Field assessment of straw pellet combustion in improved heating stoves in rural Northeast China

Straw pellets are widely promoted and expected to be a cleaner alternative fuel to unprocessed crop residues and rawcoal in rural China.However,the effectiveness of these dissemination programs is not well evaluated.In this field study,emission characteristics of burning strawpellets,rawcoal,and unprocessed corn cobs in heating stoveswere investigated in a pilot village in Northeast China.Emission measurements covering the whole combustion cycle(ignition,flaming,and smoldering phases)shows the promotion of improved heating stoves and straw pellets could reduce pollutant emissions(e.g.,SO_(2) and CO),but increase NO_(X) and PM_(2.5) emissions compared to the initial stove-fuel use pattern in the studied area.There is a significant variance in emission characteristics between different combustion phases.The normalized emission concentrations of the different stove-fuel combinations were higher than the limits in the Chinese national standard for heating stoves,indicating that the standard is not met for real-world emissions.Coal consumption was lower than official data.Household surveys were conducted to identify the barriers to fuel and stove access associated with existing promotion strategies,management,and policies.The pilot program was of the typical“subsidy-and-policy-dependence”pattern and was unlikely to be implemented on a large scale.Technological innovation,operational optimization,and proper policies considering the local socioeconomic factors are needed to sustain the promotion of biomass straw pellets and stoves.

Innovative Fuel Energy Saving Practices among the Small Farming Households, Ethiopia

Many studies have indicated that traditional cooking stoves are inefficient and their use leads to the acceleration of deforestation, the decline of land productivity, subsequently triggering climate changes and human health problems. On the other hand, the introduced ＂improved cooking stoves＂ also have their own disadvantages. Therefore, the case study was conducted aiming to study the rationale of using traditional stoves and document the innovative biomass energy saving practices of the community. The research studied two pilot areas in rural community with different agro-ecology and farming systems. Moreover, individual and focus group discussions were conducted among women households using transect and random sampling. The f＇mdings indicate that use of traditional stoves is dominant practice due to flexibility, simplicity and multi-functionality. Moreover, the biomass fuel use is integral part of the fanning system, socio-cultural framework and habits and customs of local community. The study has documented local innovation practices of biomass energy saving by improving stoves and chimney, combining different crops in food cooking, improving local beer processing, shifting crop-land to woodland. Moreover, the study reveals that the enclosure of communal forests due to the modem extension services is attributed with long distance travel to collect fuel wood, leading to conflicts and declines livelihood diversity of the poor population. Hence, consideration of local initiatives in development of appropriate and sustainable technology is essential.

Evaluation of the Cooking Cultures and Practices in Rural Uganda

Many communities across the globe still practice poor cooking cultures as part of their well-being to prepare food and other heating activities. Such bad cooking practices are not environmentally friendly, are wasteful and have adverse health effects. This work presents the results of the survey that was conducted to establish the existing cooking practices commonly used in Uganda, identify the commonly used fuel during cooking, identify perceptions on improved cooking stoves (ICS), perceived preferences during cooking as well as identify whether users are aware of the health challenges due to poor cooking and describe community opinions of ICS for rural communities in Uganda. The interviews were conducted on household levels across all the regions covering Uganda’s major rural regions. It was observed that the largest population of rural Ugandans still use the 3 stone stove fire for cooking with a percentage of 53.5%, Charcoal stove, 27.3%, Improved cooking stove, 16.9%, Electric cookers,1.2%, LPG 0.7% and biogas 0.5% for the preparation of their various types of cooked foods while forest firewood is the commonly used biomass fuel for cooking with a percentage of 66.8% compared to Charcoal, Briquettes, Saw dust and others with a percentage of 27.1%, 0.7%, 0.7%, 1.1% respectively. This reveals the great majority of users whose life is at risk as 3 stone stoves are characterized by low efficiency and high smoke production which increases the health risks of the users as well as increase the risk of deforestation rates. Household cooks showed great willingness to pay for a novel stove type in all the 4 regions but from the survey data, it was indicated that the preferences varied from one region to another with a great majority preferring minimal smoke production with increased heat retention capacity. It was revealed that 91.4% of the interviewed households were aware of the health challenges due to poor cooking methods which they resolved by using open space during cooking. There was variation in the quantity of food cooked in a day, time spent on cooking and how often the cooking is done from one region to another due to the difference in economic activities as well as the different climate factors. While using cooking stoves, users preferred large cooking pot space with minimal smoke production and rapid heating. Such information can act as a basis for the design of an improved cooking stove for the rural Ugandan community as engineered products must be designed to suit the needs of the end-user.

Air pollution and inhalation exposure to particulate matter of different sizes in rural households using improved stoves in central China

Household air pollution is considered to be among the top environmental risks in China.To examine the performance of improved stoves for reduction of indoor particulate matter（PM） emission and exposure in rural households, individual inhalation exposure to size-resolved PM was investigated using personal portable samplers carried by residents using wood gasifier stoves or improved coal stoves in a rural county in Central China.Concentrations of PM with different sizes in stationary indoor and outdoor air were also monitored at paired sites. The stationary concentrations of size-resolved PM in indoor air were greater than those in outdoor air, especially finer particles PM0.25. The daily averaged exposure concentrations of PM0.25, PM1.0, PM2.5 and total suspended particle for all the surveyed residents were 74.4 ± 41.1, 159.3 ± 74.3, 176.7 ± 78.1 and 217.9 ± 78.1 μg/m3,respectively. Even using the improved stoves, the individual exposure to indoor PM far exceeded the air quality guideline by WHO at 25 μg/m3. Submicron particles PM1.0 were the dominant PM fraction for personal exposure and indoor and outdoor air. Personal exposure exhibited a closer correlation with indoor PM concentrations than that for outdoor concentrations. Both inhalation exposure and indoor air PM concentrations in the rural households with gasifier firewood stoves were evidently lower than the reported results using traditional firewood stoves. However, local governments in the studied rural areas should exercise caution when widely and hastily promoting gasifier firewood stoves in place of improved coal stoves, due to the higher PM levels in indoor and outdoor air and personal inhaled exposure.

Women are Supporters of Saving Firewood by Improving Stoves

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