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Household Energy and Clean Cookstove Research

 
Cookstoves tested for air pollutant emissions and energy efficiency
Cookstoves tested for air pollutant emissions and energy efficiency

According to the World Health Organization, smoke from energy generated in households by cooking, heating and lighting is a major contributor to indoor air pollution in the developing world causing 3 to 4 million premature deaths annually and a wide range of illnesses.

Nearly 3 billion people in the world still depend on the burning of biomass (wood, charcoal, crop residues, and dung) and coal in rudimentary stoves or open fires to meet basic needs for household energy. People in the developing world, primarily women and children, are exposed to smoke with high concentrations of pollutants such as fine particles composed of toxic compounds.  Approximately a half a million people in the U.S. are affected by indoor air pollution from poorly ventilated stoves, and household air pollution generated in Asia effects air quality in the U.S., especially in western states.

Health studies show that exposure to household smoke contributes to a wide range of illnesses such as pneumonia and low-birth weight in children, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, blindness, and heart disease in adults, especially women who are disproportionately exposed in their homes.

Household Energy Research

EPA is an international leader in household energy research and provides independent scientific data on stove emissions and energy efficiency to support the development of cleaner sustainable technologies.

Laboratory testing is being conducted at EPA's household energy test facility in Research Triangle Park, NC. The facility has state-of-the-art measurement capabilities to characterize emissions of gases and aerosols, including toxic air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and black carbon.

Studies are conducted using multiple stoves and fuels tested under varying conditions to simulate operating conditions found in the field. EPA also sponsors and supports field testing.

EPA also conducts studies to understand the health effects from exposure to emissions from cookstoves.

Impact

EPA's research is making a significant contribution to providing cleaner household energy technology throughout the world.

As part of this effort, EPA supports development of standard cookstove testing methods and protocols through ISO Technical Committee 285, Clean Cookstoves and Clean Cooking Solutions. Standards provide incentives for stove developers to innovate and improve stove performance.

The work is supporting the Clean Cooking Alliance, which has a goal to achieve universal access to clean cooking solutions.

Investors, donors, and governments are seeking out the independent data to make decisions about clean cookstove programs. The science is providing information to cookstove developers and manufacturers to advance clean cookstove technology. EPA helps to support international Regional Testing and Knowledge Centers, many of which are sponsored by the Clean Cooking Alliance. The Centers are building capacity for evaluating stoves following international standards.

The scientific contributions by EPA are:

  • Improving the health of people in the developing world
  • Addressing environmental problems with cookstoves such as deforestation when wood is sought for burning
  • Addressing emissions of black carbon and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
  • Improving air quality in the U.S.

Webinar Recording: Five Years of Progress in Household Energy Research and Future Directions

A recording has been made of the  webinar, "Five Years of Progress in Household Energy Research and Future Directions," conducted Sept. 22, 2020, by EPA researchers and research grant recipients in the Agency's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program. The webinar highlighted research results from 2015-2020 to address global public health and environmental impacts from the burning of wood, charcoal, coal, and other biomass for meeting basic household energy needs such as cooking, heating, and lighting. A bibliography of the research and responses to questions during the webinar are also available. 

  • Bibliography and response to questions from webinar participants.

Five Years of Progress in Household Energy Research and Future Directions Webinar Recording

Related Resources

Key Links

  • EPA STAR grant publications 
  • Clean Cooking Alliance
  • ISO Technical Committee 285, Clean Cookstoves and Clean Cooking Solutions 
  • World Health Organization
  • Household Energy and Clean Air

Highlighted Scientific Journal Articles 

Chowdhury S, Pillarisetti A, Oberholzer A, Jetter J, Mitchell J, Cappuccilli E, Aamaas B, Aunan K, Pozzer A, Alexander D. A global review of the state of the evidence of household air pollution's contribution to ambient fine particulate matter and their related health impacts.  Environment International.  Vol. 173.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2023.107835. 2023.

Mutlu E, Cristy T, Stiffler B, Waidyanatha S, Chartier R, Jetter J, Krantz T, Shen G, Champion W, Miller B, Richey J, Burback B, Rider CV. Do storage conditions affect collected cookstove emission samples? Implications for field studies. Analytical Letters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00032719.2022.2150772. 2022.

Champion WM, Hays MD, Williams C, Virtaranta L, Barnes M, Preston W, Jetter JJ. Cookstove emissions and performance evaluation using a new ISO protocol and comparison of results with previous test protocols. Environmental Science & Technology. Vol. 55, Pp 15333-15342. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c03390. 2021.

Xie M, Zhao Z, Holder AL, Hays MD, Chen X, Shen G, Jetter JJ, Champion WM, Wang Q.  Chemical composition, structures, and light absorption of N-containing aromatic compounds emitted from burning wood and charcoal in household cookstoves.  Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. Vol. 20, Pp 14077–14090. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14077-2020. 2020.

Ebersviller, SM, Jetter JJ. Evaluation of performance of household solar cookers. Solar Energy. Vol. 208, Pp.166-172. 2020.

Champion WM, Warren SH, Kooter IM, Preston W, Krantz QT, DeMarini DM, Jetter JJ. Mutagenicity- and pollutant-emission factors of pellet-fueled gasifier cookstoves: Comparison with other combustion sources.  Science of the Total Environment. 20 May 2020.

Du W, Zhu X, Chen Y, Liu W, Wang W, Shen G, Tao S, Jetter J.  Field-based emission measurements of biomass burning in typical Chinese built-in-place stoves.  Environmental Pollution. Vol. 242, Pp. 1587-1597. 2018

Xie M, Shen G, Holder AL, Hays MD, Jetter JJ.  Light absorption of organic carbon emitted from burning wood, charcoal, and kerosene in household cookstoves.  Environmental Pollution. Vol. 240, Pp. 60-67. 2018.

Shen G, Hays MS, Smith KR, Williams C, Faircloth JW, Jetter JJ.  Evaluating the Performance of Household Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cookstoves.  Environmental Science & Technology. Vol. 52, Pp. 904–915. 2018.

Gibbs-Flournoy EA, Gilmour MI, Higuchi M, Jetter J, George I, Copeland L, Harrison R, Moser VC, Dye JA.  Differential exposure and acute health impacts of inhaled solid-fuel emissions from rudimentary and advanced cookstoves in female CD-1 mice. Environmental Research 161.  Pp. 35-48. 2018.

Shen G, Gaddam C, Ebersviller S, Vander Wal R, Williams C, Faircloth J, Jetter J, Hays M. Emission factors, number size distributions and morphology of ultrafine particles in cookstove smoke: A laboratory comparison of different household stove-fuel systems.  Environmental Science & Technology. Vol. 51, Pp. 6522–6532. 2017.

Shen G, Preston W, Ebersviller SM, Williams C, Faircloth JW, Jetter JJ, Hays MD. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fine particulate matter emitted from burning kerosene, liquid petroleum gas, and wood fuels in household cookstoves. Energy & Fuels. 2017.

Mutlu E, Warren SH, Ebersviller SM, Kooter IM, Schmid JE, Dye JA, Linak WP, Gilmour MI, Jetter JJ, Higuchi M, DeMarini DM.  Mutagenicity- and pollutant-emission factors of solid-fuel cookstoves: comparison to other combustion sources. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2016.

Jetter JJ, Zhao Y, Smith KR, Khan B, Yelverton T, DeCarlo P, Hays M.  Pollutant emissions and energy efficiency under controlled conditions for household biomass cookstoves and implications for metrics useful in setting international test standards.  Environmental Science & Technology. Vol. 46, pp. 10827-34. 2012.

EPA Reports

Jetter J, “Cookstove Laboratory Research – Fiscal Year 2016 Report.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, ORD-017772, 2017.

Jetter J, Ebersviller S, Shen G. "Test Report – StoveTeam International, Ecocina Stove with Wood Fuel – Air Pollutant Emissions and Fuel Efficiency," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, ORD-010644, 2016.

Jetter J, Ebersviller S. "Test Report – InStove 60-Liter Institutional Stove with Wood Fuel – Air Pollutant Emissions and Fuel Efficiency," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, ORD-015778, 2016.

Jetter, J; Ebersviller, S. "Test Report – CleanCook Model A1 Stove with Alcohol Fuel – Air Pollutant Emissions and Fuel Efficiency," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, ORD-014408, 2016.

Jetter, J; Ebersviller, S. "Test Report - BioLite HomeStove with Wood Fuel - Air Pollutant Emissions and Fuel Efficiency," U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, ORD-010644, 2016.

Life Cycle Assessments

Life Cycle Assessment of Cooking Fuel Systems in India, China, Kenya, and Ghana. Morelli B, Cashman S, Rodgers M.  EPA/600/R17/225, 2017.

Life Cycle Assessment of Cookstove Fuels in India and China. Cashman S, Rodgers M, Huff M, Feraldi R, Morelli B, Thorneloe SA. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-15/325, 2016.

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Last updated on March 3, 2023
United States Environmental Protection Agency

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