A global review of end user needs: Establishing the need for adaptable cookstoves

Thacker, Kendall S.; Barger, McCall; Mattson, Christopher A.

doi:10.1109/ghtc.2014.6970352

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Beyond the question of improved training, the suggestion has been made that an adaptable cook stove that could be adjusted to serve a variety of specific and variable user needs could overcome some of the resistance to adoption (Thacker et al 2014). While we agree that flexiblity in design could be helpful, we would also suggest that inclusive, participatory methods of stove design that included user input at the beginning of the design process might be a constructive approach.…”

Section: Household Use Of the Gasifier Cooking Systemsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Hence, understanding the different aspects of the problem, from its socio-economic to its behavioral dimensions, becomes crucial. Thacker et al (2014) performed a comprehensive review of the existing literature on improved cook stove adoption globally and concluded, as we have done, that end user's needs must be identified and incorporated into the design process or stoves will not be used. An even more recent study by Khandelwal et al (2017) discusses the failure of the extensive investments in India precisely because stoves do not meet the user's needs and preferences.…”

Section: Concentrations From Cooking With Charcoal or Firewoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quality of charcoal produced using micro gasification and how the new cook stove works in rural Kenya

Njenga

Mahmoud

Mendum

et al. 2016

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Wood based energy is the main source of cooking and heating fuel in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its use rises as the population increases. Inefficient cook stoves result in fuel wastage and health issues associated with smoke in the kitchen. As users are poor women, they tend not to be consulted on cook stove development, hence the need for participatory development of efficient woodfuel cooking systems. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Embu, Kenya to assess energy use efficiency and concentrations of carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter from charcoal produced using gasifier cook stoves, compared to conventional wood charcoal. Charcoal made from Grevillea robusta prunings, Zea mays cob (maize cob) and Cocos nucifera (coconut shells) had calorific values of 26.5 kJ g À1 , 28.7 kJ g À1 and 31.7 kJ g À1 respectively, which are comparable to conventional wood charcoal with calorific values of 33.1 kJ g À1 . Cooking with firewood in a gasifier cook stove and use of the resultant charcoal as by-product to cook another meal in a conventional charcoal stove saved 41% of the amount of fuel compared to cooking with firewood in the traditional three stone open fire. Cooking with firewood based on G. robusta prunings in the traditional open fire resulted in a concentration of fine particulate matter of 2600 mg m À3 , which is more than 100 times greater than from cooking with charcoal made from G. robusta prunings in a gasifier. Thirty five percent of households used the gasifier for cooking dinner and lunch, and cooks preferred using it for food that took a short time to prepare. Although the gasifier cook stove is energy and emission efficient there is a need for it to be developed further to better suit local cooking preferences. The energy transition in Africa will have to include cleaner and more sustainable wood based cooking systems.

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Section: Household Use Of the Gasifier Cooking Systemsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Concentrations From Cooking With Charcoal or Firewoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of charcoal produced using micro gasification and how the new cook stove works in rural Kenya

Njenga

Mahmoud

Mendum

et al. 2016

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Chan and Zhen (2009) indicated that the use of cleaner sources of fuels will increase with government subsidy in various places while Wu (2012) suggested the importance of policy regulation and legislation in adoption of cleaner fuels. Thacker et al, (2014) stated that since the late 1990's over 100 cookstoves projects with improved burning efficiencies have been initiated but adoption rate has been low, because the stoves do not meet the needs of the users which vary across different regions and different households. This research was carried out in Laini Saba area, Kibera Constituency, Nairobi County, Kenya.…”

Section: Saferfuture and Cooking Fuel Choicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Energy Choice for Cooking Fuel and Underlying Circumstances in Non-Formal Urban Settlements in Kenya

Oluoch

Nyamasyo

2020

JARFAES

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This study investigated the choice of cooking fuel and underlying circumstances in Kibra slums in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study focused on various factors that influence household choice of cooking fuel and those which could keep household away from using other cooking fuels in non-formal settlements areas in the urban set-up. The study was both quantitative and qualitative and used questionnaires and observation schedules to collect data among targeted households. The findings suggest that various factors play crucial roles in determining household choice of improved fuel for cooking but most dominant factors were; time spent to cook a meal, ease of lighting, affordability, availability of fuel and its storage. The study also realized that lack of sufficient income has little influence on people to adopt or reject improved fuels. The paper argues that more data and necessary information need to be provided on the merits and demerits of various types of improved cooking fuel to the household in the slums and the its environs to enable the residents make better choices. The findings of this study indicated that for fuel choice at various household levels, it is still a challenge as some of the households targeted did not have any good reason why they use their preferred fuel type and have no much knowledge on any dangers associated with their cooking fuel choices apart from when they witness an incidence or incidence which could be considered as dangerous.

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“…The slow progress in achieving impact on a substantial scale is in part due to the underestimation of the value that for many people is hidden in the current system [3], like entrenched jobs in current value chains, or underestimation of the relevance of human behavior as opposed to technical features [5]. Indeed, many studies found similar reasons like user-insensitive design [12], focusing on technical functionality but discounting socio-cultural fits [13], focus on just technology [14], technological efficiency without much consideration for affordability for end-users after a donor-funded phase [15] or a focus on getting "anything" out there to capture market share and then expand quickly [16]. In the end, the effectiveness of interventions needs to be assessed based on the combination of the incidence of technology adoption (extensive margin), and the way the technology is actually used (intensive margin) [17].…”

Section: Current State Of Cooking and Relation To Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Performance of Biomass Gasifier Stoves: Influence of a Multi-Context Approach

et al. 2017

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Millions of people worldwide die prematurely or suffer from severe health ailments due to cooking equipment that causes unhealthy doses of (household) air pollution. Many attempts to address this have fallen short because technology was not improved sufficiently or the way it was introduced constituted an ill fit with the broader "cooking eco-system". In terms of technology, (biomass) gasifier stoves look promising on all three sustainability dimensions (people, planet, profit) but have not been adopted on a substantial scale across cultures and regions either. We therefore used a design approach that takes multiple contexts (target groups) into account and compared the performance of a gasifier stove that was developed following this multi-context approach with four previous gasifier versions. With the comparative assessment using criteria well beyond mere technological performance we found that it performed better than these versions as well as than what could be expected based on historical learning, while providing additional systemic advantages. These results encourage verification of the value of the multi-context approach in more settings while providing clues for refinement of the assessment method.

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A global review of end user needs: Establishing the need for adaptable cookstoves

Cited by 18 publications

References 50 publications

Quality of charcoal produced using micro gasification and how the new cook stove works in rural Kenya

Quality of charcoal produced using micro gasification and how the new cook stove works in rural Kenya

Household Energy Choice for Cooking Fuel and Underlying Circumstances in Non-Formal Urban Settlements in Kenya

Comparing Performance of Biomass Gasifier Stoves: Influence of a Multi-Context Approach

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