A Manhattan Program for Improved Cookstoves

This is not exactly like splitting an atom but newsworthy anyway.

This news comes to us via the USAID-sponsored WASHplus Project, “a new 5 year project to create supportive environments for healthy households and communities by delivering high-impact water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and indoor air quality (IAQ) interventions.”

US Dept of Energy – Biomass cookstoves summary report, May 2011.

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) offices of Policy and International Affairs (PI) and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) held a meeting on January 11–12, 2011, to gather input on a proposed DOE research and development (R&D) program to address the technical barriers to cleaner and more fuel-efficient biomass cookstoves.

The nearly 80 participants at the meeting evaluated DOE’s proposed goals, identified the major research challenges, and defined pathways toward technology solutions.

Key recommendations from meeting participants include the following:

• At least 90% emissions reductions and 50% fuel savings are appropriate initial targets. A limited number of improved stoves already meet these targets, but additional technical research and development can lower costs and make these successes more widespread for a range of laboratory and field conditions and for a variety of unprocessed and processed fuels. Measuring progress toward these targets will require clear definitions of baseline performance or absolute targets for emissions and efficiency based on health and climate impacts. Several participants suggested that these targets should be more aggressive to maximize health and climate benefits.

• No single solution will adequately address the cookstove challenge. Multiple stove designs will be needed to accommodate a variety of cooking practices, fuels, and levels of affordability. DOE will need to balance efforts to improve existing stoves with research that could impact a range of stove types and regions. Participants presented a variety of views on how to balance near- and long-term gains.

• Technical R&D should guide and be guided by field research and implementation programs.

• Technical research should be informed by health studies on appropriate emissions levels and by social science and field research on cooking practices. At the same time, new technical insights can be used to stimulate new stove designs, improve existing stoves, and support dissemination and testing efforts. Design guides and tools can make these insights accessible and relevant for downstream efforts. At every stage, laboratory and field work should be integrated into an iterative cycle of feedback and improvement.

• The cost and performance tradeoffs associated with the use of processed versus unprocessed fuels should be explored. While processed fuels can improve stove emissions and efficiency, the processing adds additional costs, and these fuels may require a fuel distribution system. Simultaneous efforts are needed to reduce the logistical barriers and costs of processed fuels and to improve stove performance with unprocessed fuels.