A Comparative Study on Carbon Emission Control of Selected Stoves in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, a hot and humid tropical country in West Africa, is primarily agricultural, with about 75 percent of its population getting its living from farming. The farming activities involve massive cutting of forest and burning of biomass with little or no tree planting options. Hence Sierra Leone is presently affected by global warming through climate change as justified by it effect on the two seasons (dry and rainy seasons). The normal duration for dry season was 6 months; now reduce to 4 months. Even though the use of biomass (solid fuel) in stoves is wide spread in Sierra Leone, no coherent data is available for this source of emission. Because of poor combustion characteristics of traditional stoves, significant portion of the fuel carbon is diverted into products of incomplete combustion (PICs), which have greater impacts on climate than CO2. Base on the design, improved stoves have the potential to reduce deforestation, improve health, and slow climate change in Sierra Leone. The aim of this research is to provide recommendations to the Government of Sierra Leone that would positively contribute in reducing carbon emission and hence combating global warming. The general objective of the study is to evaluate the performance of two improved and two traditional stove designs using the 2003 University of California-Berkeley (UCB) revised Water Boiling Test (WBT) Version 3.0 to compare the fuel use, carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) emissions produced.