Pellet-fuelled cookstove cuts pollution and saves lives

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over three billion people in low-and middle-income countries rely on solid fuels - such as wood and charcoal - burned in inefficient and highly polluting stoves for cooking and heating, resulting in around four million premature deaths per year. WHO add that the same pollutants, including black carbon, negatively impact climate change.

The new design was evaluated during a Rwandan field study by a team from North Carolina State University (NC State).

“There have been numerous attempts to develop cleaner cookstoves for use in developing countries, but while they’ve often done well in lab testing, they’ve had disappointing performance when tested in real-world conditions,” said Andy Grieshop, an associate professor of environmental engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper on the work. “However, we found that the pellet-fed stoves performed well in the field. We saw drastic cuts in pollutant emissions.”

According to NC State, the pellet-fuelled stoves rely on battery-powered fans to burn the pellets efficiently, reducing pollutants. The stoves come with solar panels for recharging the batteries, making long-term use feasible in off-grid areas.