Fuel efficiency of an improved wood-burning stove in rural Guatemala: implications for health, environment and development

Abstract

Around two-thirds of the populations of developing countries are still primarily dependent on biofuels for domestic use, and it is now well documented that this results in high levels of ind oor air pollution. The fuel efficiency and pollution emitted from biofuel stoves therefore have important implications for a number of important, interrelated aspects of development, including health promotion, protection of the environment, and the household economy. This study reports on the fuel efficiency of a popular wood-burning stove (the plancha) in western Guatemala, in comparison with the traditional open fire. This stove has been shown previously to substantially reduce levels of indoor air pollution. In standard water boiling and cooking tests, the plancha consumed more fuel and took longer than the open fire. Modification of the plancha combustion chamber by in clusion of a baffle resulted in a 12% improvement in overall thermal efficiency, bringing it up to the value for the open fire. In five-day tests of routine cooking, the modified plancha (with the baffle) was found to use 39% less fuel wood than the open fire. In selecting plancha stoves for the study, a high proportion were excluded due to cracks and other faults, and this highlights the pressing need for more attention to be paid to the longer-term sustainability of improved stoves. Nevertheless, the potential that stoves such as the plancha may have for substantially reducing fuel use as well as household pollution has important implications for poor populations in many parts of Latin America and other developing countries.