[Stoves] Cleaner cookstoves might benefit Mozambicans - environmentalresearchweb

[Tom Miles]

Here's a report on an interesting study that Nikhil found on the
Environmental Research Web. The model projects a positive health impact from
a marginal intervention with improved stoves, which is probably an accurate
reflection of what stovers see as a result of their efforts: better stoves
improve health. While Nikhil has bashed this modeling for its precision, the
trend would likely be the same for alternative models. We can always find
better metrics to support our work, or to find fatal flaws, but let's do it
working together in positive collaboration without the trash talk that we've
been hearing for several months. This forum is not a complaint desk or a
political blog.    

http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/68742 

May 11, 2017

Cleaner cookstoves might benefit Mozambicans 

By John Cartwright

Cleaner cookstoves could improve air quality and health, and reduce
temperature rise from climate change in Mozambique
<http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5557> , according to
a study by researchers in the US.

The findings reinforce the health dangers of cooking with rudimentary fires
or cookstoves in one of the world's poorest countries, but the researchers
point out that there is no local information to reach inhabitants. "Local
information about pollution exposure levels in Mozambique is sorely needed
to ground-truth [our] estimates," said Susan Anenberg of Environmental
Health Analytics and the George Washington University
<http://publichealth.gwu.edu/departments/environmental-and-occupational-heal
th/susan-anenberg> , US. 

Mozambique is thought to be highly vulnerable to the kind of extreme weather
events produced by climate change, and the country also experiences high
rates of morbidity and mortality from household air pollution. In rural
areas, households typically use open fires or rudimentary biomass stoves,
while in urban areas metal charcoal stoves are more common. Fine particulate
matter and other pollution generated by this type of inefficient burning are
known to be highly dangerous, with one previous study linking household
pollution in Mozambique in 2015 to 18,000 premature deaths. 

More efficient options are available: natural- or forced-draft stoves in
rural areas, or modern charcoal stoves for urban environments. In addition
there are gas stoves, which are inherently cleaner than those running on
charcoal. 

Anenberg and colleagues wanted to find out how beneficial these alternatives
would be to Mozambicans. Having identified clean cookstoves that could find
success in Mozambique, they estimated air-pollution exposure levels based on
estimates for other parts of Africa. These estimates went into an
atmospheric model and a health and climate-impact model to make a new
estimate of the possible societal benefits, focusing in particular on deaths
arising from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disorder and lower respiratory infections. 

The researchers found that if just 10% of rural households in Mozambique got
a natural-draft stove, the country could expect 200 fewer deaths related to
fine particulate matter over three years; if the same households got
forced-draft stoves, there could be 500 fewer deaths. Meanwhile, if 10% of
households in five of Mozambique's major cities got a gas stove, there could
be 160 fewer premature deaths; modern charcoal stoves would obtain 80% of
this benefit. 

As for climate change, the researchers found that any of the better stove
scenarios would reduce the contribution to temperature rise from cookstoves
by 4-6% over the next century. 

"We found that each type of cleaner cookstove examined led to improvements
in air quality, avoided health impacts from air pollution, and less climate
change-related temperature rise," said Anenberg. "The cleanest stoves were
more health beneficial, but nearly all were cost-effective." 

The researchers are now investigating the use of solid fuels for heating.
"Burning solid fuels for heating degrades air quality and contributes to
climate change, particularly in cold areas where the pollution gets
transported to snow and ice covered regions and reduces the reflectivity of
the planet," said Anenberg. "We are trying to determine the extent of solid
fuel heating around the world, which types of fuels are commonly used in
different places, and the impacts this practice has on public health and the
environment." 

About the author

Jon Cartwright is a contributing editor to environmentalresearchweb

 

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