This article was published in the April 16th edition of the Washington Post in the National section. The article will NOT be music to the ears of the clean cookstove community which up until yesterday was the recipient of unalloyed public support. But the article raises important questions and we look forward to a response from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and its ardent supporters, which includes The Charcoal Project.

 

 

“Clean Cookstoves” draw support, but they may not improve indoor air quality.

By Brian Palmer

Studies challenging the ability of clean stoves to improve health and environment are beginning to come in. In March, researchers from India and California published a study showing that certain clean cookstove models occasionally release a larger volume of certain pollutants than the traditional stoves they’re intended to replace.

Three American researchers released a randomized, controlled study Monday that is even more damaging to the clean cookstove movement. In their study, entitled “Up in Smoke,” Rema Hanna of Harvard University and Esther Duflo and Michael Greenstone of MIT sold clean cookstoves to more than 2,600 households in 44 Indian villages, then followed the families for three years.

Read the story on the WP website.