CLEAN BURNING AND EFFICIENT COOKSTOVES PAY OFF LESSONS LEARNED FROM GTZ COOKSTOVE PROGRAMMES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO UGANDA
Dr Marlis Kees Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH Household Energy Programme (HERA) Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5 65760 Eschborn Germany Phone: +49 6196 79 6430 Fax : +49 6196 79 80 6430 E-Mail: marlis.kees@gtz.de W-site: www.gtz.de/HERA
Basic facts on cooking energy Cooking energy accounts for about 90 % of the energy consumed by households in developing countries. Biomass fuels such as firewood, charcoal, dung and agricultural residues are often the only energy source available, especially for low income-groups and in rural areas (Figure 1). Despite massive efforts to disseminate electricity and an increase in the supply of LPG and kerosene, the number of people relying on biomass energy for household use is projected to increase from the current figure of 2.5 billion to more than 2.7 billion by 2030 (Figure 2). Using biomass as energy source for cooking has a number of advantages: biomass fuels are available in some form virtually everywhere, and can be burned directly. Usually biomass fuels are cheaper than alternative fuels such as gas, kerosene, or electricity, and are thus affordable for the poor. Biomass is a renewable source of energy, if produced sustainably. Unfortunately, biomass fuels are mainly burned in inefficient open fires and traditional stoves (Figure 3) that are known to cause severe health, environmental and socioeconomic problems. • • • Every year, smoke from open fires and traditional stoves kills 1.5 million people. This means that every 20 seconds a woman or child is dying due to the inefficient use of biomass fuel (Rehfuess, E.: Fuel for Life, WHO, 2006). Increasingly, harvesting trees for firewood and charcoal is contributing to deforestation, especially in Africa (Figure 4). Soil erosion from cutting wood for energy purposes can be seen in many places around the world. Dwindling resources create an additional workload for women and children, as they have to spend more time seeking diminishing supplies of firewood.
Fortunately, over the last years, several efficient and clean burning cookers have been developed that can help to reduce fuel use and create a clean kitchen environment. Scaling-up the use of these cookers remains the big challenge.
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Figure 1: People Relying on Biomass Resources as their Primary Fuel for Cooking, 2004
100 80 per cent 60
45 95 93 93 87 76 72 65 58 69 62 55 53
40 20
35 25 23 10
37
Rural Urban Total population
13 5 6 0,2 3
9
0
Indonesia SubSaharan Africa Rest of Asia India Rest of Latin America China Brasil North Africa
Source: International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2006, p 422
Figure 2: People Relying on Traditional Biomass
3000 2500 millions 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2004 2015 2030 Latin America Africa Asia
Source: International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2006, p 431
Figure 3: Pictures of traditional cooking
Women cooking in her kitchen in Bolivia (photo: GTZ)
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Man cooking in school in Malawi (photo: GTZ)
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Figure 4: Wood removals and trends in forest area
Source: FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005
Figure 5: Efficient and clean burning cookers
Woodstove, clay, artisanal production (Photo: GTZ Malawi)
Woodstove, metal, artisanal production (Photo: GTZ Burkina Faso)
Charcoalstove (Kenyan Jiko), clay/metal, artisanal production (Photo: GTZ Kenya)
Multiple Fuel Stove, industrial production South Africa (Photo: R King)
Solar cooker, industrial production Germany(Photo: GTZ)
Plantoil Cooker, industrial production (www.plantoilcooker.org)
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Clean technologies for cooking Efficient and clean burning cookers range from artisanal or semi-industrially produced clay and metal wood fuel stoves to solar cookers, heat retainers as well as cookers using plant oil, ethanol or biogas 1 2 . The most widely used technologies of all these stove categories are improved woodstoves and charcoal stoves, since the fuel needed for them is available nearly everywhere.
Improved firewood stoves Improved woodstoves may take many shapes. However, the two main technical principals are always the same: improved combustion and improved heat transfer to the pot. The best stoves optimize both heat transfer and combustion efficiency at the same time. Increased heat transfer reduces fuel requirements, whereas increased combustion efficiency also decreases harmful emissions. One of the most successful new developments was the rocket-stove principle developed by the US NGO Aprovecho (Figure 6): • It has a tall combustion chamber that creates more draught than a standard stove. This assists in mixing the air, fuel particles and volatiles, resulting in a hot flame. • The insulated internal walls keep everything very hot so that the chemical reaction is more intense, whilst the tall chamber provides more time in which the gases and particles can be burnt completely, giving out all their heat and discharging mainly carbon dioxide and water vapour. • Thehot flue gases pass through a well defined gap between a ‘skirt’, and the pot, resulting in a large percentage of the heat being forced against the sides of the pot, and being transferred to the pot. • An elbow-shaped combustion chamber, with a shelf for the fuel wood, supports the pre-drying of the firewood and allows a controlled, and sufficient, flow of primary air to be warmed as it passes under the wood to the burning wood tips. • Only thin strips of wood will fit into the rocket stove, and such fuel burns more efficiently than thicker pieces.
Improved charcoal stoves In contrast to wood, cooking with charcoal requires the use of a stove. In evaluating the performance of an improved charcoal stove, comparisons are made with the types of traditional charcoal stoves commonly found in the market. Important characteristics of good charcoal stoves are: durability, good insulation, high and adjustable airflow to maximise combustion, good contact of hot air with the cooking pot and low emissions of carbon monoxide. Most traditional charcoal stoves are made of scrap metal, whereas the most successful improved charcoal stove, the Kenyan Jiko, has a ceramic liner. The ceramic liner provides improved insulation, hence higher efficiency, a hotter flame, so improved combustion and less dangerous emissions, and the outer metal structure is protected
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Overview on biomass burning stoves: http://www.bioenergylists.org Overview on options for Solar Cooking: http://www.gtz.de/en/themen/umwelt-infrastruktur/energie/20674.htm
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from deterioration from the stove’s heat. Optimal design characteristics, like the conical shape and appropriately sized grate holes, improve the heat flow and minimize toxic emissions. In general, charcoal stoves emit little particulate matter (visible smoke) but have considerable carbon monoxide emissions. The Kenyan Jiko (Figure 5) is one of the few improved stoves that were economically successful. It is found – with some modifications - nearly everywhere in East Africa. This type of stove saves up to 40 % of charcoal, compared to a traditional stove.
Figure 6: The principle of the rocket stove combustion chamber
The rocket stove principle: http://www.aprovecho.org
The rocket stove in action in Lesotho (Photo: GTZ)
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GTZ Experience on promoting clean burning cookstoves For more than 20 years, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ; German Technical Cooperation) has gained vast experience in running household energy projects. Over this period, GTZ has supported the introduction of more than 1.7 million improved stoves. GTZ’s work is currently concentrated on Africa, and on wood stoves. Most of the wood stoves promoted are highly efficient and follow the rocket-stove principle. In cooperation with the Aprovecho Research Centre, GTZ has adapted the rocket-stove principle to fit local cooking needs. These comprise stoves that are either portable or inbuilt, are singlepot or double pot stoves, they are for household use, or for large-scale cooking (such as as in schools and restaurants). Figure 7 shows the range of rocket stoves promoted in Malawi.
Figure 7: Various rocket stove types promoted by GTZ in Malawi
Household stoves (metal/ceramic, 15-20€, depending size)
Stoves for canteens and schools (inbuilt, bricks/ceramic, 35-70 € depending pot size)
Stoves for restaurants and schools (portable, metal/ceramic, 35-150 € depending pot size)
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Changing cooking habits is not an easy task; users have to be convinced that the traditional way can be improved. Experience from many different household energy initiatives has shown that a commercial approach is usually the most successful and sustainable way of promoting improved cooking technologies. Figure 8 describes the main projects activities and outputs needed in setting up a market system for improved cookstoves. • The activities focused on increasing production and marketing capacity are addressed to stove producers, sales persons and trainers. Their ultimate aim is to increase the supply of improved cookstoves. • Activities to increase demand are addressed to potential customers and the public sector. From this figure we see that supply–side activities lead to larger numbers of efficient stoves on the market, whilst on the demand side, more knowledge and awareness, leads to an increase in the purchase and use of improved cookstoves. Thus, the objective of providing increased access to modern cooking energy services can be achieved. The impacts of using efficient cook stoves are saving of time, financial relief of the household budget, improved health, improved safety, biomass energy conservation, income generation and job- and business creation. All impacts contribute to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Figure 8: GTZ approach of scaling-up use of improved cookstoves
Scaling Up use of Improved Cookstoves
Achieving Millennium Development Goals
m o av re t ail im ab e le re imp sp ro ir. ve he d al ho re th us lie eh ve .b d ud ge im t pr ov sa f e ed ty co biom ns e r ass va tio n i ge nco ne me ra t bu ion jo sin b cr ess ea & tio n
highly agg. impact
impacts of intervention
outcomes
Increased use of improved cook stoves
use of outputs
more efficient stoves on the market
stove quality control stove marketing training of trainers & stove producers
more knowledge & awareness
outputs
household energy awareness campaigns activities mainstreaming household energy in public sector
stove technology development
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stove producers & sales persons
focus on
customers & public sector
06.05.2008
Impact Chain OECD Seite 1 DAC
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“The Uganda Energy Saving Stove Project” – case study One of the successful GTZ stove projects currently taking place is the Uganda Energy Saving Stove Project. It started at the end 2004 in Bushenyi District, a rural area characterised by high population density and severe fuel wood shortages. Traditionally, people in Bushenyi District have cooked on the relatively inefficient three stone fires. As most people have access to firewood, and have little income, three stove models (illustrated in Figure 9) have been developed based on the “rocket stove” principle.
Figure 9: Rocket stoves promoted in Uganda
Inbuilt Rocket Lorena (double pot, chimney, mud/bricks)
Single Rocket (single pot, mud)
Portable Rocket (metal, ceramic)
All stoves are made from local materials – except for the portable Rocket, which needs metal. Local artisans are trained to become stove builders. They built the stoves on demand, and are paid by the households requesting the service. A monitoring system guarantees that only good quality stoves are installed. On the demand side, substantial awareness campaigns are conducted in order to increase orders for the stove. Since 2005, more than 400 000 households in Uganda have started to use the energy saving rocket stove; a rate of dissemination that has not previously been reached in any African country in such a short period of time. The reasons for this success can be summarized as follows: • The technology is convenient, modern, and (most importantly), it is affordable. • The dissemination approach – training local artisans, using local material, employing local service providers and NGOs for training and promotion campaigns – strengthens local value chains. • An intensive monitoring system from the beginning guarantees product quality. • More than 50% of the households in the region own improved cooking stoves, leading to the improved stove becoming a “must have” prestige symbol in the region. The evaluation of the project shows significant benefits for individual households. A family using the improved stove: • Saves, on average 3.1 kg firewood per day • Those who gather fuel save, on average, seven hours per week in cooking time and on the collection of firewood. • Those who purchase fuel save 26 EUR per year on fuel, which is equal to an extra month’s pay. • Every second woman reports suffering less eye irritation, coughs or accidental burns.
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A Cost-Benefit Analysis by the project, calculated for a period of 10 years and a discount rate of 10%, indicates that the investment by the project for training, monitoring and awareness campaigns is cost effective: each 1 EUR spend by the project (public funds) yields a return of 25 EUR through all the economic benefits: fuel saving, cooking time, reduced costs for the health sector, increased soil fertility and reduced emissions.
Conclusions The UN Millennium Project seeks to halve the number of people without access to modern cooking fuels by 2015. Using energy efficient and clean-burning stoves is one of the means that can help to achieve this objective. Scaling-up the dissemination of cookstoves requires public sector investment - be it international and/or national. Public finances should be used for capacity building, awareness raising, and for further technology development and researching appropriate scaling-up mechanisms. The case of Uganda has proven that the large-scale introduction of cookstoves is possible and that investment in these stoves pays off, both for the household and for the public sector.
Further information & references
Bryden, M., Still, D., Scott, P. et al: Design Principles for Wood Burning Cook Stoves. Aprovecho Research Centre. Shell Foundation. Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA). 2006 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH – Household Energy Programme HERA: Cooking Energy. Why it really matters if we are to halve poverty by 2015 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH – Household Energy Programme HERA: Cooking Energy Compendium. Forthcoming 2008 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO): Global Forest Resources Assessment, 2005 Habermehl, H.,: Economic evaluation of the improved household cooking stove dissemination programme in Uganda. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, 2007
International Energy Agency (IEA): World Energy Outlook 2006, Rehfuess, Eva. Fuel for Life. Household Energy and Health. World Health Organization (WHO), 2006
Seidel, A., Klingshirn, A.; Hancock, D.: Here Comes the Sun - Options for Using Solar Cookers in Developing Countries. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, 2007
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