Over the past decade a large amount of research has been dedicated in academic literature to improving the technical capabilities of improved cookstoves; primarily the performance efficiency and reduction of emissions. Unfortunately, as published literature has highlighted, the trade-offs that result from placing such a concentrated emphasis on these technical objectives is that improved cookstoves lack the same level of usability as traditional cookstoves. Thus, users often return to using their traditional stoves and the potential impact of the improved cookstoves is never fully realized. In order for improved cookstoves to have greater impact, there must be better balance between the two competing design objectives of technical capabilities and usability. This research explores the challenges and benefits associated with achieving the appropriate balance, and provides guidance on how to more effectively achieve this. A list of the most common customer needs from around the world is provided for cookstoves. Interestingly, there are needs that are common to all cookstove users (global needs), and needs that apply to only a subset of users (local needs). Due to the diversity of such needs, there are many unique challenges that come with trying to satisfy these in the design process. A design methodology is presented that accounts for these challenges and helps balance the competing design objectives. This methodology is demonstrated through the modification of a traditional cookstove used in the Tambogrande region of Peru. This modification includes an inexpensive set of pot skirts that integrates directly with the traditional stove. These pot skirts allow for varying sizes and number of pots, and the use of traditional fuels. Laboratory testing, using the Water Boiling Test (WBT), identified the skirts' technical improvements: 41.7% increased thermal efficiency, 32.7% decreased fuel consumption, 28.8% decreased time to boil. Field testing was performed to determine the pot skirts' acceptance and compatibility with the traditional cookstoves, with over 75% of the participants recognizing some type of benefit. Although the technical improvements of these pot skirts are less than other cookstoves on the market, the higher levels of usability are likely to lead to a more positive end-user reaction, which could potentially lead to higher rates of adoption and impact. Though this research is primarily focused on the application of improved cookstoves, the need for more balance between technical and user objectives is applicable to nearly all products being designed for the developing world.

Low levels of energy access in sub-Saharan Africa and the acknowledgement of anthropogenic climate change have made sustainable energy products such as solar lanterns and efficient cookstoves a popular subject of international development programmes. At the same time, market-based approaches for distributing such ‘humanitarian goods’ have become increasingly prevalent. Based on ethnographic material from inside two development intermediaries, Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) International’s ‘Developing Energy Enterprises Project’ (DEEP) in Kenya and Uganda and SolarAid’s social enterprise ‘SunnyMoney’ in Malawi, this thesis argues that: 1) the complexity of applied market devices enhances inequalities between market actors; 2) the engendering of economic subjectivities within distribution chains can increase value-sharing; 3) there is space for both for-profit and non-profit ‘development’ intermediaries in marketisation processes, and; 4) further focus should be put on the promotion of domestic manufacturing. Stabilised market maps are used to present the activities of each organisation before turning to three frames of analysis that consider the problematisation, qualification and valuation of the energy products, the recruitment and training of supply chain ‘entrepreneurs’ and the specific market roles of development intermediaries, including provision of ‘brokerage’ services and as integral market actors. Bringing a theoretical vocabulary from economic sociology and science and technology studies into the arena of international development, the thesis reveals the extensive socio-technical configurations that constitute markets and create power asymmetries between actors. Without neglecting the vulnerabilities of the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ (BOP) as a ‘target group,’ it enhances our understanding of the shifts away from charity dependent beneficiaries’ towards ‘entrepreneurs,’ ‘customers’ and investment opportunities within sub-Saharan Africa.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2015. / Over 60% of the Swazi population resides in rural areas and rely on woodfuel for their daily cooking needs. Cooking with woodfuel on open fires is inefficient and unhealthy, leading to millions of deaths of women and children each year while also contributing to environmental degradation. This has necessitated the implementation of Government’s clean cookstoves programme in Swaziland. This study focused on household stove users in six chiefdoms in the Lower Usuthu Sustainable Land Management (LUSLM) Project area in Siphofaneni Swaziland. A survey conducted through the dissemination of a questionnaire was used to investigate how rural perceptions impact on the adoption of clean cookstove technologies as an alternative household energy technology contributing towards sustainable development in rural Swaziland. Results from this study indicate that although cooking on an open fire was the least desired cooking technology, only 2% of households in the project area own clean cookstoves and less than half of the households had knowledge of cookstoves. The study further revealed that over 80% of the households in the survey area would prefer using a clean cookstoves to reduce the labour intensive task of collecting firewood as well as reducing exposure to smoke. The households found to have some knowledge of the benefits of clean cookstoves indicated the willingness to pay for a clean cookstove; however, a third of the respondents indicated a preference of obtaining a free clean cookstove. The price and availability of the clean cookstove in rural areas were two main barriers to increased uptake of the stoves, coupled with the need to purchase new pots. Despite the general lack of awareness of these technologies, challenges such as danger of the stoves to children and stove durability were also cited. The results indicate the need for the ongoing clean cookstove programme being implemented by the Government of Swaziland to improve on its strategy, to focus on incorporation of perceptions of rural stove users in development of appropriate cookstove designs, distribution models, and the design and implementation of a cookstove quality control programme.

Anthropogenic gas- and particle-phase emissions affect the climate by absorbing and scattering radiation, and have been linked to adverse health effects. Black carbon (BC), a by-product of incomplete combustion, is the most potent light-absorbing component of atmospheric aerosols, with a top-of-the atmosphere direct radiative forcing estimated to be only second to CO2. However, there is a large uncertainty associated with BC’s total direct and indirect radiative forcings due to uncertain source emissions and optical properties and complex interactions with clouds. In this dissertation we investigate the direct radiative impact of two of the most important sources of BC particles: biofuel combustion and vehicles. Together these sources contribute around 40% of the global atmospheric BC burden. Recently, both of these energy sources are undergoing rapid technology changes, and the climate impacts from the emissions of these newly adopted technologies remain uncertain. We also investigate the role of atmospheric processing on the optical properties and growth rates of particles. This dissertation first assesses the climate impacts of aerosol emissions of two rapidly emerging technologies: improved cookstoves and gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicles. We performed extensive measurements of gas- and particle emissions and optical properties of emissions from both these sources. Our data suggests that improved rocket cookstoves have, on average, a factor of two lower particulate matter (PM) emissions compared to traditional cookstoves but only a 4% climate benefits associated with their emissions. In contrast, we estimated a 30% climate benefit from switching traditional cookstoves to gasifier ones. Of all the stoves tested, charcoal stoves had the lowest emissions and climate impacts. Our data suggests the widespread deployment of improved cookstoves to replace existing, inefficient, traditional cookstoves will likely result in health and climate co-benefits. Similarly, we estimated that the rapid adoption of GDI vehicles to replace existing port fuel injection (PFI) vehicles will likely result in reduced warming from emissions. This is due to the higher fuel economy of GDI engines; we measured an average CO2 reduction of 57 g/mi, from switching engine technologies. GDI engine emissions had higher PM emissions compared to PFI engines, similar to previous findings. In addition, our data suggests that newer GDI engines have a factor of two lower PM emissions compared to older GDI engines. These improvements in emissions may enable GDI-equipped vehicles to meet the new Federal Tier 3 PM standard of 3.0 mg/mi without gasoline particulate filters (GPF, which would reduce their fuel economy). To better constrain the large uncertainty of radiative forcing associated with cookstove emissions, this dissertation examines emissions and optical properties from several cookstove and fuel combinations. We performed extensive laboratory measurements of the optical properties of fresh cookstove emissions using the newly developed firepower sweep protocol. Current model treatments of the optical properties of cookstove emissions assume: (1) complete internal mixture between BC and non-BC material and (2) absorption properties of organics based on parametrizations developed for biomass burning emissions. These assumptions do not accurately represent optical properties of fresh cookstove emissions. We developed new parametrizations of optical properties (BC-mass absorption cross section (MACBC), absorption angstrom exponent (AAE), and single scattering albedo (SSA)) of aerosol emissions from cookstoves as a function of the BC-to-PM mass ratio. These parametrizations are designed for use in climate models to more rigorously assess the global climate implications from adoption of improved stove technologies. Upon entering the atmosphere aerosol emissions undergo complex chemical transformations. Aerosol optical properties depend on their atmospheric processing which controls the amount of coating the particles accumulate and their lifetime. To assess the effects of coating on the optical properties, we performed targeted experiments using real world, size selected, BC particles emitted from a rocket improved cookstove, and coated with biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) material. These experiments explicitly target to evaluate measurements and modeling using simple formulation like Mie theory. Measurements of MACBC and the mass scattering cross section (MSC) of coated BC particles were in good agreement with Mie predictions when the organic-to-BC mass ratio>5. Scattering (but not absorption) was sensitive to BC fractal-like morphology; Mie theory under-predicted measured scattering of fresh emissions. Our data suggest that Mie theory can be used in climate models to approximate the optical properties of coated BC particles emitted from cookstoves, if the mixing-state of BC particles is known. In this dissertation, we present initial evidence that particle growth rates depend on seed composition and gas-phase supersaturation. Current models do not account for seed-dependent growth rates. We conducted experiments to investigate the growth of diesel and biogenic SOA particles. Both seeds were exposed to the same gas-phase supersaturation, which allows us to accurately retrieve differences in growth rates and decouple the effects of surface activity and accommodation coefficients. We estimated that the accommodation coefficients of condensing material was 10% to 30% lower on the diesel particles compared to the SOA particles. Moreover, we measured larger surface activity of condensing material on the diesel particles, potentially due to less-miscible condensing vapors in the diesel particles compared to the SOA particles. Our data suggest that growth of BC (diesel) particles in the atmosphere is likely slower compared to SOA particles. Accurately representing these processes is important to estimate the lifetime and absorption enhancement from coated BC particles, as they compete with other particles for condensable vapors.

It is estimated that around three billion people globally rely on traditional usage of biomass to cover their daily energy needs, which causes health and social inequality problems and contributes to global warming. Thus, the study of particle emissions from cookstoves provides important information that can help improve global welfare.   This study aims to (a) evaluate a new laboratory setup for measurement of particle emissions from cookstoves and (b) use this setup to compare the particle emissions from three cookstove appliances that cover the whole spectra of used technologies, namely a 3-stone fire, an improved cookstove and a gasifier stove. Emissions of total suspended particles (TSP), fine particles (≤ 2500 nm) and other emission components such as carbon dioxide were measured. Results from this study show that the new laboratory setup is appropriate to measure and investigate fine particle emissions from cookstoves as well as cookstove efficiency. Further, it also shows that the 3-stone fire was the cookstove with the highest emission factor of all, followed by the rocket stove and the gasifier stove respectively. The analysis of the data obtained from the transient particle measurement provided some information on the particle size and the soot and salt contained in the overall emitted particles. Finally, some suggestions such as continuous measurements of background particle and CO2 levels are recommended. Additionally, further research ideas are also proposed.

Tropical forests are amongst the most important ecosystems in the world. It is also the biome estimated to experience the most rapid losses of habitats in the next 50 years, mainly due to anthropogenic exploitation. The Kakamega forest, western Kenya, is important both for conservation and human livelihood and is essential for peoples’ survival. The main threat to the forest’s subsistence is collection of firewood used for cooking. Energy-efficient cookstoves, with almost 50 % lower demand for firewood compared to traditional 3-stone-stoves, have been installed to ease the pressure on the forest. The present study evaluates the effect of utilizing energy-efficient cookstoves, installed during the project Stoves for Life (years 2010-2019), on the forest structure of the Kakamega forest, Kenya. This was done by quantifying forest structural and compositional differences, as well as occurrence of human made damage, within the Kakamega forest. Sampling was made in 59 plot locations, with varying numbers of energy-efficient cookstoves in the surrounding area. Results indicate that the stoves 1) promote recruitment of both pioneer and climax trees and 2) increase survival of fast-growing pioneer trees, 3) ease the pressure on preferred species used as firewood and 4) preserve important structural components such as woody debris found on the forest floor. Additionally, the growth of pioneer trees is potentially creating a climate suitable for later successional species to thrive and establish, potentially leading to forest maturation. However, future comparative studies should be conducted before any statement about the stoves’ effect on forest structure is made.

Energy poverty is defined as the lack of access of households in developing countries to modern energy sources, and their consequent reliance on solid biomass fuels for cooking. So-called “Improved stoves” have been promoted by various public and private actors since the 1970s to tackle various environmental and health challenges associated with biomass use. Impact studies of such projects are usually based on on-site surveys about the stoves’ use, and thus are extremely site-specific, and difficultly generalizable. This thesis project aims to introduce a novel approach to impact assessment of improved cooking stoves on both local energy needs and deforestation in the area. This approach will base most of its figures and assumptions on calculated energy needs rather than survey reports. This will result in a highly flexible energy model, which can be used and adapted to help decision and policy makers in their function. The area of Nyeri County, Kenya, where the author completed a one-month field study, is used throughout the thesis as a case study in order to validate the model.

In Kenya, 69 percent of populations depend on biomass fuels to meet their cooking needs. The incomplete combustion of biomass is performed in insufficiently ventilated settings thus exposing human health and environment to toxic pollution. To date, women and children in resource limited settings have been most vulnerable to severe respiratory infections. The promotion of the Improved Biomass Cookstoves has become a popular issue in policy, research and practice. Community Based Organizations have however faced serious challenges in increasing sustainable use of the cookstoves among users. This qualitative study investigates the role of Community Based Organizations in promoting the Improved Biomass Cookstoves through women’s empowerment initiatives. It applies focus group interviews, questionnaire and formal interviews. 11 interview forms were administered to 30 women, 2 key informants and 3 implementing Community Based Organization representatives in Dunga wetland community. A combination of previous research and this empirical study show that economic resources, small diameter stove designs as well as insufficient policy support hinder effective stove programmes. While there is general adoption, women lack sufficient income and ownership of land which is a significant resource to empowerment. Women informal financial networks are instrumental in driving behavioral change towards clean cooking in the community. Sufficient gender sensitive policy intervention and support can provide effective channels to ensure sustainable incomes of women, livelihoods and stove use.

The burning of biomass for cooking purposes without proper ventilation and filters poses a massive health and climate risk. Health implications from exposure to household air pollution from this type of fuel impacts women and children in many developing countries, who spend many hours a day cooking and gathering fuel. Climate implications from burning solid biomass results in increased carbon dioxide and black carbon emissions, which contribute to global climate change. This thesis aims to explore the issues associated with biomass cookstoves in terms of both health and climate, and seeks to understand how a new national clean cookstove program could be funded in India. This includes potential partnerships with United States agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other international funding sources. The topic of clean cookstoves has gained traction as a strategy to mitigate emissions and adapt to a changing climate, and with the recent passing of the United Nations Paris Agreement, funding is increasing to support programs that address climate impacts.

Billions of people use biomass burning cookstoves in their homes and suffer serious health repercussions. Additionally, global warming is exacerbated by cookstove emissions containing greenhouse gases and particulate matter. Improved cookstoves (ICSs) mitigate the problem, but accurate and affordable emission gas measurements, particularly of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), are required in order to confidently declare ICSs cleaner burning than traditional cookstoves. The aim of this research is to assess the suitability of photoacoustic (PA) CO2 detection technology for cookstove emissions monitoring. The designs of several longitudinally resonant, photoacoustic, LED, CO2 sensors of varying levels of functionality are presented. Three aluminum cell designs allowed the detection of a photoacoustic signal: a 4cm long cylinder with a ~1cm diameter (Design 3), a 3.9cm long cylindrical resonator with ~1in diameter and quarter-acoustic-wavelength buffer volumes (Designs 4a,b), and a 3.7cm long cylinder with ~1in diameter (Design 5). All three cell designs operate in the longitudinal resonant mode via the irradiation of gases inside the PA cell with a 4.3um wavelength LED, driven at an on-off frequency in the kHz range by a square wave from an Arduino. A rudimentary lock-in amplifier (LIA) based on the AD630 was considered, but the SR830 LIA was actually used to extract the desired MEMS microphone signal from noise. Designs 3-4b produced PA signals dominated by wall-absorption, but the final design (Design 5) yielded a resonant PA signal proportional to CO2 concentration. It was discovered that photoacoustic gas detection is challenging to design and set up without extensive experience and equipment. Practical lessons learned are shared. Primary limitations with the presented designs are identified as the extremely low power of the 4.3um LEDs, wall absorption due to insufficient collimation of LED radiation, dependence on temperature, and reliance on an expensive, high performance, lock-in amplifier. Further testing and development of designs like Design 5 (short cylinder with large diameter-to-length ratio) is necessary to evaluate their potential for in-field, real-time CO2 concentration measurement. Though LED PA CO2 sensing was demonstrated to be possible, it is concluded that NDIR CO2 sensors are currently better suited for cookstove use. In addition to photoacoustic detection, a method of detecting CO2 concentration by measuring resonant frequency of the gas cell (The Acoustic Method) is presented.