Abstract
To improve decision-making, sustainability-based approaches to assessment of options and undertakings demand that we move beyond narrowly defined considerations to address the full suite of requirements for progress towards sustainability. This paper reports on a sustainability assessment exercise that originally focused on burning agricultural residues, primarily peanut shells, for cooking applications in Senegal. The scope of assessment had to be expanded to address the agricultural and energy systems of Senegal, when closer examination revealed a complex set of energy and agricultural system interactions that could undermine the anticipated positive effects of initiatives centred primarily on peanut residue cookstoves. The case highlights the need to be open to expanding the scope of assessment to address underlying and/or unexpected issues that cannot be addressed appropriately at the project scale. In particular, the case illustrates how the assessment of an energy system may serve as an entry point into a deeper exploration of the context in which the energy system is embedded. The analysis also illustrates a situation in which different paths that may be followed, each with its own degree of uncertainty, path dependence, feasibility, fairness, cultural sensitivity, trade-off acceptability and possibilities for public judgement of overall desirability.
Highlights
How sustainable is it to burn peanut shells as a cooking fuel in Senegal? In Senegal and elsewhere, using agricultural residues as a cooking fuel appears to offer an attractive means of reversing deforestation, avoiding the hazards related to collecting fuelwood, and—with properly designed cookstoves—reducing the adverse health impacts related to cooking with traditional stoves [1,2,3,4].Since peanut shells in Senegal often collect next to processing facilities, or are burned in the fields, the potential to use residues for a productive task is enticing
This paper reports on a research project that set out to explore the potential for burning peanut shells in Senegal, with a particular focus on the country’s Peanut Basin, an area that accounts for approximately 30 percent of Senegal’s surface area and 75 percent of Senegal’s grain and peanut production [7]
The research began as an assessment of using peanut shells and other agricultural residues for cooking applications in Senegal
Summary
How sustainable is it to burn peanut shells as a cooking fuel in Senegal? In Senegal and elsewhere, using agricultural residues as a cooking fuel appears to offer an attractive means of reversing deforestation, avoiding the hazards related to collecting fuelwood, and—with properly designed cookstoves—reducing the adverse health impacts related to cooking with traditional stoves [1,2,3,4]. We planned to develop a comprehensive sustainability-based framework of context-specified criteria and apply it to identification and evaluation of cookstove options. It seemed to be a tidy little project. We propose a preliminary set of context-specified sustainability criteria for guiding decision making on energy and agricultural initiatives in Senegal, and present an initial set of observations about factors (conditions and trends) that represent key energy and agricultural considerations with implications for deliberations on use of peanut residues in cookstoves. We provide an initial response to the original question by arguing that burning agricultural residues for cooking applications appears to be generally unadvisable, and illustrate the potential for more positive alternatives with two options that merit further research
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
