A National Strategy Proposal for Improved Cooking Stove Adoption in Honduras: Energy Consumption and Cost-Benefit Analysis

Abstract

The high consumption of firewood in Honduras necessitates the search for alternatives with less-negative effects on health, the economy, and the environment. One of these alternatives has been the promotion of improved cooking stoves, which achieve a large reduction in firewood consumption. This paper presents a cost-benefit analysis for an improved cooking stove adoption strategy for Honduras. The methodology uses the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System, LEAP, a tool used globally in the analysis and formulation of energy policies and strategies. The energy model considers the demand for firewood as well as the gradual introduction of improved cooking stoves, according to the premises of a National Strategy for improved cooking stoves adoption in Honduras. Hence, it is demonstrated that the costs of implementing this adoption strategy are lower than the costs of not implementing it, taking into consideration representative scenarios up to and including the year 2030.

Quantifying the Environmental Impacts of Cookstove Transitions: A Societal Exergy Analysis Based Model of Energy Consumption and Forest Stocks in Honduras

“…al. [15] found that implementing an improved cookstove strategy is significantly cheaper than non-implementation, while the implementation of an improved efficiency strategy with additional LPG is more expensive than non-implementation.…”

“…Other research has examined the costs and benefits of cookstove interventions in Latin America in general and in Honduras specifically. Flores et al [15] recently conducted a cost-benefit analysis of an improved efficiency intervention with and without LPG in Honduras from 2016 to 2030. Our paper complements the work of Flores et al by extending to a wider range of fuel replacements and by considering three key environmental impacts: national level emissions, forest stock depletion, and to a lesser extent, HAP.…”

“…Many people with improved stoves ultimately return to a traditional stove due to better perceived performance or unfamiliarity with new technology, which indicates a lack of satisfaction with improved cookstoves technology. In Honduras, approximately one in five recipients of improved stoves do not use the new technology [15]. In addition, field measurements of point-of-use emissions of improved stoves indicate that particulate matter reductions may be lower than laboratory tests would suggest [6].…”

“…The Fuel Switching (FS) scenario is clearly better than Improved Efficiency (IE) as far as forest stocks are concerned. Although the cost of increased LPG or electric usage might be initially higher than CT [15], the long term benefits in health improvements and forest preservation may eventually outweigh these costs. In addition, we must consider the other dimension of the PSB tradeoff, CO 2 emissions.…”

Assessment of Greenhouse Gases and Pollutant Emissions in the Road Freight Transport Sector: A Case Study for São Paulo State, Brazil

“…Several studies [23][24][25] around the world have been developed using energy planning models such as LEAP in order to evaluate different scenarios for future energy consumption and carbon emissions [26]; to forecast electricity demand [24]; to evaluate the impacts of technological changes [27,28]; energy and urban planning solutions [25]; to develop policies for low carbon development [29,30]. Moreover, the use of energy planning models is essential to identify possibilities through the scenarios built for different sectors, considering the energy supply and demand and a tool to analyze future policies [30].…”