Page 1 - Selecting the Appropriate Improved Cooking Technology: What Matters?
P. 1
POLICY BRIEFPToElRi cI yP oBlriiceyf B r i e f May 2015
The Energy and Resources Institute
Selecting the
Appropriate
Improved Cooking
Technology: What
Matters?
CONTENTS 1 Introduction
• Introduction 2 Improved biomass cookstoves projects are being prioritized, nationally and
• ‘Improved’ Cookstoves: 2 internationally, for development funding in India. While the Government of
3 India’s National Biomass Cookstoves Programme1 is the largest of its kind,
Setting the Bar 4 there are many other national and regional improved cookstoves projects being
• Diversity in Cooking Practices 5 implemented by multilateral and bilateral agencies. A review of cookstove
• Fuel Used projects reveals the poor state of adoption of improved biomass cooking
• After-sales Support technology2 and a multitude of inadequately understood factors that drive
• Recommendations adoption.3 The type of improved biomass cookstove technology purchased
by the households is recognized as a significant determinant of adoption.
Author There are numerous variants of improved biomass cookstoves available in the
S Arun, Area Convener and Associate Fellow, Indian market, varying by cost, source of draft (air), type of fuel used, mode of
Rural Resources Management, TERI fuel loading, materials used, stove efficiency, to name a few. Many improved
cookstove programmes are technology specific, focusing dissemination efforts
Advisor on a few pre-selected models of improved cookstoves. The National Biomass
Dr Ibrahim H Rehman, Director, Social Cookstoves Programme, though favouring greater diversity in cookstove
Transformation, TERI technology, limits itself to technical performance of the cookstove as the initial
criteria for selection of cookstove models supported by the programme.
Acknowledgements
This discussion paper is the result of a project However, the suitability of the type of improved cookstove technology
supported by the Department for International depends on various contextual specificities, of which technical performance
Development, Government of UK on
dissemination of clean energy technologies in DO MARKETS MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE?
India and Africa.
Market-driven dissemination of improved cookstoves enhances adoption by allowing consumers to choose
The Energy and Resources Institute the technology of their preference. However, market-driven dissemination cannot solely ensure adoption.
Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, First, marketed improved cookstoves may be unaffordable for poor but needy households, who need these
Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003 cookstoves the most. Second, consumers may purchase an improved cookstove based on its attractiveness and
brand value, with little thought on its functional utility. Third, improved cookstoves programmes are not long
Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 enough to fully understand the influence of market forces on selection of a technology in a nascent market.
Fax. 2468 2144 or 2468 2145
India +91 Delhi (0) 11 1 Available at http://mnre.gov.in/schemes/decentralized-systems/national-biomass-cookstoves-initiative/, last accessed
on 12 April 2015.
www.teriin.org
32 Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, et al. 2012. "Low demand for nontraditional cookstove technologies." In Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences 109.27: 10815–10820.
3 Lewis, Jessica J., and Subhrendu K. Pattanayak. 2012. "Who adopts improved fuels and cookstoves? A systematic review."
Environmental Health Perspectives 120.5: 637–645.
The Energy and Resources Institute
Selecting the
Appropriate
Improved Cooking
Technology: What
Matters?
CONTENTS 1 Introduction
• Introduction 2 Improved biomass cookstoves projects are being prioritized, nationally and
• ‘Improved’ Cookstoves: 2 internationally, for development funding in India. While the Government of
3 India’s National Biomass Cookstoves Programme1 is the largest of its kind,
Setting the Bar 4 there are many other national and regional improved cookstoves projects being
• Diversity in Cooking Practices 5 implemented by multilateral and bilateral agencies. A review of cookstove
• Fuel Used projects reveals the poor state of adoption of improved biomass cooking
• After-sales Support technology2 and a multitude of inadequately understood factors that drive
• Recommendations adoption.3 The type of improved biomass cookstove technology purchased
by the households is recognized as a significant determinant of adoption.
Author There are numerous variants of improved biomass cookstoves available in the
S Arun, Area Convener and Associate Fellow, Indian market, varying by cost, source of draft (air), type of fuel used, mode of
Rural Resources Management, TERI fuel loading, materials used, stove efficiency, to name a few. Many improved
cookstove programmes are technology specific, focusing dissemination efforts
Advisor on a few pre-selected models of improved cookstoves. The National Biomass
Dr Ibrahim H Rehman, Director, Social Cookstoves Programme, though favouring greater diversity in cookstove
Transformation, TERI technology, limits itself to technical performance of the cookstove as the initial
criteria for selection of cookstove models supported by the programme.
Acknowledgements
This discussion paper is the result of a project However, the suitability of the type of improved cookstove technology
supported by the Department for International depends on various contextual specificities, of which technical performance
Development, Government of UK on
dissemination of clean energy technologies in DO MARKETS MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE?
India and Africa.
Market-driven dissemination of improved cookstoves enhances adoption by allowing consumers to choose
The Energy and Resources Institute the technology of their preference. However, market-driven dissemination cannot solely ensure adoption.
Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex, First, marketed improved cookstoves may be unaffordable for poor but needy households, who need these
Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003 cookstoves the most. Second, consumers may purchase an improved cookstove based on its attractiveness and
brand value, with little thought on its functional utility. Third, improved cookstoves programmes are not long
Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 enough to fully understand the influence of market forces on selection of a technology in a nascent market.
Fax. 2468 2144 or 2468 2145
India +91 Delhi (0) 11 1 Available at http://mnre.gov.in/schemes/decentralized-systems/national-biomass-cookstoves-initiative/, last accessed
on 12 April 2015.
www.teriin.org
32 Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, et al. 2012. "Low demand for nontraditional cookstove technologies." In Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences 109.27: 10815–10820.
3 Lewis, Jessica J., and Subhrendu K. Pattanayak. 2012. "Who adopts improved fuels and cookstoves? A systematic review."
Environmental Health Perspectives 120.5: 637–645.
