[Stoves] News: Cooking pollution by propaganda - GACCing India

[Traveller]

Darpan:

Thank you for your comment. If you feel comfortable, please share your
information or views on "source profile development from coal stoves". This
list is primarily about "biomass stoves", but I personally don't see much
difference between coal or biomass stoves when combustion chamber designs
or use patterns are concerned. Without an understanding of fuel chemistry,
one can't do combustion chemistry, and without those, one can't do any air
chemistry which is critical for information on exposures.

And then the individual biochemistry comes in, influencing disease
incidence patterns.

When you say "I feel emissions from coal stoves is a major problem," is it
the emissions or the exposures that concern you? The paper has nothing to
do with exposures, which is what "pollution" is about. My smoking a
cigarette in the desert is not pollution except to myself.

Or when you say coal use "contributes significantly to the Carbon Monoxide
(CO) and PM2.5 levels (both indoor and ambient)." what data do you really
have on coal quality or combustion device or emission factors?

The study cited in the TOI story is accessible via GACC - New Report Tracks
Household Energy Emissions for 640 Districts in India
<http://cleancookstoves.org/about/news/03-15-2016-new-report-tracks-household-energy-emissions-for-640-districts-in-india.html>
(March
2016). It says <http://www.indiaairquality.info/emissions-cooking-heating/>
,

"the HEC was studied in detail, to estimate its contribution to the ambient
air pollution via source modeling approach – emissions and dispersion
modeling. The HEC emissions are broken down into four categories (a)
cooking (b) lighting (c) space heating and (d) water heating. T*he emission
factors for the fuel categories are obtained from studies collated* by the
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai. *No new lab tests for the
emission factors or surveys to ascertain the HEC patterns were conducted*."

That is, it has produced estimates based on other estimates, based on other
estimates... so on. Cite-o-logy rules so long as experts can scratch each
other's back.

Ooops. I did NOT mean to impugn the motives or berate the methods of
experts. I am only concerned that people who do not know that the fuel
types and quality data averaged over survey households - may not be
representative or reliable and that fuel chemistry, combustion types and
emission factors from IIT Mumbai may also have a significant degree of
errors - statistical or methodological.

Ooops, again. I can't stop challenging experts. Bad me.

Please read the study methods
<http://www.indiaairquality.info/emissions-cooking-heating/>. It is
primarily a source apportionment model, bringing in *meteorological data on
a continuous basis* (I think, because of the charts in the lower part of
the webpage, "a summary of the daytime and nighttime average temperatures
for the next three days is presented below.")

If my interpretation is correct, THAT is the most remarkable, marvelous
contribution of this modeling approach. Leave fuel and combustion
chemistries aside - I don't think the GAINS and EDGAR databases are worth
bothering about, nor any computations of "health impacts". Those numbers
can be manipulated at will. If I have this right, this kind of manipulation
can now be shown to lead to ambient air quality changes by changing the
fuel/emission assumptions.

That would be good.

****
Now about Chandrapur.

Did anybody tell you that Chandrapur happens to be in a coal mining area
with a large coal-thermal power plant? Is it possible that the "problem to
the air quality" you cite is in part caused by mining activities, dust, and
not just by household "coal stoves"?

And did you mean the estimated use of coal in Chandrapur is 11,769 TONS or
that only 11,769 households (roughly 20% of the total number of households
with total population of ~321,000) used coal?

If the latter, I am willing to bet that converting 11,769 households'
cooking from coal to electric induction stoves will make minimal - if any -
difference to the city's residents over the coming years. GACC CEO can go
on making fantastic promises to the contrary; she is paid to deceive.

***
It is below my tolerance limits to pay any attention to the Yale
Environmental Performance Index Report, yet another set of cooked up
statistics by pretentious fools.

Nikhil


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(US +1) 202-568-5831


On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 2:25 PM, Darpan Das <darpandasiitb at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear All
>
> This is my first post in the group. I am a PhD student working on the
> emission factor and source profile development from coal stoves.
>
> I feel emissions from coal stoves is a major problem as described in the
> article shared in the thread above.
>
> Coal, as a fuel is used widely for domestic cooking in many regions of
> India, which contributes significantly to the Carbon Monoxide (CO) and
> PM2.5 levels (both indoor and ambient). Chandrapur, Maharashtra (India)
> which has been identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as
> one of the most critically polluted cities of India (CPCB, 2016) is one
> such area where coal stoves have created problem to the air quality.
>
> According to the Environmental Performance Index Report, 2014 prepared by
> Yale University, the number of people using solid fuel as cooking fuel has
> increased greatly. The absolute number of people using solid fuels (biomass
> and coal) for home cooking and heating has roughly doubled from 333 to 646
> million from 1989 to 2010 and this particular number is expected to rise
> substantially by the year 2020. According to Census, 2011 data more than
> 3.5 million people still use coal as their primary fuel for cooking. As per
> provincial reports of Census of India, population of Chandrapur city in
> 2011 was 3,21,036. The estimated use of Coal in Chandrapur is in
> approximately 11,769 households.
>
>
> Problem of coal cook stoves in 21st century is reality!!
>
> Darpan
>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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