities of drought and floods. The stoves that WFP has trained the local women on; are fuel efficient as they consume around two-thirds less wood than the traditional way of cooking which means women not having to spend a lot of time rummaging around for wood, as per WFP report.

These stoves produce much less smoke, the cause of deadly indoor air pollution, which kills over 1.5 million people every year.Halima, however feels that one of the best things about her stove is that it’s safe. She can walk away from the stove while her food is cooking and can run errands without worrying as in case of cooking on an open fire.

The project was aimed at scaling up distribution of fuel-efficient and “improved mud” stoves to assist almost 100,000 women in North Darfur.

Photo Courtesy: World Food Programme

Read the full story: Darfur Mother Designs Award-Winning Stove

The Jompy Stove: World Challenge Finalist

The Jompy Stove which allows boiling water and cooking simultaneously made it to the 12 finalists for the 6th World Challenge, shortlisted by BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell.

The World Challenge is a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grassroot level. This year, there were 800 nominations, 12 finalists, one winner and two runners up. The finale this year of World Challenge 2010 was filmed in Amsterdam with Zeinab Badawi announcing the winners.

The Winner of the Challenge is a project from Philippines and the two runners up projects are from Peru and Guatemala.

The Jompy Stove is a lightweight and inexpensive stove-top device that sits between a cooking pot or an open flame to rapidly heat water. Invented by David Osborne, a plumber from Scotland, this simple technology could save millions who die from drinking contaminated water. The Jompy is a win-win technology, where householders can cook a meal whilst killing bacteria in dirty water at the same time. Gravity pushes the water through the Jompy, and it even works on simple three stone fires, making it perfect for use in the bush. It's now being supplied to Uchumi supermarkets in Kenya.

The Jompy is a highly effective water boiler that allows the consumer to carry out two tasks at the same time: boiling water whilst cooking.This unique product (weighing just 600g) can boil 1 litre of water every 45-60 seconds with the water reaching temperatures of up to 86 degrees, drastically reducing the amount of fuel required; as well as providing a means of clean hot water to improve sanitation.

Photo Courtesy: World Challenge 
Website:  "The Jompy" Water Boiler
Read the full story on:  World Challenge Finalists Announced;

Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves Engages Cancun Conference

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves' presence at the Cancun conference is a good marker of the extent to which there is increasing recognition of the role played by inefficient combustion of biomass for domestic energy. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and the United Nations Foundation in Cancún will be hosting a breakfast roundtable on Black Carbon, Cookstoves, and Climate Change on Wednesday, December 8.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico started on 29th November, 2010 with calls for commitment and compromise, as per a Press Release, issued by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

As per the Press Release, Mexican President Felipe Calderón cited last year’s hurricane in Mexico, this year’s floods in Pakistan and fires in Russia as examples of increasing incidences of natural disasters brought about by climate change and already affecting the poorest and most vulnerable.

“Climate change is an issue that affects life on a planetary scale”, he said.

Carbon dioxide is not the only kind of pollution that contributes to global warming. Other potent warming agents include three short-lived gases — methane, some hydrofluorocarbons and lower atmospheric ozone — and dark soot particles. The warming effect of these pollutants, which stay in the atmosphere for several days to about a decade is already about 80 percent of the amount that carbon dioxide causes, as per the New York times.

Veerabhadran Ramanathan, professor of atmospheric physics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and David G. Victor, professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego, writing in The New York Times say from a political point of view, the most appealing greenhouse emissions to reduce are ozone and soot, because they contribute so much to local air pollution. After all, people everywhere care about the quality of the air they breathe and see — even if most of them are not yet very worried about global warming. A desire to clean up the air is a rare point of commonality between developing and industrialized nations.

 Energy poverty alleviation will come into play to decide the strategies to slow global warming. The opportunities to reduce black carbon emissions will be discussed. The emissions come mostly from the inefficient and incomplete burning of biomass and unimproved diesel engine emissions, as per the Charcoal Project.

In the course of 2010, all 37 industrialised nations and 42 developing countries, including the largest emerging economies, submitted targets and voluntary actions to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions, as per the Press Release.

Photo courtesy:  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Better Energy Makes For Lesser Energy Use

As per a report in National Geographic, in two small villages on Nicaragua’s Mosquito Coast, a project to improve electricity service had a remarkable side benefit—household energy use actually dropped nearly 30 per cent. When efficient compact-fluorescent (CFL) lightbulbs were added to the mix, energy savings surpassed 40 percent.

“It shows that you can meet development objectives for the poor and climate objectives for all of us at the same time,” said Daniel Kammen, chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the World Bank, and co-author of an analysis published in the weekly journal Science,The Energy-Poverty-Climate Nexus.

As per National Geographic.com, the study set out to demonstrate a method for measuring both the climate and financial benefits of making investments that improve delivery of reliable, affordable energy for poor communities. Mobilizing such investment is crucial, with 1.5 billion people around the world living without electricity. Another 1 billion people have unreliable electricity, and nearly half the global population relies on unhealthy and polluting wood, charcoal, and dung stoves for cooking.

The United Nations said in a report co-written with the International Energy Agency that its goals for fighting extreme poverty will fall short unless nations also work to bring electricity and modern, safe cooking technology to the “energy-poor” people around the world.

The analytical method outlined in the paper is “very helpful for certain contexts, particularly for looking at how increasing energy efficiency can help support energy access," says Richenda Van Leeuwen, senior director on energy and climate for the the United Nations Foundation, a non-profit that supports the work of the UN. She said she especially sees potential for the approach to be adapted for addressing the global problem of primitive cookstoves. Inefficient wood and waste stoves, used by 3 billion people around the world, create black carbon particulate emissions, a large contributor to climate change, and have a devastating impact on health—especially for women and children.

“There is really room for more research in this area for both traditional cooking and kerosene-based lighting, which both emit smoke,” Van Leeuwen said. “You could begin to monetize the savings of fewer trips to clinics, and fewer treatments for acute pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses that are common among people breathing in cookstove smoke day in and day out.”

Van Leeuwen said the approach is among those being weighed by the new public-private partnership, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, the United Nations; global energy company Shell and its Shell Foundation; investment bank Morgan Stanley; and the nonprofit SNV-Netherlands Development Organization.

Kammen’s new study underscores the importance of doing a similar analysis for the world’s poor, who can spend more than 30 percent of their income on energy services. In wealthy countries, only 2 to 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product is spent on energy. “Because energy services are often expensive,” said Kammen, “finding ways to provide them more efficiently benefits the poor more than the rich.”

Representative photograph: 2009 UNEP Sasakawa Prize Co-Laureates
Read the full story on: Fighting Poverty Can Save Energy, Nicaragua Project Shows

Re-emerging TB in Africa Linked To Poverty

According to a recent report by STOP TB department of the World Health Organization, high poverty levels in Africa are driving the re-emerging tuberculosis pandemic. According to the report in VaccineNewsDaily.com, over 1.7 million people died from TB (including 380,000 women) in 2009. TB is among the three greatest causes of death among women aged 15-44 years.

TB is thought of as more likely to spread in these low-income regions as a result of overcrowding, malnutrition, lack of proper housing ventilation, indoor air pollution and long distances to health centers.

“TB in Africa is precipitated by poverty and social conditions that elevate the risk of infection,” said Mario Raviglione, director of the STOP TB department of the WHO.

A recent study by Professor Anthony Harries, a senior advisor to the Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, showed that many patients in Malawi who tested positive for pulmonary TB had related low-income social conditions. Thirty-six percent of the patients lived in mud hut houses, 75 percent had no access to piped water, 45 percent had a monthly income of less than $10 and 92 percent had no electricity in their homes.

Another factor in the spread of the pandemic is that many patients visit traditional healers before attempting mainstream medical treatment. This causes the condition to worsen and makes the medical treatment less effective.

Appropriate-Scale Alcohol Fuel Production Forum for IAP reduction

The International Institute for Ecological Agriculture (IIEA) and Project Gaia, an international forum focused on the localized production and use of appropriate-scale alcohol fuel for clean indoor cooking and energy needs is taking place in Atlanta from November 29 to December 1, says a Businesswire press release.

Nigerian, Haitian, Mexican and US Representatives are participating in the program.

David Blume, an alcohol fuel expert and author of the book ‘Alcohol can be a gas!’ said, “Locally produced Alcohol fuel is an ideal source of energy for cooking, heating, refrigeration, electrical generation and transportation needs. Developing this fuel provides communities with abundant food, energy and job opportunities and can immediately help stop global deforestation, the number 1 contributor to climate change.”

“Worldwide, more than three billion people lack access to modern forms of energy and cook with traditional stoves that burn polluting fossil-based fuels,” said Harry Stokes, Executive Director for Project Gaia.

“Illnesses resulting from indoor air pollution claim an estimated 2 million lives worldwide each year. In many parts of the world pneumonia in infants and small children is the primary cause of death, and evidence links wood-fire cooking smoke to chronic bronchitis in women, low birth-weight in children, active TB, and many other ailments. Clean-burning stoves and alcohol fuels can dramatically change these statistics and that is why we have Forum participants coming from around the world to learn more about these practical and affordable solutions.”

The participants will be taught various ways of providing pollution free energy for safe indoor cooking and other uses.

As per PR inside.com, the participants will be taught ways to: Stabilize domestic fuel production costs at less than 30 cents/liter (USD), curb deforestation, black carbon emissions and global warming and earn carbon credits, integrate domestic food and energy production, identify high-value, high-yield crops for all climates to produce sustainable energy and increase soil fertility and create and encourage permanent local jobs.

Read the full story on: International Delegates Arrive in Atlanta for IIEA and Project Gaia: Clean Indoor Air and Appropriate-Scale Alcohol Fuel Production Forum

World Pneumonia Day: Focussing Attention On Preventable Deaths

The World Pneumonia Day was observed on November 12, 2010 globally to help bring the pneumonia health crisis to the public’s attention and to encourage policy makers and organizers at the grass roots level to combat this deadly disease.

The “World Pneumonia Day" was first observed on November 2, 2009 after the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund reported that one million children's lives could be saved every year if prevention and interventions for pneumonia, such as cheap but effective vaccines, were widely introduced in developing nations.

According to the first-ever Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas, published by the World Lung Foundation in November 2010, pneumonia accounts for 20 per cent of all child deaths globally, or 1.6 million deaths in 2008, compared to 732,000 children who died from malaria and 200,000 who died from the AIDS virus. There are 156 million new cases of pneumonia each year, 97 per cent of them in developing countries.

As per the Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas, indoor air pollution from cooking stoves, fires and secondhand cigarette smoke are the major causes for respiratory deaths. It said 1.96 million die every year from infections caused by these sources, with another 121,000 deaths due to outdoor pollution.

Dr Dorothy Esangbedo, President, Paediatric Association of Nigeria says that, “Within an hour, 20 children across Nigeria die from pneumonia. This number is the highest in Africa and second highest overall in the world.”

As reported by the Times of India, in India, the casualty is as high as 4,00,000  children each year.

Dr. Tabish Hazir, Professor of Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital, PIMS, Islamabad said, “An estimated 154 million childhood pneumonia cases occur every year in the developing areas and more than half are reported from 6 countries with Pakistan having an estimated 10 million cases every year.”

Professor Shabir Madhi, of Wits University, enumerated the predisposing factors that can cause a child to develop pneumonia in developing countries, "Pneumococcal disease is much more common in developing countries like Africa. The reason why children in Africa die and the reason why they are more susceptible to developing it is them living in overcrowded settings, them having limited access to getting treatment or antibiotics at the correct time, them being exposed to pollution such as indoor pollution or even parents smoking."

Visit the site: World Pneumonia Day

Read the full story on ‘Nigeria has highest pneumonia burden in Africa’ – Second highest worldwide in the Daily Sun

Read the full story on Pakistan’s fight against combating childhood Pneumonia on World Pneumonia Day in an AP report

Read the full story on Pneumonia Among Leading Causes of Death in Children in allAfrica

Creating An African Briquette Network

Energy experts from across the globe met at the Briquettes Producers Workshop in Arusha, Tanzania, from November 10 to November 14, 2010 to discuss ways to promote charcoal and fuelwood alternatives in the form of briquettes, says Vuthisa which participated in the workshop. The conference was part of a three-year project to support environmental conservation in East Africa through the start and long-term establishment of biomass briquette small businesses.

Countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Chad, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa and Botswana attended the conference with the intent to create an African Briquette Producers Network so that new knowledge and improved recipes can be passed on to producers even if they are working in different regions.

The conference was sponsored by the Legacy Foundation through a grant from the McKnight Foundation.

During the conference, there were demonstrations of various local techniques of biomass briquette production and biomass briquette technologies being used in Africa.

The combustion issues and eliminating smoke was high on the agenda of the conference. It was reiterated that to sell briquettes, the quality of the briquettes needs to be improved and the use of better quality insulated stoves should be advocated.



Photo Courtesy: Vuthisa
Read the full story  "Briquette Producers Workshop – Arusha (Tanzania) 2010"

Improved Cookstoves And The Price Barrier

The Indian cookstove industry is looking keenly at two developments that have the promise to change the landscape for propagation of improved cookstoves: The National Biomass Cookstove Initiative announced last December and the recently launched Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

In a report in the Indian newspaper, Mint, cookstove manufacturers make the point that the challenge of price and an effective route to market remain the toughest issues, given the competition from the traditional chulha. Mouhsine Serrar, founder of Prakti Design Lab says, “We’re competing with chulhas that cost next to nothing,”

“We’re learning that there’s a ceiling for stoves—around Rs1,000,” Serrar says. “The thing is, in villages, the man of the household doesn’t make the decision about a stove— the woman does. And the woman can’t take a decision to spend that much on a stove.”

Similarly, other stove companies are also trying to deal with the pricing issue. Envirofit, for example, sells 8,500 stoves a month in the four southern states and Maharashtra but the report quotes Atul Joshi, senior manager for sales and marketing, as saying that they need to sell  25,000 stoves each month to start breaking even.

Read the full feature: Replacing the traditional ‘chulha’ in the Mint

Nigeria Brings Stoves To Battle IAP-Linked Deaths

The International Center for Energy Environment and Development (ICEED) has said quoting WHO estimates that about 79,000 deaths occur annually from Indoor Air Pollution. According to ICEED, Nigeria faces an energy crisis with 70% of the population not having access to modern energy for cooking.

"Wood is the dominant fuel for the poor majority. Burning wood inefficiently creates serious health and environmental problems. Recent estimates by the World Health Organization show that about 79,000 deaths occur annually from indoor air pollution caused by burning wood inefficiently. The deforestation rate in Nigeria is estimated to be above 3% per year. Fuel-efficient cookstoves save up to 85% of wood fuel, compared to traditional three-stone cook stoves, they cook at least 45 minutes faster, and the quality of air inside the kitchen is greatly improved."

ICEED further says, "Exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves causes 79,000 premature deaths annually in Nigeria. Traditional cookstoves also increase pressure on scarce natural resources and are expensive to fuel. International Centre for Energy Environment and Development (ICEED), with support from GTZ and the Swiss Embassy, is responding to this problem by introducing clean institutional cookstoves to Nigeria. Ewah Eleri, Executive Director of ICEED said, “Clean cookstoves help schools to save money on wood fuel, improve health for cooks and contribute to a reduction in deforestation and we hope that the Niger State Government will install them in all Government School kitchens”.

"Clean cooking stoves help schools to save money on wood fuel, improve health for cooks and contribute to a reduction in deforestation and we hope that the Niger State government will install them in all government school kitchens," according to statement by Public Relations Officer of the center, Mr Michael Donovan, reported in allAfrica.

His Excellency Dr. Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu has welcomed the initiative and the Niger State Government Girls Secondary School in Bida unveiled the first institutional clean cookstove in Nigeria.

Kitchen Smoke Higher Cause Of COPD Than Smoking In India

Smoke in the kitchen is the most important cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in India, says a study conducted by Pune-based Chest Research Foundation (CRF) in collaboration with the KEM Hospital, Pune, and the Imperial College, London. According to a report in The Times of India, the study says that smoking is the second biggest cause of COPD in India.

The study also says that 6.9 per cent in the Indian population suffers from respiratory diseases. Among those identified with COPD, only 7 per cent were smokers while the remaining 93 per cent were non-smokers. Over 700 million people in India suffer from high levels of indoor air pollution affecting women and young children as 75 per cent homes use biomass fuel like wood, crop residue and dung cakes.

The age factor was particularly disturbing. "Nearly 23 per cent of COPDs occurred in people less than 40 years of age. It was believed that COPD starts after 40 in people who have been smoking for over 15-20 years. In India, where the exposure to indoor air pollution begins from childhood, it occurs in younger people," said chest physician Sundeep Salvi, director of the CRF to Times of India.

According to a report published by the Maharashtra State Health Resource Centre in March 2010 that examined the top 10 causes of deaths in Maharashtra, COPD was the number one cause.

The study was conducted in 22 rural villages in Pune district with a population of over 1 lakh. As many as 3,000 adults over the age of 25 years were randomly selected for the study which used a standardised respiratory health questionnaire and spirometry (lung function test for determining COPD).

Read the Times of India Story, "Young Lungs At Higher Risk From Wood Smoke, Dung Cakes"

Indian Annual IAP Deaths Between 4,00,000 To 6,00,000

Indian Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad has in a written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament) said that about 4,00,000 to 6,00,000 premature deaths can be attributed annually to use of biomass fuel in Indian population as per WHO Report (Kirk R. Smith : National burden of disease in India from indoor air pollution, 2000; WHO 2007).

According to the statement, "based on extrapolation of health effects in developed countries due to indoor air pollution, WHO has estimated that about 2.8 million premature deaths are due to indoor air pollution and highest number of deaths will occur in India."

"Ministry of Environment & Forests have introduced the new national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in 2009 for the extended list of 12 pollutants which are more closely related to health"

The reply further states that "the Government though the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has taken various steps to control and prevent indoor air pollution, through National Programme on Biogas Development to provide alternatives to burning firewood, agricultural residues, cattle dung and coal as fuel. National Programme on Improved Chulhas has been taken up to promote thermally efficient and low smoke stoves/smokeless chulhas. IEC activities through electronic and print media are undertaken to give publicity to the programmes. Women Education programmes are also organised in villages to generate awareness about the hazards of burning firewood, agricultural wastes, cattle dung in traditional chulhas and benefits of the biogas technology etc"

Defining The Energy Poverty Line: Rural India's Income Growth-Energy Use Disrelation

Energy poverty is a term which is often used but mostly lacks a clear definition. Several existing approaches define energy poverty line as the minimum quantity of physical energy needed to perform such basic tasks as cooking and lighting. The World Bank Development Research Group proposes an alternative measure that is based on energy demand.

It defines the energy poverty line as the threshold point at which energy consumption begins to rise with increases in household income in a recent study on "Energy Poverty in Rural and Urban India: Are the Energy Poor Also Income Poor?" by Shahidur R. Khandker, Douglas F. Barnes and Hussain A. Samad of The World Bank Development Research Group's Agriculture and Rural Development Team.

This approach was applied to cross-sectional data from a comprehensive 2005 household survey representative of both urban and rural India.


The study notes that the patterns of urban and rural energy demand in India differ markedly. In rural areas, patterns of energy use typically involve high reliance on traditional fuels, including wood, dung, and straw burned in inefficient stoves. In urban areas, only one-third of households use fuelwood, compared to nine-tenths of rural households. In terms of quantity of energy use, rural households consume about 132 kg of fuelwood per month, more than four times the amount consumed by urban households (32 kg). In terms of total energy use, biomass accounts for 89 percent of household energy consumption in rural areas and 35 percent in urban areas. However, the transition to modern fuels has been increasing. For cooking, urban households frequently use kerosene, along with LPG. Use of LPG among urban households is 71 percent, with monthly consumption averaging 9 kg (with an average consumption of 13 kg per household that actually uses the fuel). This compares to only 17 percent among rural households, whose monthly LPG consumption averages just 1.7 kg (with an average LPG consumption of 10.7 kg per user household).

According to the study, the provision of high quality energy services to rural areas has lagged behind urban areas. It is both financially and physically more difficult to service remote and poor populations compared to those living in urban areas. However, one would expect energy poverty would be commensurate with income poverty. This pattern is confirmed for urban India but it is not the case for rural areas. This means that despite national energy programs to help bring better energy services to people in rural areas, a significant gap in services still persists.

Besides providing electricity, improving biomass use and its efficiency is essential for reducing energy poverty. According to the findings, some 90 percent of rural households in India still use fuel wood that explains some 56 percent of household total expenditure on energy. Yet only less than 4 percent of rural households (according to the survey) had improved stoves for biomass use. Improving efficiency of fuel wood use for cooking is extremely.

The study says that for rural households, fuel wood constitutes the highest share of total energy expenditure, at 40 percent. This expenditure may not represent what households actually paid. Since biomass is mostly collected without direct cost, the local market price has been used to impute the value of biomass use in rural areas. For urban households, electricity is the highest energy expenditure, followed by LPG. Overall, urban households pay about Rs. 557 per month on energy, compared to Rs. 477 spent by rural households. Because of the higher use of biomass energy in rural areas, rural households actually consume more energy in total compared to urban ones.

However, this pattern is reversed when the efficiency of energy use is taken into consideration. After adjusting for efficiency of use, people in urban areas actually consume more end-use energy compared to rural households. The reason is because they use more modern forms of energy that offer a wider range of energy services.

The study concludes that though rural energy activities receive significant support from the Government of India, the findings would tend to confirm that there is still a long way to go to ensure that the rural poor can take advantage of the many benefits of modern energy and the services that they provide to consumers.

Four Million Deaths Each Year Caused by Acute Respiratory Infections

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs), a disease group that includes pneumonia, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are responsible for 4.25 million deaths each year, according to the first-ever Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas (ARIAtlas.org), published by the World Lung Foundation.

ARIs are the third largest cause of mortality in the world and the top killer in low- and middle-income countries. Compared to the illness and mortality they cause, ARIs receive a fraction of government, donor agency, and philanthropic support.

"We know that at least four million people die from ARIs, yet the global health community does not even recognize them as a distinct disease group,” said Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation in a Press Release. “The goal of the Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas is to demonstrate in vivid detail the scale of this problem and to kick-start a serious conversation about addressing it. With relatively modest resources, the means are available to save millions of lives. We simply need commitment, sound policy, and strategic investment."

Collectively, ARIs cause at least 6% of the world’s disability and death, according to the Atlas. These deaths occur overwhelmingly in the world’s poorest countries, where the drivers of ARIs, including malnutrition, pollution, overcrowding, and tobacco use are most prevalent. In countries such as Mali, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and Niger, the death rate from ARIs alone is ten times higher than the global median death rate from all causes.

The Atlas presents a number of other arresting facts:

• The death rate from pneumonia is 215 times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries.
• Every year, three to five million people globally get severe flu infections and as many as 500,000 people die.
• RSV is the most common source of severe respiratory illness in children, yet no vaccine is available and there is no established treatment.
• Three million hospitalizations result from RSV, and mortality is seven times higher in the developing world.
• ARIs take a heavier toll on vulnerable populations, such as those infected with HIV.
• The average cost for an appropriate course of antibiotics for treating pneumonia is US$0.27.

According to the Atlas, children are most at risk with ARIs being the leading cause of illness and death in children worldwide. Malnutrition in utero, during infancy, and in early childhood is a major culprit. The impaired development of a fully functioning immune system makes young children particularly susceptible to ARIs:

According to the Atlas, every year, 1.96 million people die from ARIs as a result of indoor air pollution caused by the use of biomass fuels to cook and heat the home, as well as by exposure to secondhand smoke. The report susggests that this number is severely underestimated.

The World Lung Foundation calls for more investment to be made into low-cost cooking and heating alternatives and in strategies to reduce outdoor pollution, such as emissions standards, air quality targets, and incentives to use public transportation.

According to the Atlas, only about one percent (US$32 million) of all pharmaceutical research and development funding was spent on research and development for ARIs in 2007, compared with US$1.1 billion spent on HIV-related research, yet ARIs take twice the toll in lives lost.

Strategies for reducing ARIs are within reach. Some are low-cost and can be implemented immediately; others require longer-term efforts. Among the strategies described in the Atlas:

• Distribute effective nutritional supplements
• Expand vaccination programs
• Disseminate public awareness campaigns
• Reduce tobacco use
• Address the shortfall of 4.25 million healthcare workers needed to help vulnerable populations
• Improve access to lab testing and inexpensive diagnostic tests
• Find more efficient ways to manufacture vaccines and strengthen distribution
• Introduce safer cooking and heating alternatives.

(Images in this report are from the Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas)

Bangladesh's Kitchen Revolution With Bondhu Chula

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed in Dhaka between Bangladesh's Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) under which GTZ will provide 10,000 'Bondhu Chula' (Friend Stove)-pollution-free and hygienic cook stoves for rural households in the ENRICH implementation areas by 2011.

PKSF Managing Director Dr Quazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed was quoted by the Bangladesh Financial Express as saying that the new stoves had the potential to reduce fuel consumption by 50 per cent and reduce emissions significantly.

The stoves were originally developed by the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) and were subsequently upgraded by GTZ. According to a GTZ presentation, "Empowerment of Women for use of Improved Cook Stove to save energy and improve health" (2008), the Improved Cookstove, Bondhu Chula, was an adaptation of technology from IFRD and BCSIR and chosen on counts of being affordable and acceptable by people, could use all types of biomass available and could be made using locally available raw material.

According to GTZ, the advantages of the Bondhu Chula were, apart from no smoke in the kitchen, increased energy efficiency of 27% -29% and fuel saving of 50% -60% compared to traditional stoves. There was significant reduction of indoor air pollution in kitchens and reduction of cooking fuel by about 50 per cent, leading to saving of money, less time (50%) for collection of fuel as well as less time (30%-40%) for cooking. Apart from these, the stove resulted in clean kitchen and pots, reduced burden on forest resources, improvement of soil by increased use of bio-fertilizer and income generation for builders and trainers

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) works worldwide in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development, providing viable, forward-looking solutions for political, economic, ecological and social development in a globalised world.

According to GTZ, its renewable energy and energy efficiency programme is directed at poorer families which, too, are in a position to replace appliances such as traditional stoves and kerosene lamps. The programme supports the use of energy-saving appliances and production processes and promotes the dissemination of technologies based on renewables.

A recent study by Prokaushali Sangsad Limited on "Gender Analysis of Measures Supported by Sustainable Energy Development (SED) Project of GTZ, Bangladesh", drew some interesting insights on building awareness about improved coosktoves through GTZ's partner organizations.

According to the study, "Success at the field level is strongy dependent on the available logistics of the POs and their effective participation in information dissemination. For the improved cookstove poject (bondhu chula), women are closely attached as users. The families who are using them are very pleased with the outcome of their investment. Since the NGOs typically work directly with the women in the rural area, information is more readily available for them. On the other hand, the women from the suburban towns do not get information as easily. Much of the information on the benefits and satisfaction from the use of ICS is spread through word of mouth and neighboring women who visit the users. Public advertisements and announcements also play significant role in information dissemination."

Photographs: GTZ Presentation

Kenya's Challenge Of Shifting To Modern Energy

There is need to encourage users to shift to modern energy sources by encouraging marketers  as well as providing incentives to increase production and use and creating an enabling environment to achieve low and affordable prices for fuels, appliances and equipment, gadgets and apparatus among the majority of the citizens, says a recent study in Kenya. The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research And Analysis in its recent study "A Comprehensive Study and Analysis on Energy Consumption Patterns in Kenya" says that since fuel wood has been the main fuel in the rural areas, there is need to encourage and enforce adoption of wood saving cookers, outside the traditional three stones.

According to the study, energy consumption pattern in Kenya portrays more of fuel stacking than fuel switching, where households are observed to be using multiple fuels (the use of more than one or various fuels to meet different energy demands). Fuel switching occurs when a household opts or chooses to completely shift and use a new fuel. (fuel mixes). This is classically the case when there isnt a significant increase in incomes and the tendency is for multiple fuel use.

The analysis also revealed that affordability was the main reason why majority were not willing/ able to pay for improved energy services for example kerosene, electricity and charcoal were viewed to have high cost. Lack of information deterred households from willing to pay for improved LPG products and services, while petrol and lubricants, were viewed to be dangerous, unsafe and of poor quality.

The findings of the study carried out by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) on “A Comprehensive Study and Analysis on Energy Consumption Patterns in Kenya”, commissioned by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) point out that fuel usage is as much a result of household size as the geography of presence but not necessarily linked to an inherent movement towards cleaner fuels.

According to the study, as the household size increases, the budget share on kerosene declines. This could be explained by the fact that as the household size increases, the household switches to other fuel types such as charcoal, fuel wood and even LPG to meet increased demand for energy for example in food preparation.

From the results, households in urban areas are likely to demand more kerosene than those in rural areas. This is expected since rural households have at their disposal other types of fuels such as fuel wood and charcoal.

The study says about 70% of the consumers use biomass while 30% use other fuels. This supports well known studies that biomass provides 70% of the energy requirements. The study showed kerosene to be mostly used for lighting (52%) while biomass was widely used for cooking (60%).  Fuel wood had the highest energy budget share on average for both rural (11.6 %) and urban (9.34 %) compared to the other fuels.

The energy choice model results showed that demand for cooking fuels such as fuel wood, charcoal, kerosene, electricity and liquefied petroleum gas(LPG) are driven by certain key factors and vary depending on whether the household is located in rural or urban areas. The key determinants for kerosene choice at the household were occupation, total energy expenditure, household size, fuel wood price, education level and price of LPG. With regard to fuel wood choice, important factors included the price of fuel wood which has a negative coefficient, household size and total expenditure. The key determinants of choice for use of charcoal included household size, price of charcoal, price of fuel wood, education level, and both formal and informal employment.

Photo courtesy: United Nations Environment Program

Shell Foundation Catalysing Disruptive Change Through Angel Philanthropy

Shell Foundation's milestone report 'Enterprise Solutions to Scale' propounds the cause of 'catalysing disruptive change through angel philanthrophy'. The approach propounded by Shell Foundation, and demonstrated through its programs, makes the point that angel philanthropy directed at new entities who are entrepreneurial and have aligned vision of scale are likely to be more successful in creating social impact.

According to the Report, "We find it striking that in every instance where partnerships achieved scale and measurable social impact it has been with newly created entities that we helped co-found using new business
models we co-developed. In all cases we were also the sole partner and subsidy provider during the development and testing of these business models. By contrast, despite our various efforts, we have never succeeded in helping an existing organisation go to scale. We believe that angel philanthropy has significant potential to catalyse scaleable solutions to global development challenges."

The Report echoes the belief that often underlines much of angel investing, saying "we look for entrepreneurial partners who focus entirely on the venture and share the start-up risk by investing their own resources in it."

According to the report, "It is hugely important to have an aligned vision with partners, from the outset, with respect to achieving scale and sustainability. This means having a plan to achieve both social impact and financial viability from inception and which is subject to regular measurement and reporting. It is also based on recruiting the best staff and developing the most efficient operating systems essential for managing the complex multiple location operations that scale entails. Where we have partnered with individuals or organisations who did not share this early ambition to achieve scale, we found it virtually impossible to “retrofit” the subsequent capacity needed to achieve it."

Exploring the issue of which are the best partners to invest in from a social point of view, the report points out that the Foundation made a strategic shift and had "far greater success... when we focused our resources – time and money – on developing new approaches with a few carefully selected partners or by supporting organisations with a clear market demand for the products or services they offered."

Further, the report makes the point that the approach has to go beyond simply providing funds: "We believe there is a need to deploy resources to build a sustainable enterprise rather than simply provide grants to subsidise the short-term provision of products or services. Building sustainable enterprises means investing in core capacity and systems as a pre-requisite for scale. It also requires additional input over and above grant finance in the form of business advice, market access and appropriate governance support."

Accordingly, "SF has invested considerable time in providing a range of expertise, business advice and skills-based support to our partners. We believe that this “more than money” approach forms a critical part of our differentiated business model and serves to significantly reduce the risk of working in a start-up environment."

The report takes a look at Shell Foundation's IAP Strategy and the way in which the strategies were changed in order to create greater social imact. Says the report, "By 2007, SF had invested over US$4 million in nine pilots with a range of IAP-specialist  NGO partners across the globe. While this resulted in significant sales of improved cookstoves, no pilot showed the potential for scale-up or sustainability. As a result, we changed strategy and sought a global strategic partner with a proven track record in product design coupled with commercial experience in the marketing, distribution and sale of consumer durables."

Outlining its partnership with Envirofit, the report says, "From the outset, SF and Envirofit worked together to develop a viable business model, conduct in-depth consumer market research, undertake ground-breaking R&D in product  development and establish distribution and sales networks with an initial focus on southern India. Envirofit has subsequently produced a line of durable clean cookstoves that currently retail for between US$15-US$30 in India.

Excerpts from the section on the partnership with Envirofit to deal with the challenge of IAP:

Compared to traditional cooking fires, these reduce emissions, improve fuel efficiency, and are perceived to reduce cooking time significantly. A recent independent study in India has rated the stove as the preferred one as it is modern looking, has high fuel efficiency, uses traditional fuel and is portable and smokeless.

Envirofit has recently produced a clean charcoal burning stove which is now being sold in Africa and other developing countries. As part of wider efforts to enhance sales of clean cookstoves, SF developed and implemented local and national IAP awareness-raising campaigns (“Room to Breathe”), and established a range of effective distribution channels through partnerships with microfinance institutions and NGOs. It has also supported Berkeley Air Monitoring Group (www.berkeleyair.com) to conduct independent monitoring of the performance of the stoves.

Recent field work in India concluded that the Envirofit stoves showed statistically significant reductions of PM2.5, CO2 and fuel use. Additionally, 78% of users reported that cooking time was reduced compared to their traditional stove, 89% reported that the improved stove saved fuel and 97% found the improved stove easier to use.

Over the period 2007 to date, Shell Foundation has committed US$12.3 million as grant funding towards the development of a range of clean cookstoves as well as building up the capacity and operational systems of both Envirofit International and Envirofit India. In 2010 Envirofit started expanding into Africa and is expected to scale up further in 2011.

Since early 2008, Envirofit has evolved into the market leader in sales of clean cookstoves across India. Aggregate sales to date of more than 150,000 stoves benefit an estimated 600,000 IAP affected people. With a durability of 3 to 5 years depending on the model, stoves sold to date are predicted to save over US$30 million for India’s lowest-income consumers through fuel-saving of over 600,000 tonnes of wood and preventing one million tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere. The business has also created over 500 local jobs through the growth of its 400-strong network of manufacturing, sales and distribution channel partners.

Envirofit has succeeded in creating a sustained and growing market for its clean cookstove products in India. As market growth continues, Envirofit will shift further towards localised assembly and manufacture so as to continue efforts to lower end user costs. As with many other types of consumer durable products aimed at the Bottom of the Pyramid, it takes a long time for this high volume, low margin business to reach the tipping point whereby sales growth is generated largely through brand awareness. Despite increasing earned income and improving gross margins, Envirofit will rely upon grant funding in its continuing efforts to both develop and market better performing and cheaper stoves until it achieves financial break-even expected in 2014.

In line with meeting agreed Key Performance Indicators, SF will continue to support Envirofit with regards to its own global scale-up plans for clean cookstoves. SF is also a founding partner in the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, hosted by the UN Foundation to establish international standards and testing protocols for clean cookstoves, fund related health and climate research, and develop innovative financing mechanisms that aim to create a thriving global market for clean and efficient cooking solutions such as clean cookstoves and fuels. Their “100 by 20” goal is: 100 million households to have adopted clean and efficient cooking solutions by 2020.

Read the full report: Enterprise Solutions to Scale