Household Cookstoves, Environment, Health, and Climate Change : A New Look at an Old Problem
Open fires and primitive stoves have been used for cooking since the beginning of human history. They have come in various sizes and styles, having been adapted to myriad cultures and food preparation methods. As society has progressed, more sophis...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/732691468177236006/Household-cookstoves-environment-health-and-climate-change-a-new-look-at-an-old-problem http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27589 |
| Summary: | Open fires and primitive stoves have
been used for cooking since the beginning of human history.
They have come in various sizes and styles, having been
adapted to myriad cultures and food preparation methods. As
society has progressed, more sophisticated stove models have
been developed. Today's modern kitchens reflect the
many types of standardized and specialized cooking devices
available, from coffee and tea pots to toasters and gas cook
tops. But in many developing countries worldwide, the poor
still burn biomass energy to meet their household cooking
needs. These open fires are fairly inefficient at converting
energy into heat for cooking; the amount of biomass fuel
needed each year for basic cooking can reach up to two tons
per family. In addition, collecting this fuel sometimes can
take an hour a day on average. Furthermore, these open fires
and primitive cook stoves emit a significant amount of
smoke, which fills the home; this indoor cooking smoke has
been associated with a number of diseases, the most serious
of which are chronic and acute respiratory illnesses, such
as bronchitis and pneumonia. This report takes a fresh look
at what new approaches might be used to tackle this well
known yet complex multi-sector issue. Although there are
other ways to reduce household air pollution, including
inter fuel substitution and household ventilation, this
study focuses mainly on the recently developed biomass cook
stoves for developing countries and their financing models
and sources. Known by many as 'advanced biomass cook
stoves,' these new cook stoves generally have better
energy-combustion properties and reduce fuel consumption by
about half. Such innovations warrant the development of a
more serious program to deal with both the emissions and
health issues resulting from cooking with open fires or
traditional biomass cook stoves. |
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