Evaluation’s Role in Development Projects: Boosting Energy Efficiency in a Traditional Industry in Chad

This chapter illustrates the critical importance of evaluation in development projects. It explores the relevance, processes, and specifics of a project to introduce energy-efficient cook stoves in two traditional industries in Chad. Although Chad benefits from great solar potential given its location and being a Sahelian country, biomass accounted for 94% of the primary energy supply in 2008, and only 2.2% of Chadian households have access to electricity. The beer brewing and meat grilling sectors in particular use enormous quantities of limited and expensive firewood. Locally developed energy-efficient stoves for the two targeted sectors were available, but those technologies had not been commercialized and disseminated into the Chadian market. The project aimed to overcome issues of technology, financing, dissemination, resistance to change, and awareness to introduce and establish use of energy-efficient stoves in micro-scale food processing to achieve environmental and economic benefits, discussing the effectiveness of models introduced and adopted by project beneficiaries with related training. This chapter considers issues related to the project’s financing and sustainability and concludes with lessons provided by the evaluation, including engagement with targeted beneficiaries, awareness of local context, and consideration of size and scale for a demonstration project that can be scaled up in future programs.

Households’ willingness to pay and preferences for improved cook stoves in Ethiopia

This paper examines households’ preferences, willingness to pay, and determinants of adopting improved cook stoves in rural Ethiopia. The study uses primary household data selected randomly from three districts in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. The data was collected using a mix of contingent and choice experiment methods of valuation. The former used a double-bounded value elicitation method, while the latter used a fractional factorial design to efficiently generate an attribute and level combination for the improved cook stoves. The study also used various discrete choice models for data analysis and also used models which account for scale and preference heterogeneity. The findings show that the sample households were aware of the effects of using traditional cook stoves and the benefits of using improved cook stoves. However, they were constrained by the availability of the new technology and discouraged by the low-quality of the products that they had used so far. The estimated mean willingness to pay ranged from about 150 Birr to 350 Birr which is lower than the market price of the improved cook stoves. Emission reduction, reducing fire risks, and the durability of the cook stove positively affected its adoption, while price discouraged its use. Higher levels of education, higher incomes, non-farm employment, and having more livestock increased the probability of adopting the new gas stoves. The study recommends that policymakers and product designers should use the mean willingness to pay and marginal rate of substitution for the different attributes as a benchmark for product design and pricing that fit households’ preferences and ability to pay. The lower mean willingness to pay means that a public subsidizing policy is needed for effectively disseminating improved cook stoves in rural Ethiopia.

Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Forced Draft Biomass Cook Stove

An approach towards an Improvement in performance of cook stoves has been a great challenge to scientists and researchers as biomass cook stoves are one of the basic needs of people living in rural areas. But due to household pollution by Traditional Cook stoves causes illness to people preparing for their regular meals near it. So, taking an initiative for Designing, Fabricating and Improvisation in the performance of Forced Draft cook stoves by placing proper Primary and Secondary holes in combustion chamber which gives better air distribution for proper combustion to get Lower Emission rates. Various experimentations are being performed on the basis of standard protocols i.e. BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards), VITA (Volunteer in Technical Assistance), EPTP (Emission Performance Test Protocol), WBT (Water Boiling Test) amongst which BIS had an upper hand and had very less uncertainty of errors due to which it is mostly being used in checking and improving emission performance of cook stoves for more efficient use with less chances of health issues. This paper consists of Design, Calculations and Constructional working of Forced Draft Biomass Cook stove and also the Burning rate Calculations were carried out to check fuel burnt rate.

Using Design Thinking to Improve Cook Stoves Development in Mexico

A traditional use of bioenergy is the main source of residential energy in developing countries, essentially using firewood to cook, boil water or heating affecting people in developing countries. Improved kitchens are more efficient and less polluting, and there is a need to evaluate different design options to facilitate their adoption. There are different types of very economical improved cook stoves with high combustion efficiency. In Mexico, multiple projects about cook stoves have been carried out, the root of this study being one of them, the Patsari cook stoves. The goal of this project was to modify previous designs to align with the habits and traditions. This study shows the importance of including the participation of the users in the design of the portable model of the Patsari cook stoves, applying Design Thinking methodology. Many designs or design changes have been done on cook stoves by different researchers, but users do not adapt to them. This article, through a field study, shows the importance of theoretical analyses along with user experiences to facilitate the adoption of these improves cook stoves and ensure their success.

Effects of Environmental Emissions on the Respiratory System: Secrets and Consequences

Human health has been affected adversely by air pollution as a serious environmental challenge. Ambient (outdoor) air pollution mainly resulted from human activities (e.g., fuel combustion, heat generation, industrial facilities) causes 4.2 million deaths every year. Moreover, each year, 3.8 million people die from indoor air pollution which means household exposure to smoke from fuels and dirty cook stoves. They are the risks of stroke, heart attack, lung disease, or cancer that resulted from air pollution which assaults our brain, heart, and lungs using its invisible weapons named particulate matter (PM). These inhalable particles are of a nanoscale or microscale size. Upon inhalation, the air with its components enters the human body through the respiratory system. The lungs are the responsible organs for gas exchange with blood. Inhaled particles, such as silica, organic compounds, and metallic dusts, have toxic effects on our pulmonary system. For example, the accumulation of nanoparticles in the kidneys, liver, spleen, and central nervous system through the penetration of the epithelial barriers in the lungs has been observed. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the toxic effects of air particles on the different organs in the human body and to introduce some of the adverse effects of air pollution on human health.

“If you haven’t shaoguo’ed, you haven’t eaten”

Biomass stoves, or shaoguo, are used exclusively in rural China for everyday cooking. Making use of agricultural wastes, these improved cook stoves are an economically efficient way to prepare foods and provide a complex taste profile to the everyday wheat-based staples cooked in them. Nevertheless, these stoves are associated with rural backwardness and failures of rural development. In this article, I understand shaoguo as a productive part of making home and belonging for families affected by urban migration. Considering the ways that shaoguo indexes rural identity and social belonging, I think through the connections between cooking and creating spaces of home.