Skip to content

Philippines Today

home of the Global Filipino

Menu
  • News Stories
  • Regional News
  • Business & Economy
  • Science & Technology
  • International
Menu

Roundup: World Bank says improved stoves crucial for saving lives, protecting environment

Posted on November 4, 2013

BEIJING, (PNA/Xinhua) — The World Bank is urging the use of advanced cooking stoves in developing countries to reduce harmful emissions and death from indoor biomass cooking smoke.

The World Bank said in a study released Monday it hoped to apply the success of the Chinese government’s clean stove initiative and promote clean cooking solutions worldwide.

“If more clean cooking stoves – stoves that use less or cleaner fuel – would be used, it could save one million lives,” said the study “On Thin Ice: How Cutting Pollution can Slow Warming and Save Lives.”

An estimated 4 million people die each year from stoves: 3.5 million from indoor smoke exposure and another 500,000 due to stoves’ contribution to outdoor pollution, it said.

Biomass cooking smoke produced by traditional stoves is associated with a number of diseases, including respiratory illness, cataracts and even cancer, with women and children mainly affected.

The black carbon particle, a by-product of inefficient stove burning which can fasten deeper in the lungs, is toxic and extremely difficult to cough out, said the study.

Nearly 3 billion people in developing countries who burn biomass or coal to cook and heat their houses are in jeopardy, as are sea ice, snow cover and permafrost around the globe.

About 730 million tons of biomass fuel is burned annually in developing countries as household fuel, contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including methane and carbon dioxide, according to the World Bank’s 2011 report on household cooking stoves.

Scientists have observed the loss of albedo (the earth’s solar reflectivity), permafrost melt and rising sea levels in five cryosphere regions, including the Himalayas, the Arctic and Antarctica due to the global warming caused by GHGs, according to the latest study.

In addition, atmospheric scientists also found that biomass sources can produce “light-colored” substances and black carbon particles that can form clouds and reflect sunlight, which is an uncertain and complex threat to the environment.

Therefore, the World Bank called for “early and urgent action” to replace traditional stoves with a 50-50 mix of stoves using liquid petroleum gas or fan-assisted stoves, since these two approaches were the most effective in solving the problem in developing countries.

However, most developing countries are still faced with technical and financial difficulties.

According to the World Bank’s 2011 report, only China, among all the developing nations, has a high percentage of households that have adopted improved cooking stoves.

It said China’s National Improved Stove Program in the 1980s and 1990s, which focused on energy efficiency and household smoke removal through a chimney, was “an enormous success by any standard.”

“Although the program is no longer extensively funded, the private sector still produces stove components and is leading the way by producing more efficient and less polluting models,” it said.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit

Related

News Categories

  • Announcement (34)
  • Business & Economy (1,567)
  • Comment and Opinion (74)
    • Random Thoughts (18)
  • Current Issues (425)
    • Charter Change (1)
    • Election (228)
    • Population (6)
  • International (389)
  • Life In Japan (66)
    • Everything Japan (41)
  • Literary (34)
  • Miscellaneous (610)
  • News Stories (5,312)
  • OFW Corner (297)
  • Others (75)
  • People (408)
  • Press Releases (163)
  • Regional News (3,362)
  • Science and Technology (502)
  • Sports & Entertainment (287)

Latest News

  • BSP keeps policy rates anew December 17, 2015
  • NEDA cuts PHL additional rice import for 2016 by 25% December 17, 2015
  • DA cites serious implications of banning genetically modified products December 17, 2015
  • BBL is not yet dead – Drilon December 17, 2015
  • Comelec recognizes Duterte’s CoC for president December 17, 2015
  • NEDA chief sees 2015 growth at 6% despite typhoons December 17, 2015
  • House of Representatives ratifies bicam report on P3.002-T national budget for 2016 December 17, 2015
  • Cebu-based developer invests PHP430M to build 709 townhouse units in north Cebu town December 17, 2015
  • City gov’t eyes P75-M income from economic enterprise December 17, 2015
  • Baguio City LGU presents traffic plan for holiday season December 17, 2015

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Science and Technology

  • DOST-ICTO targets 500,000 web-based workers from countryside by 2016
  • (Feature) STARBOOKS: A ‘makeover’ for librarians
  • Science, research reduce ‘cocolisap’ hotspot areas in PHL
  • Montejo to further improve PAGASA and empower scientists
  • 1st PPP in biomedical research produces knee replacement system fit for Asians

Press Releases

  • Microsoft to buy Nokia’s mobile devices business for 5.44-B euros
  • New World Bank climate change report should spur SEA and world leaders into action: Greenpeace
  • Save the Philippine Seas before it’s too late — Greenpeace
  • Palanca Awards’ last call for entries
  • Philippines joins the global call for Arctic protection

Comment and Opinion

  • Remembering the dead is a celebration of life
  • Killer earthquake unlikely to hit Panay Island in near future – analyst
  • It’s not just more fun to invest in the Philippines, it is also profitable, says President Aquino
  • How does one differentiate a tamaraw from a carabao?
  • Fun is not just about the place, it is also about the people, says DOT chief

OFW Corner

  • Ebola infection risk low in Croatia
  • Death toll rises to 41, over 100 still missing in landslide in India
  • Asbestos use in construction a labor hazard
  • 500,000 OFWs to benefit POEA on-line transactions — Baldoz
  • 25 distressed OFWs return home from Riyadh
©2025 Philippines Today | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme