Advanced biomass cookstoves demonstrate significant climate and environment benefits in real life settings, despite showing less than expected benefits compared to lab testing
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have found that improved woodstoves provide benefits to the environment and climate in rural Malawi. When compared to traditional open fires, the forced-draft stoves resulted in a 45 percent reduction of fine particulate matter emissions per amount of wood burned and a 47 percent reduction of carbon monoxide emissions per amount of wood burned. Because the forced-draft stoves used less wood, the total reduction of particulate matter emissions was approximately 75 percent.
As expected, researchers found that pollutant emissions from these improved woodstoves were higher than demonstrated in laboratory testing, due in part to differences in use between lab and field testing. These results emphasize the need for field testing before choosing interventions to take to scale, the importance of behavior change communication on proper and consistent stove usage, and developing strong supply chains for processed wood.
The corresponding author of the paper is Andrew Grieshop, an assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University. To read the full article, click here.