[Stoves] Kenya: To use or not to use fuelwood?

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Tom

Isn't this the second time recently we have have an article of that 'quality' from that publication?

‎The general theme, that biomass is bad, treated biomass is better, is a common enough theme. Ho hum. Let each demonstrate his impact.

Thanks
Crispin


Thank you Crispin. This was the kind of response I was hoping for. Exaggerated claims for health impacts can work both for and against biomass.

Tom

From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2017 9:33 AM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Kenya: To use or not to use fuelwood?

Dear Stovers who want to have a clue about fuelwood combustion

This is a quote from the article linked below:

“At the household level, the key issues to consider are women’s and children’s health. Indeed, World Health Organisation studies show that one hour of using firewood has the same health impacts as smoking a packet of cigarettes.”

Of the many untrue things written in the article, this is probably the most outrageous, and that is really saying something.

The exposure one gets from a single cigarette is about 45 milligrams of PM2.5. The exposure in the worst home tested by Fresh Air in Kyrgyzstan in the past 4 months, which has terrible indoor air pollution in most low income homes, was 6000 micrograms per cubic metre. That is 20 times the exposure in Beijing on a bad ‘orange alert’ day. The exposure of a Kenyan cook is very unlikely to be as high as that and I invite researchers to show that it is indeed as high as 6000 for one hour per day, on average.

Next, to be exposed to the same level of PM2.5 as a pack of 20 cigarettes (45 x 20 = 900 mg or 900,000 µg) one would have to inhale 150 cubic metres of such air in an hour, or 150,000 litres. To do that in an hour would require about 6000<https://www.quora.com/How-much-volume-do-we-inhale-and-exhale-in-a-day> people!

As the health effect on a human from cigarette smoke is far worse than wood smoke, let’s call it 10,000 people to be safe. If an exaggeration of 10,000-fold is not alarming enough, consider all the other unsupportable ‘climate’ assertions thrown left and right in this piece. Good grief why can’t people just promote their products on their merits without linking it to all the junk-topics-of-the-hour.

CleanStar’s product makes perfectly good sense and has a viable business plan. Sugar cane-based ethanol is a processed biofuel which is convenient and can be burned very cleanly (test, don’t assume). It can be produced at scale and distributed at lower cost and at greater convenience than LPG. So….just do it.

For those who don’t know Sagun, he was one of the judges in the TerraWatt Prize competition held by National Geographic a couple of years ago. The organiser of that competition was so inspired by the experience he has moved to Mozambique to try to fill in a gap created when CleanStar moved to Kenya.

May they both succeed.

Regards
Crispin




Using Efficient Methods to Manage Fuelwood is the Key

By MILLICENT MWOLOLO

To use or not to use fuelwood?-http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/kenya-fuel-use-or-not-to-use-fuelwood/957860-3838414-ra9sgf/index.html

In Summary

Woodfuel releases carbon fumes into the air, adding to the carbon footprint and global warming. This has resulted in global climatic change, which is also being witnessed in Kenya in the form of higher temperatures, prolonged droughts and dry spells.

Though new to the local market, ethanol has gained wide use in Mozambique because it is clean and efficient, comparable to LPG. CleanStar Ventures has conducted market research primarily in urban households that confirms the convenience and safety of ethanol.

The Kenya Forestry Service (KFS), the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri), and ICRAF, among others, are working with farmers on managing trees for woodfuel. They promote the harvesting of mature stems, growing of acacia trees for charcoal and managing trees in drylands.


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