Abstract
Interventions implementing clean fuels to mitigate household air pollution in low- and middle-income countries have focused on environmental and health outcomes, but few have evaluated time savings. We performed a systematic review, searching for studies of clean fuel interventions that measured time use. A total of 868 manuscripts were identified that met the search criteria, but only 2 met the inclusion criteria. Both were cross-sectional and were conducted in rural India. The first surveyed the female head of household (141 using biogas and 58 using biomass) and reported 1.2 h saved per day collecting fuel and 0.7 h saved cooking, resulting in a combined 28.9 days saved over an entire year. The second surveyed the head of household (37 using biogas and 68 using biomass, 13% female) and reported 1.5 h saved per day collecting fuel, or 22.8 days saved over a year. Based on these time savings, we estimated that clean fuel use could result in a 3.8% or 4.7% increase in daily income, respectively, not including time or costs for fuel procurement. Clean fuel interventions could save users time and money. Few studies have evaluated this potential benefit, suggesting that prospective studies or randomized controlled trials are needed to adequately measure gains.
Highlights
Forty percent of households in low- and/or middle-income countries (LMICs) use biomass fuels as their primary fuel for cooking and heating [1]
We found several studies that evaluated time savings but did not meet our inclusion criteria because there was not a quantitative measure of time use, time was modeled based on assumptions and not collected directly from participants, or the evaluation did not compare a clean fuel group to a biomass fuel group
Both studies found that users of clean fuels spent considerably less time collecting fuel and cooking compared to biomass users
Summary
Forty percent of households in low- and/or middle-income countries (LMICs) use biomass fuels as their primary fuel for cooking and heating [1]. Biomass burning results in household air pollution (HAP), which is composed of harmful pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ), nitrous oxide, endotoxins, and carbon dioxide [2]. Burning biomass fuel for cooking has negative environmental consequences, exacerbating global warming and contributing to deforestation [3]. In 2017, HAP exposure was associated with 1.6 million premature deaths and 59.5 million disability-adjusted life-years lost worldwide [5]. Exposure to HAP is associated with welfare and labor income losses estimated at USD. List and define all variables for which data were sought (e.g., PICOS, funding sources) and any assumptions and simplifications made
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