For the last two years, ClimateCare has worked with DFID to promote the sale and distribution of clean burning ethanol stoves in Kibera, the biggest informal settlement in Kenya. Now a study shows that in addition to providing significant benefits for the climate, this project is also reducing health risks associated with black carbon emissions.
Black carbon is a Short Lived Climate Pollutant, and reducing it can make an immediate impact on climate change. However, it has also been identified as a leading health risk factor in the developing world – being associated with deadly cardiovascular and respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, stroke, heart disease, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia.
Inefficient cookstoves and dirty fuels are responsible for about 25% of the world’s Black Carbon emissions, so an assumption was made that the provision of clean burning Safi stoves (which are on the highest rank (Tier 4) in terms of performance) should have a significant impact.
ClimateCare worked with Climate Solutions Consulting to undertake a Black Carbon Emission Factor Measurement Study for Ethanol, Charcoal and Kerosene stoves in Kibera.
“The outcome of the study indicates that per unit of energy delivered to the cooking pot, the Safi ethanol stove reduces the climate impact associated with black and organic carbon by 91% compared to the kerosene stove and by 83% compared to the charcoal stove,” says Olivier Lefebvre, Founder of Climate Solutions Consulting. The study establishes that the greatest health impact is for households who switch from charcoal to ethanol.
These staggering results not only validate the positive social and environmental impacts delivered through this particular project, but help build the case for future activities to grow the market for Tier 4 cookstoves across the developing world.
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