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One aspect of
energy poverty Energy poverty is lack of access to modern energy services. It refers to the situation of large numbers of people in developing countries and some people in developed countries whose well-being is negatively affected by very low consumption of ene ...
is lack of access to clean, modern fuels and technologies for cooking. As of 2020, more than 2.6 billion people in
developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
routinely cook with fuels such as wood, animal dung,
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
, or
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
. Burning these types of fuels in open fires or traditional stoves causes harmful
household air pollution Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass fuel, in the form of wood, charcoal, ...
, resulting in an estimated 3.8 million deaths annually according to the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO), and contributes to various health, socio-economic, and environmental problems. A high priority in global sustainable development is to make clean cooking facilities universally available and affordable. Stoves and appliances that run on electricity,
liquid petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking equ ...
(LPG),
piped natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon di ...
(PNG),
biogas Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...
, alcohol, and solar heat meet WHO guidelines for clean cooking. Stoves that burn biomass more efficiently than traditional stoves are known as "improved cookstoves", and are an important interim solution in areas where deploying cleaner technologies is less feasible. Universal access to clean cooking facilities would have large benefits for environmental protection and for
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
.


Issues with traditional cooking fuels


Health impacts

As of 2020, more than 2.6 billion people in developing countries rely on burning polluting biomass fuels such as wood, dry dung,
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
, or
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
for cooking, which causes harmful
household air pollution Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass fuel, in the form of wood, charcoal, ...
and also contributes significantly to outdoor
air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
. The
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) estimates that cooking-related pollution causes 3.8 million annual deaths. The
Global Burden of Disease Disease burden is the impact of a health problem as measured by financial cost, mortality, morbidity, or other indicators. It is often quantified in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) or disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Both ...
study estimated the number of deaths in 2017 at 1.6 million. Solid fuel smoke contains thousands of substances, many of which are hazardous to human health. The most well understood of these substances are
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
(CO); small
particulate matter Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ter ...
;
nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...
;
sulfur oxides Sulfur oxide refers to many types of sulfur and oxygen containing compounds such as SO, SO2, SO3, S7O2, S6O2, S2O2, etc. Sulfur oxide (SO''x'') refers to one or more of the following: * Lower sulfur oxides (S''n''O, S7O2 and S6O2) * Sulfur monox ...
; a range of
volatile organic compounds Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature Colloquially, "room temperature" is a range of air temperatures that most people prefer for indoor settings. It feels comfortable to a ...
, including
formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...
,
benzene Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, ...
and
1,3-butadiene 1,3-Butadiene () is the organic compound with the formula (CH2=CH)2. It is a colorless gas that is easily condensed to a liquid. It is important industrially as a precursor to synthetic rubber. The molecule can be viewed as the union of two viny ...
; and
polycyclic aromatic compounds Polycyclic may refer to: * Polycyclic compound, a cyclic compound with more than one hydrocarbon loop or ring structures, including: ** Polycyclic musks ** Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon *** Chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon *** Cont ...
, such as benzo-a-pyrene, which are thought to have both short and long term health consequences.Peabody, J. W., Riddell, T. J., Smith, K. R., Liu, Y., Zhao, Y., Gong, J., ... & Sinton, J. E. (2005). Indoor air pollution in rural China: cooking fuels, stoves, and health status. Archives of environmental & occupational health, 60(2), 86-95. Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) nearly doubles the risk of childhood
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
and is responsible for 45 percent of all pneumonia deaths in children under five years of age. Emerging evidence shows that HAP is also a risk factor for
cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...
, the leading cause of blindness in lower-middle-income countries, and low birth weight. Cooking with open fires or unsafe stoves is a leading cause of
burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
s among women and children in developing countries.


Impacts on women and girls

Health effects are concentrated among women, who are likely to be responsible for cooking, and young children. The work of gathering fuel exposes women and children to safety risks and often consumes 15 or more hours per week, constraining their available time for education, rest, and paid work. Women and girls must often walk long distances to obtain cooking fuel, and, as a result, face increased risk of physical and sexual violence. Many children, particularly girls, may not attend school in order to help their mothers with firewood collection and food preparation.


Environmental impacts

Mortality and burden of disease are not the only detrimental effects of utilizing inefficient energy technology such as the combustion of biomass. Serious local environmental damage, including
desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...
, can be caused by excessive harvesting of wood and other combustible material. For example, Kenya's predominant energy source is biomass, providing more than 90 per cent of rural household energy needs, about one-third in the form of charcoal and the rest from firewood.Global Village Energy Partnership, Nairobi, Kenya
, UNDP. 2005. Accessed 30 April 2007.
Biomass energy sourced primarily from
savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
woodlands includes firewood for inhabitants and charcoal for urban use. A small percentage is sourced by neighboring communities from closed and protected forests which are generally found in high population density areas. While biomass harvesting in sensitive areas is problematic, it is now determined that the great majority of biomass clearing is due to
agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land (arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and ene ...
and land conversion.Healthy Stoves and Fuels for Developing Nations and the Global Environment
Kammen, D. 2003. Accessed 12 May 2007.
Approximately 38% of households "in high agro-ecological zones" utilize agricultural waste due to frequent shortages of conventional fuel-wood. Use of crop residue and animal waste for domestic energy has detrimental results on
soil quality Soil quality refers to the condition of soil based on its capacity to perform ecosystem services that meet the needs of human and non-human life.Tóth, G., Stolbovoy, V. and Montanarella, 2007. Soil Quality and Sustainability Evaluation - An integr ...
and agricultural and livestock productivity. These materials are ultimately not available as soil conditioners,
organic fertilizer Organic fertilizers are fertilizers that are naturally produced. Fertilizers are materials that can be added to soil or plants, in order to provide nutrients and sustain growth. Typical organic fertilizers include all animal waste including mea ...
, and livestock
fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...
, not to mention the "cumulative effects on national food security".


Terminology

The term "clean cookstove" has often been used without defining what the term means. Organizations vary in how they define "clean": * According to the WHO, cooking facilities are "clean" if their emissions of
carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
and fine particulate matter are below certain levels. As of 2020, the vast majority of stoves that burn biomass fuel do not qualify as clean under WHO standards even if they are more efficient than traditional stoves. * The
Clean Cooking Alliance The Clean Cooking Alliance, formerly the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, is a non-profit organization operating with the support of the United Nations Foundation to promote clean cooking technologies in lower and middle-income countries. A ...
uses the term "clean cooking" more broadly. Its definition includes stoves that burn biomass fuel more efficiently than traditional stoves. The WHO has criticized the marketing of biomass cookstoves as "improved" when they have not been tested against standards and their health benefits are unclear.


WHO-recommended clean cooking facilities

A high priority in global sustainable development is to make clean cooking facilities universally available and affordable. According to the WHO, stoves and appliances that are powered by electricity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), piped natural gas (PNG), biogas, alcohol, and solar heat are "clean". Best-in-class fan gasifier stoves that burn biomass pellets can be classified as clean cooking facilities if they are correctly operated and the pellets have sufficiently low levels of moisture, but these stoves are not widely available. Electricity can be used to power appliances such as electric pressure cookers,
rice cookers A rice cooker or rice steamer is an automated kitchen appliance designed to boil or steam rice. It consists of a heat source, a cooking bowl, and a thermostat. The thermostat measures the temperature of the cooking bowl and controls the heat. ...
, and highly efficient induction stoves, in addition to standard electric stoves. Electric induction stoves are so efficient that they create less pollution than liquified petroleum gas (LPG) even when connected to coal power sources, and are sometimes cheaper. For stews, beans, rice and other foods that can be adapted to electric pressure cookers, the savings are even greater.. As of 2019, 770 million people do not have access to electricity, and for many others electricity is not affordable or reliable. Because access to electricity is also a high priority in global sustainable development, integrated planning for new and improved electricity infrastructure that includes both typical electric loads as well as cooking loads is beginning to gain momentum. Indeed, this kind of integrated resource planning for electricity systems may deliver faster and lower-cost solutions to both access to electricity and to clean cooking.
Biogas Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a ...
digesters convert waste, such as human waste and animal dung, into a methane-rich gas that burns cleanly. Biogas systems are a promising technology in areas where each household has at least two large animals to provide dung, and a steady supply of water is also available.
Solar cooker A solar cooker is a device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize drink and other food materials. Many solar cookers currently in use are relatively inexpensive, low-tech devices, although some are as powerful or as ...
s collect and concentrate the sun's heat when sunshine is available.


Improved cook stoves

Improved cook stoves (ICS) are biomass stoves that are intended to replace traditional cooking facilities such as three-stone fires or mud stoves. Traditional cooking facilities allow heat to escape into the open air, which wastes fuel. Smoke is vented into the home rather than out through a chimney. Compared to traditional cook stoves, ICS are usually more fuel-efficient and aim to reduce the negative health impacts associated with exposure to toxic smoke. As of 2016, no widely-available biomass stoves meet the standards for clean cooking as defined by the WHO. A 2020 review found only one biomass stove on the market that met WHO standards in field conditions. Despite their limitations, ICS are an important interim solution where deploying fully "clean" solutions that use electricity, gas, or alcohol is less feasible. As of 2009, less than 30% of people who cook with some sort of biomass stove use ICS.


Benefits

Improved cookstoves are more efficient, meaning that the stove's users spend less time gathering wood or other fuels, while reducing deforestation and air pollution. However, a closed stove may result in production of more
soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolysed ...
and ultra-fine particles than an open fire would. Some designs also make the stove safer, preventing burns that often occur when children stumble into open fires. The efficiency improvements of ICS do not necessarily translate into meaningful reductions in health risks because for certain conditions, such as childhood
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
, the relationship between pollution levels and effects on the body has been shown to be
non-linear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and many other ...
. This means, for example, that a 50 percent reduction in exposure would not halve the health risk. A 2020
systematic review A systematic review is a Literature review, scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from publ ...
found that ICS usage led to modest improvements in terms of blood pressure, shortness of breath, emissions of cancer-causing substances, and cardiovascular diseases, but no improvements in pregnancy outcomes or children's health. Substantial variations in emissions and fuel consumption have been observed across ranges of cookstove designs and between laboratory and field test conditions. At present, a standard testing mechanism does not exist to establish the true impact of alternative cookstove designs as well as descriptive language for exposure. Stove testing studies are not always consistent depending largely on the discipline of investigators and their scientific specialization. The World Health Organization encourages further research to develop biomass stove technology that is low-emission, affordable, durable, and meets users' needs.


Non-technological interventions

Behavioral change interventions, in reducing childhood household exposures, have the potential to reduce household air pollution exposure by 20 to 98%. Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) exposure can be greatly reduced by cooking outdoors, reducing time spent in the cooking area, keeping the kitchen door open while cooking, avoid leaning over the fire while attending to the  meal preparation, staying away while carrying children when cooking and keeping the children away from the cooking area. Negative impacts can also be reduced by changes to the environment (e.g. use of a chimney), drying fuel wood before use, and using a lid during cooking.Indoor air pollution and health
-
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
fact sheet.
Opportunities to educate communities on reducing household indoor air pollution exposure include festival collaborations, religious meetings, and medical outreach clinics. Community health workers represent a significant resource for educating communities to help raise awareness regarding reducing the effects of indoor air pollution.


Challenges

Many users of clean stoves and fuels continue to make frequent use of traditional fuels and stoves, a phenomenon known as "fuel stacking" or "stove stacking". For instance, a recent study in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
found that households that are primary LPG users consume 42 percent as much
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
as households that are primary charcoal users. When stacking is practiced, the introduction of clean cooking facilities may not reduce household air pollution enough to make a meaningful difference in health outcomes. There are many reasons to continue to use traditional fuels and stoves, such as unreliable fuel supply, the cost of fuel, the ability of stoves to accommodate different types of pots and cooking techniques, and the need to travel long distances to repair stoves. Research and implementation efforts are frequently pursued with insufficient coordination with supporting organizations, which, in many cases has led to widespread implementation of so called "improved" stoves that have sometimes failed to deliver on the promise of reducing indoor air pollution. Cookstove implementation efforts have often achieved mixed results because of technical and social complexities, such as the need to involve both women (who typically are responsible for cooking) and men (who typically control household spending). Efforts to improve access to clean cooking fuels and stoves have barely kept up with population growth, and current and planned policies would still leave 2.4 billion people without access in 2030.


Environmental and sustainable development effects

Transitioning to cleaner cooking methods is expected to either slightly raise
greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
or decrease emissions, even if the replacement fuels are fossil fuels. There is evidence that switching to LPG and PNG has a smaller climate effect than the combustion of solid fuels, which emits
methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...
and
black carbon Chemically, black carbon (BC) is a component of fine particulate matter (PM ≤ 2.5  µm in aerodynamic diameter). Black carbon consists of pure carbon in several linked forms. It is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fue ...
. The burning of residential solid fuels accounts for up to 58 percent of global black carbon emissions. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) a ...
stated in 2018, "The costs of achieving nearly universal access to electricity and clean fuels for cooking and heating are projected to be between 72 and 95 billion USD per year until 2030 with minimal effects on GHG emissions." Universal access to clean cooking is an element of the UN
Sustainable Development Goal 7 Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7 or Global Goal 7) is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It aims to "Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for a ...
, whose first target is: "By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services".United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
A/RES/71/313
Progress in clean cooking would facilitate progress in other Sustainable Development goals, such as eliminating poverty (
Goal 1 Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1 or Global Goal 1), one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, calls for the end of poverty in all forms. The official wording is: "No Poverty".United Nations (2017 ...
), good health and well-being ( Goal 3), gender equality (
Goal 5 Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5 or Global Goal 5) concerns gender equality and is fifth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by United Nations in 2015. The 17 SDGs recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in o ...
), and climate action ( Goal 13). An indicator of Goal 7 is the proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating, and lighting, using the WHO's definition of "clean".UN Statistics (2016
Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
(Updated on 30 March 2016)


See also

*
Energy poverty Energy poverty is lack of access to modern energy services. It refers to the situation of large numbers of people in developing countries and some people in developed countries whose well-being is negatively affected by very low consumption of ene ...
*
Indoor air pollution in developing nations Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass, biomass fuel, in the form of wood, cha ...
*
Sustainable energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenh ...


References


Book sources

* * * *{{cite book , ref={{harvid, IPCC SR15 Ch5, 2018 , year=2018 , chapter=Chapter 5: Sustainable Development, Poverty Eradication and Reducing Inequalities , chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15_Chapter5_High_Res.pdf , display-authors=4 , first1=J. , last1=Roy , first2=P. , last2=Tschakert , first3=H. , last3=Waisman , first4=S. , last4=Abdul Halim , first5=P. , last5=Antwi-Agyei , first6=P. , last6=Dasgupta , first7=B. , last7=Hayward , first8=M. , last8=Kanninen , first9=D. , last9=Liverman , first10=C. , last10=Okereke , first11=P. F. , last11=Pinho , first12=K. , last12=Riahi , first13=A. G. , last13=Suarez Rodriguez , title=Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 °C , pages=445–538 Sustainable energy International development Air pollution Cooking Environmental health Sustainable development