Success of Alcohol Based Cooking Fuels for Reducing Household Air Pollution

Background. Over 3 billion people worldwide rely on biomass such as firewood, charcoal, or dung for their cooking needs. The use of biomass fuels emits high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) leading to pneumonia, acute lower respiratory infections, COPD, lung cancer, heart disease, and blindness. It is estimated that household air pollution (HAP) causes 3.5 million premature deaths annually. HAP is a top risk factors for ill-health globally and it is crucial to explore new cookstove and fuel interventions that reduce the burden of HAP and improve the health of women and children.

Research: This presentation explores the use of ethanol cooking fuel in Madagascar to reduce exposure to HAP and related illness.  As part of a three year World Bank funded study, two communities in Madagascar (coastal and highland) were provided ethanol cookstoves. Following the intervention, ethanol cookstoves significantly reduced women’s exposure to CO in both regions (75% highland; 54% coastal) and children’s exposure by 60% in the highland location (non-significant reduction by 14% coastal).  Households with ethanol stoves saw a significant reduction of headaches (93%) and eye irritation (72%) among women and a significant reduction in adult burns (74%) and child burns (64%). Modeling future uptake of ethanol stoves and pollutant reduction demonstrated a relative risk reduction for ALRIs among children, COPD among adults, and ischemic heart disease.  The ethanol stove saved an average of 2.5 hours per day of cooking over traditional fuels. No other stove examined saw significant HAP reductions need to improve health.

Conclusion: Alcohol fuels and cookstoves have the potential to significantly reduce HAP and illness that may result from HAP exposure. Additional solutions other than solid fuel cookstoves are needed to make a significant health impact.