The Effects of Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves on Fuel Use, Particulate Matter, and Cooking Practices: Results from a Randomized Trial in Rural Uganda

Theresa Beltramo, Garrick Blalock, Stephen Harrell, David Levine and Andrew Simons

The Energy Journal, 2023, vol. 44, issue 6, 43-70

Abstract: Smoky cookfires contribute to global climate change and kill approximately four million people annually. While many studies have examined the effects of fuel-efficient cookstoves, this study does so while selling stoves at market prices. After introducing a fuel-efficient cookstove, fuelwood use and household air particulates declined by 12% and by smaller percentages after adjusting for observer-induced bias, or the Hawthorne effect. These reductions were less than laboratory predictions and fell well short of World Health Organization pollution targets. Even when introducing a second stove, most households continued to use their traditional stoves for most cooking. Future research should focus on improving the usability of fuel-efficient cookstoves and/or policies that assist consumers to shift to safer fuels like gas or electricity coupled with mechanisms to disable the existing smoky cookfire.

Keywords: Technology adoption; Household air pollution; Biomass fuel; Climate change; Hawthorne Effect; Sensors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:enejou:v:44:y:2023:i:6:p:43-70

DOI: 10.5547/01956574.44.6.tbel

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