The report quotes Shell Foundation's Room to Breathe Campaign head, Simon Bishop, saying, "A new impetus is required to get the government and agencies to spread awareness on the ill-effects of firewood-inefficient stoves"
The Times of India story, "Use Less-Smoke Chulhas" says: "Which chulha would you prefer this Environment Day? Firewood chulhas are on their way out. After decades of using inefficient chulhas that lead to indoor air pollution (IAP), now the market has some models of efficient, less-smoke chulhas that can minimize the health and environmental risks.
IAP is the kitchen fume released by the burning of wood and biomass. Black carbon, a major environmental issue, is also the main component of soot, a product of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, the burning of biomass in rural cook stoves. However, now villagers have an option. The firewood consumption can be cut by 80% in case of fuel-efficient stoves.
“We are working in all four southern states. In Karnataka, we are in Gulbarga, Bidar, Chamarajnagar etc. Shell Foundation and Envirofit are particularly doing a lot of awareness activities in Shimoga. We have sold 1.20 lakh stoves already. So it’s clear that people are interested. But the user is usually the woman in the house but decision maker is the man. They often fail to understand what kind of health impacts the woman is facing,” says Envirofit MD Harish Anchan.
Various options like micro-finance partners are being used to make it easily affordable for villagers. The price range is around Rs 850 to Rs 2,500 for single and double pot stoves.
According to Simon Bishop who is leading the IAP campaign of Shell Foundation, internationally the campaign against IAP through efficient cooking stoves will pick up as it is one of the main ways to deal with carbon emissions.
Several organizations have already prepared a draft report on the initiative for development and deployment of cook stoves and action plan will be submitted to the ministry of new and renewable energy. “A lot of government resources had gone into the National Programme on Improved Cookstoves between 1985 and 2004 but the results were mixed. A new impetus is required to get the government and agencies to spread awareness on the ill-effects of firewood-inefficient stoves,” he said.
