1. The Effects of Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves on Fuel Use, Particulate Matter, and Cooking Practices: Results from a Randomized Trial in Rural Uganda
- Author
-
Beltramo, Theresa, Blalock, Garrick, Harrell, Stephen, Levine, David I., and Simons, Andrew M.
- Subjects
Sensors -- Usage ,Global temperature changes -- Analysis -- Usage -- Research ,Fuel -- Usage ,Air pollution -- Usage -- Research -- Analysis ,Business ,Economics ,Petroleum, energy and mining industries ,World Health Organization -- Energy use - Abstract
Smoky cookflres contribute to global climate change and kill approximately four million people annually. While many studies have examined the effects of fuel-efficient cookstoves, this study does so while selling stoves at market prices. After introducing a fuel-efficient cookstove, fuelwood use and household air particulates declined by 12% and by smaller percentages after adjusting for observer-induced bias, or the Hawthorne effect. These reductions were less than laboratory predictions and fell well short of World Health Organization pollution targets. Even when introducing a second stove, most households continued to use their traditional stoves for most cooking. Future research should focus on improving the usability of fuel-efficient cookstoves and/or policies that assist consumers to shift to safer fuels like gas or electricity coupled with mechanisms to disable the existing smoky cookfire. Keywords: Technology adoption, Household air pollution, Biomass fuel, Climate change, Hawthorne Effect, Sensors, 1. INTRODUCTION Almost 3 billion people cook with wood, charcoal, and dung using traditional cookstoves (Bonjour et al. 2013). These stoves cause environmental degradation (Bailis et al. 2015), global climate [...]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF