Do Improved Biomass Cookstoves Reduce PM2.5 Concentrations? If So, for Whom? Empirical Evidence from Rural Ethiopia
Improved biomass cookstoves have been promoted as important intermediate technologies to reduce fuelwood consumption and possibly cut household air pollution in low-income countries. This study uses a randomized controlled trial to examine househol...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/439861561751335070/Do-Improved-Biomass-Cookstoves-Reduce-PM2-5-Concentrations-If-So-for-Whom-Empirical-Evidence-from-Rural-Ethiopia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32002 |
| Summary: | Improved biomass cookstoves have been
promoted as important intermediate technologies to reduce
fuelwood consumption and possibly cut household air
pollution in low-income countries. This study uses a
randomized controlled trial to examine household air
pollution reductions from an improved biomass cookstove
promoted in rural Ethiopia, the Mirt improved cookstove.
This stove is used to bake injera, which is very energy
intensive and has a very particular cooking profile. In the
overall sample, the Mirt improved cookstove leads to only
minor reductions in mean household air pollution (10 percent
on average). However, for those who bake injera in their
main living areas, the Mirt improved cookstove reduces
average mean household air pollution by 64 percent and
median household air pollution by 78 percent -- although the
resulting household air pollution levels are still many
times greater than the World Health Organization's
guideline. These large percentage reductions may reflect
decreased emissions due to less use of fuelwood, given
Mirt's energy-efficient design, and the likelihood that
higher-emissions three-stone cooking is moved outside the
main living area once a Mirt improved cookstove is
installed. Households in the subsample who experience a
greater decline in household air pollution tend to be less
wealthy and more remotely located and burn less-preferred
biomass fuels, like agricultural waste and animal dung, than
households that cook in a separate area. |
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