Not just about cooking!!!!

Cooking on a three stone stove is the cheapest way to prepare food in many parts of the world. This is because to assemble a three stone stove you only require three suitable stones of the same height on which a cooking pot is balanced over a fire. That’s how cheap the stove is. This make many families across the word especially in Africa fall for them.

Ok cheap is expensive, many say so and indeed even in the cooking sector this turns out to be true. The seemingly cheap stove on the contrary has many problems:

• The inefficient transfer of energy requires the user to use more wood fuel, increasing the amount of wood harvested from the surrounding environment. The increased demand for wood can further deplete the already stressed local natural environment.
• Smoke is vented into the home, instead of outdoors, causing health problems.

• Only one cooking pot can be used at a time.
• The use of an open fire creates a risk of burns and scalds. Especially when the stove is used indoors, cramped conditions make adults and particularly children susceptible to falling or stepping into the fire and receiving burns.

The World Health Organization has documented a significant number of deaths caused by smoke from home fires. The negative impacts of such a process of cooking can be reduced by using improved cook stoves.

 In Kaptagat in the vast Rift Valley Region of Kenya we visit one of the Co2balance improved cook stove beneficiaries Alice Kiplimo who tells us  “Tangu nipewe hii jiko nimefurahia sana kwa sababu inafanya kazi harakana inatumia kuni chache(since I was given this stove five years ago it cooks faster and also consumes less wood”. She adds that because of its efficiency on wood usage it saves her time and in that she is able to do other activities that are incomes generating promoting the living standards of her family. For instance the time she would use going to collect firewood in the forest she tends her small piece of land with passion fruits that when ripe gives her up to 200/- per kilo, and she makes up to 15 – 20 kilos per week.

In her explanation she manages to clearly exhibit how the improved Co2balance stove has not only helped her change her cooking conditions but how the stove has changed her life as a whole. She says that before receiving the improved cook stove from Co2balance she used to use a three stove which consumed excess wood not allowing her have any extra time for any other activity; she basically would spend all her free time in the forest looking for firewood. However after getting the Co2balance improved cook stove which uses less fuel she has had many benefits; reduce wood fuel consumption by almost a half, improved health – more coughing like before, less time spent searching for wood etc. She explains how the improved stove has freed her allowing her function fully being her family’s bread-winner being able to invest in her farm planting passion fruits and having time to manage the fruits well. And as a single mother of two this has helped get earn an income which is helping her sustain her family.

With this living story it’s now possible to see the bigger picture and realize that improved cook stoves are not just for cooking.  They change lives beyond cooking.

Over the years Co2balance has been a front runner in improving access to affordable and reliable energy services for cooking in developing countries. And it’s on this basis that it has invested in over 67,000 improved cook stoves distributed across Kenya and still seeks to partner with like minded organizations to reach many more families which are still in dire need for an improved cook stove because it understands that it’s not just about cooking.

Carbon Counting

Since the Paris agreement was reached and political leaders across the world signalled their ambition and direction for the path ahead, it has become increasingly apparent that there is a huge need for ‘carbon accountants’. Now, the title ‘accountant’ doesn’t often inspire great aspirations but this is a different breed of accountant with a very different remit. In a world where companies now account for their carbon debits as well as their financial bottom line and countries have made ‘intended nationally determined contributions’ of how they intend to reduce emissions, there is a need to monitor, verify and report on carbon emissions and for those with the expertise to do so.

The job of calculating carbon emissions is not a simple one; an improved cook stove for example, may use less wood when cooking than an open fire but people may also use fuels other than wood, may use more wood during different seasons or still use an open fire to heat the family home; calculating how all this affects potential emission reductions from a new stove can be complicated.

At CO2balance, we have developed a breadth of expertise in precisely this area and have developed several climate mitigation projects that support some of the poorest communities in developing countries as well as helping to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. We have also worked with hundreds of companies around the world to calculate, verify and make savings on their carbon footprints. We support the agreement reached in Paris and will continue to build on this strong foundation.

We have recently advertised a new position for the role of Carbon Projects Officer in search of applicants to join our team whom we can share expertise with. The call for applications closes at 17:00 today and we look forward to bringing in a new member to our team who can contribute to our work at an exciting time when ‘carbon counters’ are becomingly increasingly essential for a carbon-free future.