Change Those Stoves And Save Our Women!

We had to almost bend ourselves double to go into a tiny little hut with the thatched roof almost touching the ground in front of us, in a tiny village in Bardez, Goa. Inside as our eyes adjusted to the darkness we saw leaping flames in a earthen chulha and the entire inside of the hut was filled with smoke. A woman was making chappatis for their meal with a small sleeping infant in her lap. On the other side of the hut with the help of a smoky lantern a little boy did his home-work. It was sad to see the family sit in these smoky environs especially since one is now made aware that smoke from biomass kills, besides being a big contributor to carbon emissions which the world is fighting to contain, due to Climate Change.

At the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2015 IH Rehman the director of Social transformation TERI, gave us the low down on how most people cook in rural India, which most of us living in big cities are blissfully unaware of. The figures were eye -opening: Only one out of every three households in India use LPG or other forms of modern cooking fuel. Four out of every five rural and one out of every five urban households primarily depend on direct burning of solid biomass fuel like fuel wood, crop residue and cattle dung in traditional mud stove/three stone fire for cooking. Shocked? Don't be there is more to cleaning up cooking with biomass and fire-wood.

This stove boasts of 50% less fuel consumption. Reduces the difficulty of collecting fuel wood.

Scientists have proven that household smoke kills and that traditional cooking practices are characterized by low thermal efficiency (10%) and the emission of toxic smoke. Women (and accompanying children) cooking with a mud stove, particularly in poorly ventilated kitchens, have increased risk of pneumonia, respiratory diseases among other issues. Approximately one million premature deaths estimated to occur in India annually due to kitchen smoke. To illustrate this point, the World Health Organisation (2010) estimates that pollution levels in rural Indian kitchens were 30 times higher than recommended levels and six times higher than air pollution levels found in New Delhi.

Child deaths (0-4 years) due to household smoke, as evidenced by Global Burden of Disease, 201

So what are the health problems which the human body faces with burning of biomass and inhalation of that smoke? There are severe gender concerns where TERI has noted that cooking and fuel collection being a predominantly woman-centric activity in rural India, the inhalation of that smoke and the adverse health effects on the women cooking on inefficient stoves, directly affects the rural women-population of the country.

Studies carried out by TERI show that the smoke emitted by incomplete burning of biomass fuels leads to emission of black carbon, which is a significant climate change agent in the atmosphere. It has been demonstrated that the use of a fuel-efficient stove can substantially reduce the emission of black carbon from Indian kitchens. Also notable are the climate effects caused due to forest degradation caused by higher quantities of fuel-wood usage by households using a traditional biomass stove.

Four out of every five rural and one out of every five urban households in India primarily depend on direct burning of solid biomass fuel like fuel wood, crop residue and cattle dung in traditional mud stove/ three stone fire for cooking.

Such traditional cooking practice is characterized by incomplete combustion of biomass fuels resulting in emission of toxic smoke. Women (and accompanying children) who get exposed to this smoke every day during cooking food in a mud stove, particularly in poorly ventilated kitchens, face increased risk of pneumonia, respiratory diseases, etc. Kitchen smoke is responsible for half a million premature deaths in India annually. The toxic smoke also contains climate change agents like carbon monoxide and black carbon. Such traditional mud stoves also have low thermal efficiency (~17%) that results in high fuel consumption (~1 kg/person/day of firewood) thereby contributing to deforestation in some areas.

Improved stoves, which significantly reduce smoke indoors and outdoors, are currently too expensive.

Improved solid-fuel, biogas and outdoors, are currently too expensive. Improved solid-fuel, biogas and solar stoves are available on the market, but typically range from $50 to $90 USD says TERI. This is not affordable for the more than 2.5 billion people living under $2 a day, who are currently forced to use primitive means of preparing their food with mud chulas.

Scientists at TERI have developed a single pot, top-loading forced draft stove, named TERI SPTL- 0610. It reduces fuel consumption by an amazing 50% and which naturally directly impacts a woman's health by reducing the smoke by 70%. This stove has been approved by Government of India, and it makes optimal use of fuel-wood, with a thermal efficiency of nearly 41%

Called the single pot metal stove for a family of seven members stove, this stove has been adapted to rural areas. As can be viewed in the picture, any solid biomass (fuel wood, cow-dung, agricultural waste etc.) can be used as fuel. The stove has a dual charging mode in power charger (solar/electricity) with 11 V, 2.2 Ah lithium cobalt oxide batteries to power the fan. It has been fashioned to be long-lasting, with easy to maintain components used in its formation. And any type of fuel can be used in it.

This helps reduce deforestation due to less consumption of fuel wood 70% reduction in smoke (particulate matter) Reduced Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) resulting in healthier environment for women and children reduces effects on climate change due to reduction of black carbon and other warming agents. With this stove, there is less blackening of cooking pots and kitchen walls compared to the conventional mud-chulha. This stove also reduces cooking time by approximately half And best of all there is much less exposure of women to kitchen smoke and with the speed of cooking there is more time for economic and recreational activities.