Field Testing of Alternative Cookstove Performance in a Rural Setting of Western India

Veena Muralidharan, Thomas E. Sussan, Sneha Limaye, Kirsten Koehler, D'Ann L. Williams, Ana M. Rule, Sanjay Juvekar, Patrick N. Breysse, Sundeep Salvi and Shyam Biswal
Additional contact information
Veena Muralidharan: Vadu Rural Health Program, KEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune 411011, India
Thomas E. Sussan: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Sneha Limaye: Chest Research Foundation, Pune 411014, India
Kirsten Koehler: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
D'Ann L. Williams: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Ana M. Rule: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Sanjay Juvekar: Vadu Rural Health Program, KEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune 411011, India
Patrick N. Breysse: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Sundeep Salvi: Chest Research Foundation, Pune 411014, India
Shyam Biswal: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Nearly three billion people use solid fuels for cooking and heating, which leads to extremely high levels of household air pollution and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Many stove manufacturers have developed alternative cookstoves (ACSs) that are aimed at reducing emissions and fuel consumption. Here, we tested a traditional clay chulha cookstove (TCS) and five commercially available ACSs, including both natural draft (Greenway Smart Stove, Envirofit PCS-1) and forced draft stoves (BioLite HomeStove, Philips Woodstove HD4012, and Eco-Chulha XXL), in a test kitchen in a rural village of western India. Compared to the TCS, the ACSs produced significant reductions in particulate matter less than 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) and CO concentrations (Envirofit: 22%/16%, Greenway: 24%/42%, BioLite: 40%/35%, Philips: 66%/55% and Eco-Chulha: 61%/42%), which persisted after normalization for fuel consumption or useful energy. PM 2.5 and CO concentrations were lower for forced draft stoves than natural draft stoves. Furthermore, the Philips and Eco-Chulha units exhibited higher cooking efficiency than the TCS. Despite significant reductions in concentrations, all ACSs failed to achieve PM 2.5 levels that are considered safe by the World Health Organization (ACSs: 277–714 μg/m 3 or 11–28 fold higher than the WHO recommendation of 25 μg/m 3 ).

Keywords: improved cookstove; biomass; particulate matter; carbon monoxide; wood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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