Headed by the University of Oregon’s Global Oregon and of Office of International Affairs, the Spark Initiative seeks to unite a community of parties interested in cookstoves and their implications, attract students to research and internship opportunities within cookstove businesses and nonprofit networks, and generate new partnerships between members of the Oregon University System and local experts. 

Cookstoves may sound small scale and prosaic. And indeed, they are quintessentially everyday and ordinary. They are part of the daily lives of billions of people in developing regions who still cook on wood fires. Gathering wood for these fires consumes significant amounts of forest resources and time, especially on the part of women. Traditional cookstoves use up a lot of fuel, adding to deforestation pressures. They emit high levels of particulates and greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change.  Add up this quotidian impact, and you have a major global environmental and human resource challenge.

The inaugural Spark! cookstove event will take place on Friday, May 17 at the Erb Memorial Union and amphitheater at the University of Oregon. The half-day event will feature a keynote speech by Peter Scott of BurnDesign lab, panels by local experts and practitioners, and live stove demonstrations.

• Website

Environ Res. 2013 Feb;121:11-6.

Seasonal concentrations and determinants of indoor particulate matter in a low-income community in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Gurley ES, Salje H, Homaira N, Ram PK, Haque R, Petri WA Jr, Bresee J, Moss WJ, Luby SP, Breysse P, Azziz-Baumgartner E.

Centre for Communicable Diseases, International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), 68 Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh. egurley@icddrb.org

Abstract
Indoor exposure to particulate matter (PM) increases the risk of acute lower respiratory tract infections, which are the leading cause of death in young children in Bangladesh. Few studies, however, have measured children’s exposures to indoor PM over time. The World Health Organization recommends that daily indoor concentrations of PM less than 2.5μm in diameter (PM(2.5)) not exceed 25μg/m(3). This study aimed to describe the seasonal variation and determinants of concentrations of indoor PM(2.5) in a low-income community in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh.

PM(2.5) was measured in homes monthly during May 2009 to April 2010. We calculated the time-weighted average, 90th percentile PM(2.5) concentrations and the daily hours PM(2.5) exceeded 100μg/m(3). Linear regression models were used to estimate the associations between fuel use, ventilation, indoor smoking, and season to each metric describing indoor PM(2.5) concentrations. Time-weighted average PM(2.5) concentrations were 190μg/m(3) (95% CI 170-210). Sixteen percent of 258 households primarily used biomass fuels for cooking and PM(2.5) concentrations in these homes had average concentrations 75μg/m(3) (95% CI 56-124) greater than other homes.

PM(2.5) concentrations were also associated with burning both biomass and kerosene, indoor smoking, and ventilation, and were more than twice as high during winter than during other seasons. Young children in this community are exposed to indoor PM(2.5) concentrations 7 times greater than those recommended by World Health Organization guidelines. Interventions to reduce biomass burning could result in a daily reduction of 75μg/m(3) (40%) in time-weighted average PM(2.5) concentrations.

Environ Health Perspect. 2013 May 3.

Solid Fuel Use for Household Cooking: Country and Regional Estimates for 1980-2010.

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Bonjour S, Adair-Rohani H, Wolf J, Bruce NG, Mehta S, Prüss-Ustün A, Lahiff M, Rehfuess EA, Mishra V, Smith KR.

Department of Public Health and Environment, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to household air pollution resulting from cooking with solid fuels in simple stoves is a major health risk. Modelling reliable estimates of solid fuel use is needed for monitoring trends and informing policy.

OBJECTIVES: We estimated annual trends in the population using solid fuels for the revision of the disease burden attributable to household air pollution for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 project, and for international reporting purposes.

METHODS: A multilevel model was developed based on national survey data on primary cooking fuel.

RESULTS: The proportion of households relying mainly on solid fuels for cooking has decreased from 62% (95% CI: 58, 66) to 41% (95% CI: 37, 44) between 1980 and 2010. Yet due to population growth, the actual number of people exposed has remained stable at around 2.8 billion during three decades. Solid fuel use is most prevalent in Africa and South East Asia where more than 60% of households cook with solid fuels. In other regions, primary solid fuel use ranges from almost 50% in the Western Pacific, to one third in Eastern Mediterranean and less than 20% in the Americas and Europe.

CONCLUSION: Multilevel modelling is a suitable technique to derive reliable solid fuel use estimates. Worldwide, the proportion of households cooking mainly with solid fuels is decreasing. The absolute number of people using solid fuels, however, is remaining steady globally and increasing in some regions. Surveys require enhancement to better capture the health implications of new technologies and multiple fuel use.

Saving & Empowering Lives through Clean Cooking Innovation | Source: Radha Muthiah, USAID Impact blog, May 11th 2013 |

A major study published in December cited high blood pressure, alcohol, and tobacco as the top three health risks in the world. Could you guess the fourth? You probably did it last night.

Example of a pine needle powered cook stove. Photo credit: USAID

The seemingly simple act of cooking a meal is responsible for 4 million deaths each year.

That’s because nearly 3 billion people burn solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal, and other fuels to cook every day. When burned in open fires and basic stoves, solid fuels emit a harmful smoke that causes a range of cancers, heart and lung diseases, developmental and neurological impacts, cataracts, and more.

Inefficient and dangerous cooking practices are also a major cause of burns, and the acts of collecting and burning fuelwood lead to deforestation and the release of climate-changing gases, respectively.

Women and children have the primary responsibility for cooking and fuel collection in developing countries, and are therefore most at risk from the side effects: smoke inhalation, crippling burns, time lost for schooling or work, human or animal attacks during fuel collection, and myriad others.

But, you’re probably asking, how can technological innovation change such a seemingly intractable and global challenge? Enter the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

Launched by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2010 with 19 founding partners under the leadership of the UN Foundation, today, the Alliance is comprised of more than 650 partners across 6 continents. They’ve joined the Alliance to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a market for clean, safe, efficient, and affordable cooking solutions. Our goal is for 100 million households to adopt clean cookstoves and fuels by the year 2020.

With our partners, including founding partner USAID, we are taking an all-of-the-above approach to ensure that as hundreds of millions of people enter the global middle class, they no longer cook as their ancestors have done since the beginning of human history:

• Research: We are commissioning research with cookstove and fuel interventions that will help us better understand how to achieve the cleanliness and efficiency markers essential to save and improve lives and the environment, and to underscore once and for all that this is a major global development challenge that deserves awareness and funding on par with similar crises.
• Standards: International standards to define cookstove cleanliness, safety, and efficiency had never existed until the Alliance and the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air began working with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The interim system that has been adopted is now in the process of being translated into permanent standards. A tiered system through the ISO will create global norms and strengthen a market for clean cooking solutions.
• Testing centers: To carry out those standards and further propel local manufacturing and testing, the Alliance is supporting the enhancement or creation of testing centers in 12 countries worldwide. Previously, most stoves had to be sent to North America or Europe to be tested, proving very costly for manufacturers and impeding local growth of markets.
• SPARK and Pilot Innovation Funds: The SPARK and the Pilot Innovation Funds are part of our plan to increase the level of resources, grants, and investment in the clean cooking sector. Each year, we will support entrepreneurs and innovation through at least $2.25 million. This year’s Pilot awardees were recently announced, and we look forward to announcing the SPARK recipients later this month.
• Input from consumers: Each of the above steps will be fruitless if we aren’t engaged in dialogue with consumers at each step along the value chain: food taste; cooking style; stove design, weight and color; manufacturing; distribution; purchasing; and adoption. The Alliance and its partners have strong relationships with community associations, women’s groups, and others to ensure we hear directly from consumers about their economic, health, and standard of living aspirations, and then translate that information into action.

The Alliance and its partners strongly believe that cooking shouldn’t kill, and because you are reading this blog during USAID’s Global Health Month+ series, I suspect that you do, too. Find out about all of our market-enabling activities and join us at www.cleancookstoves.org.

Intrauterine exposure to fine particulate matter as a risk factor for increased susceptibility to acute broncho-pulmonary infections in early childhood. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 2013.

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Over the last decades many epidemiologic studies considered the morbidity patterns for respiratory diseases and lung function of children in the context of ambient air pollution usually measured in the postnatal period. The main purpose of this study is to assess the impact of prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the recurrent broncho-pulmonary infections in early childhood.

In conclusion,the study suggests that prenatal exposure to PM2.5 increases susceptibility to respiratory infections and may program respiratory morbidity in early childhood. The study also provides evidence
that the target value of 20g/m3 for the 24-h mean level of PM2.5 protects unborn babies better than
earlier established EPA guidelines.

Environ Res. 2013 May 7. pii: S0013-9351(13)00067-4. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2013.03.007.

The state of scientific evidence on air pollution and human health in Nepal.

Gurung A, Bell ML. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Abstract
Air pollution has been linked to acute and chronic health effects. However, the majority of evidence is based in North America and Europe, with a growing number of studies in Asia and Latin America. Nepal is one of the many South Asian countries where little such research has been conducted. We summarized the state of scientific evidence and identify research gaps based on the existing literature on air pollution and human health in Nepal. We performed a systematic literature search to identify relevant studies. Studies were categorized as those that estimate: (1) health impacts of indoor air pollution, (2) health impacts of outdoor air pollution, (3) health burdens from outdoor air pollution in Nepal based on existing concentration-response relationships from elsewhere, or (4) exposure and air quality but do not link to health.

We identified 89 studies, of which 23 linked air pollution to health impacts. The remainder focused on exposure and air quality, demonstrating high pollution levels. The few health studies focused mainly on indoor air (n=15), especially in rural areas and during cooking. Direct exposure measurements were for short time periods; most studies used indirect exposure methods (e.g., questionnaire). Most health studies had small sample sizes with almost all focusing on respiratory health. Although few studies have examined air pollution and health in Nepal, the existing studies indicate high pollution levels and suggest large health impacts. Nepal’s dearth of scientific research on air pollution and health is not unique and likely is similar to that of many other developing regions. Future research with larger studies and more health outcomes is needed. Key challenges include data availability.

Implications of Charcoal Briquette Produced by Local Communities on Livelihoods and Environment in Nairobi Kenya

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Mary Njenga, et al.

Abstract

The residents of Nairobi, Kenya, use 700 tonnes of charcoal per day, producing about 88 tonnes of charcoal dust that is found in most of the charcoal retailing stalls that is disposed of in water drainage systems or in black garbage heaps. The high costs of cooking fuel results in poor households using unhealthy materials such as plastic waste. Further, poor households are opting to cook foods that take a short time to prepare irrespective of their nutritional value.

This article presents experiences with community self-help groups producing charcoal fuel briquettes from charcoal dust in poorer nieghbourhoods of Nairobi for home use and sale. Households that produced charcoal fuel briquettes for own use and those that bought them saved 70% and 30% of money spent on cooking energy respectively. The charcoal fuel briquettes have been found to be environmentally beneficial since they produce less smoke and increase total cooking energy by more than 15%, thereby saving an equivalent volume of trees that would be cut down for charcoal.

Charcoal briquette production is a viable opportunity for good quality and affordable cooking fuel. Bioenergy and waste management initiatives should promote recovery of organic by-products for charcoal briquette production.

Behaviour change for better health: nutrition, hygiene and sustainability. BMC Public Health 2013, 13(Suppl 1):S1

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Rachel S Newson, et al.

As the global population grows there is a clear challenge to address the needs of consumers, without depleting natural resources and whilst helping to improve nutrition and hygiene to reduce the growth of noncommunicable diseases. For fast-moving consumer goods companies, like Unilever, this challenge provides a clear opportunity to reshape its business to a model that decouples growth from a negative impact on natural resources and health. However, this change in the business model also requires a change in consumer behaviour. In acknowledgement of this challenge Unilever organised a symposium entitled ‘Behaviour Change for Better Health: Nutrition, Hygiene and Sustainability’.

The intention was to discuss how consumers can be motivated to live a more healthy and sustainable lifestlye in today’s environment. This article summarises the main conclusions of the presentations given at the symposium. Three main topics were discussed. In the first session, key experts discussed how demographic changes – particularly in developing and emerging countries – imply the need for consumer behaviour change. The second session focused on the use of behaviour change theory to design, implement and evaluate interventions, and the potential role of (new or reformulated) products as agents of change.

In the final session, key issues were discussed regarding the use of collaborations to increase the impact and reach, and to decrease the costs, of interventions. The symposium highlighted a number of key scientific challenges for Unilever and other parties that have set nutrition, hygiene and sustainability as key priorities. The key challenges include: adapting behaviour change approaches to cultures in developing and emerging economies; designing evidence-based behaviour change interventions, in which products can play a key role as agents of change; and scaling up behaviour change activities in cost-effective ways, which requires a new mindset involving public–private partnerships.

Social marketing in India: Lessons learned from efforts to foster demand for cleaner cookstoves, 2013.

• Full text, pdf

Shell Foundation

Since 2002, SF has been working to develop a market for more efficient, ‘improved cookstoves’ (ICS) that significantly reduce fuel use, emissions and cooking time for people who rely on biomass fuels. In 2007, we formed a long-term partnership with Envirofit International, a social enterprise based in the US, and together we
began to develop a business-based model to design, produce and sell a range of clean cookstoves that are affordable, durable and desirable.

Nigeria: Alliance to Deliver 10 Million Clean Cook Stoves to Nigerians By 2020 | Source: Daily Trust, May 2, 2013 |

The Nigerian Alliance for Clean CookStoves has promised to deliver 10 million stoves to Nigerian homes by 2020 as part of efforts to halt the rising mortality associated with the use of fire wood.

Mr Ewah Eleri, Coordinator, Nigerian Alliance for Clean CookStoves said that the need for the clean stove had become urgent as Nigeria account for 100,000 deaths annually out of the 2million death recorded globally.

“In Nigeria, available statistics shows that over 20 million people use fire wood and this account for 11 per cent of families food expenditure and result in the loss of 3 per cent of the nation’s forest reserve,” he said at a stakeholders meeting on the validation of the clean stove project.

He said that the alliance had entered into strategic partnership with various institutions including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic for the fabrication and standardisation of the stoves.

He said that it was unfortunate that Nigeria being one of the biggest exporter of cooking gas has no provision for domestic use as only 150 tonnes was utilised out of the 4 million tonnes per annual.

“Under the clean cookStoves programme we are expanding the programme to include access to cooking gas for more Nigerians,” he added.

Speaking earlier, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Senate Committee Chairman on Environment and Ecology said that indoor air pollution, black carbon emission, tree felling were tradeoffs of traditional cooking methods.

“In Nigeria, household air pollution is the third most significant risk factor in health, killing almost 70,000 people per year,” he added.

He said that the development of the clean cookStove in the country has become a matter of urgency and not a subject of debate.

He also attributed the use of traditional cook stove to deforestation in the country adding that, “as the country with the second most severe rate of deforestation globally and one of the highest rates of fuel wood use, the introduction of clean cookStove at this point in time will have a multifaceted impacts on the standard of living of Nigerians.”