What makes people cook with improved biomass stoves. A comparative international review of Stove Programs. Energy series. World Bank technical paper

Abstract

Hundreds of millions of people rely on woodfuels for most of their energy needs, despite the problems associated with traditional use of woodfuels. Modern, efficient biomass stoves can alleviate some of these problems by reducing some householders' cash outlays for fuel, diminishing the time others must spend to collect fuel, reducing air pollution, and relieving local pressure on wood resources. The study explores the successes and failures of stove programs and suggests how adoption rates can be improved more consistently. Under the right conditions, the social, economic, and environmental benefits of promoting improved stoves are large. Programs must be targeted carefully, however, to situations in which people pay high prices for fuel or walk long distances to collect fuelwood or other biomass materials. Subsidies may aid in the distribution of stoves but may not result in actual stove use. Ultimately, dissemination programs are most effective when they allow for interaction and feedback between stove designers, producers, and users.