New Research Shows the Health Benefits of Ethanol-Fueled Cookstoves

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May 7, 2018

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by Jieyi Lu (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) Today, about three billion people still cook and heat their homes with traditional stoves and solid fuels worldwide. These fuels and stoves are major contributors to household air pollution in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), household air pollution causes 4.3 million deaths annually. Cooking is primarily done by women, and so women and children bear the health burden associated with burning solid fuels as well as the hazards associated with collecting fuels. Cleaner cooking fuels and cookstoves, which would reduce harmful health impacts, have been identified as an important area of international development.

A series of recent studies on the health benefits of ethanol-fueled cookstoves have provided evidence that ethanol is a cleaner, healthier alternative for families still cooking with traditional biomass. Many of these studies involved Project Gaia, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to promoting clean cooking fuels and cookstoves worldwide. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) first showcased Project Gaia’s clean-burning ethanol cookstoves back in 2016.

Since 2013, Project Gaia has supported research by Dr. Christopher Sola Olopade, Professor of Family Medicine and Medicine and Clinical Director of the Global Health Initiative at the University of Chicago, on household air pollution and ethanol-fueled cookstoves. The nonprofit has so far contributed to four published studies by providing technical assistance and ethanol-fueled cookstoves for the research projects. Overall, Dr. Olopade’s research has shown that ethanol fueled cookstoves have a positive impact on household health.

One notable study, “Pregnancy outcomes and ethanol cook stove intervention: A randomized-controlled trial in Ibadan, Nigeria,” shows that infants born to women cooking with ethanol have higher birth weights than those born to women cooking with firewood or kerosene. The study also demonstrated a higher average gestational age and lower perinatal mortality among ethanol cookstove users. In addition, Dr. Olopade’s findings suggest a lower level of preterm delivery and miscarriages among women using ethanol fuels, though more research is needed. Strikingly, after the study was completed, 83 percent of participants continued to purchase ethanol and use the ethanol-fueled cookstoves with their personal funds.

Other studies in cooperation with Dr. Olopade have proven ethanol-fueled cookstoves’ potential to mitigate cardiovascular health risks and chronic hypoxia, and indicated that household air pollution can affect placental growth and function.

Ethanol-fueled cookstoves can also play a positive role in mitigating climate change.

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Project Gaia conducted its first indoor air pollution study in refugee camps in Ethiopia. According to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, 98 percent of Ethiopians use solid fuels for cooking and more than 45,000 of them die each year because of household air pollution.

The Project Gaia study measured and quantified levels of household carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter from the use of both firewood and ethanol-fueled cookstoves in the camps. Additionally, two former staff members of Project Gaia collaborated with the Former Women Fuelwood Carriers Association (FWFCA), a local women’s cooperative in Ethiopia, to measure the benefits of ethanol-fueled cookstoves for women. They presented the results to the World Health Organization (WHO). Project Gaia concluded that “Ethiopia has a high use of charcoal (and firewood), which causes CO poisoning and a low birth weight of children.”

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The second is a case study undertaken by a former staff member of Project Gaia that focuses on the local production of ethanol and how micro-distilleries are producing ethanol from local waste products to ensure a sustainable supply of ethanol in Ethiopia.

Part of Project Gaia’s mission is to ensure that both alcohol fuels and clean cookstoves are sourced locally by working with local entrepreneurs and helping them establish alcohol fuel and cookstove businesses.

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An ethanol clean cook stove currently retails for $55 to $65 for a double burner stove and $35 to $40 for a single burner stove. Now, Project Gaia has a more economical option: a stove manufacturer that it works with has created an economy stove, which retails for $20 to $25 for a single burner. The stove is now readily available for purchase. Another benefit of the new cookstoves is job creation; the economy cookstoves are shipped as a flat pack and can be assembled locally by local workers.

In addition to bringing down the costs of cookstoves, Project Gaia faces additional challenges from diverse local regulations on clean fuels. Some countries have regulations on clean fuel initiatives, but others have no framework. Without legal guidelines, Project Gaia can struggle to establish a local clean fuel business. Furthermore, in some regions, like Zanzibar, fuel supply is controlled by the government and it is difficult to guarantee a consistent and robust fuel supply chain locally. READ MORE

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