At first, everyone jumped on the bandwagon, from big multinationalcorporations to Hollywood actress Julia Roberts and U.S. Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton. Momentum and publicity grew steadily,with 35 countries joining. But now there are hard questions about whether the campaign isactually benefiting poor people. A new study has found awkwardevidence that casts doubt on the much-hyped campaign.
The randomized trial in India found little benefit from the newstoves, no reduction in air pollution, and no improvement in thehealth of their users. The official campaign goal is to produce 100 million clean newcookstoves by 2020. The campaigners have produced research showingthat the smoke from traditional stoves is killing two million womenand children annually – mostly in Africa, India and China.That"s twice the annual death toll from malaria, which getsfar more attention. There is little question about the serious risks of most stoves inthe developing world. They burn wood, charcoal or dung, and theirdirty smoke fills the air in small huts, releasing dust thatcontributes to pneumonia, lung cancer, heart disease and many otherillnesses.
The health risks were long ignored. "This is probably thebiggest health problem you"ve never heard of," saysKris Balderston, a senior official in the U.S. State Department whois in Africa this week to boost the cookstove campaign. Replacing old stoves with new efficient ones could also fightglobal warming.
The "black carbon" from old cookingstoves is a major contributor to greenhouse gases in theatmosphere. While the campaign"s goals are laudable, there"s neverbeen much research into the effectiveness of its efforts in thereal world. Now a new study in India, led by top scholars atHarvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,has found that the new stoves are much less useful than theirsupporters had hoped. The researchers took 2,600 new stoves and sold them (at heavilysubsidized prices) to families in 44 villages across India. Thenthey monitored the families for up to four years.
The results were worrisome. The study found some reduction in smokeinhalation in the first year, but no significant improvement in thelong run. The use of the new stoves declined rapidly over time, the healthbenefits failed to materialize, lung functioning did not improve,there was no significant change in fuel consumption or pollutionlevels, and those who adopted the new stoves actually suffered adecline in their living standards because of the additional timethey needed to spend in maintaining the new stoves. By the end of the study, most families were hardly using the cleanstoves. Others used the stoves improperly.
Many stoves fell intodisrepair or disuse because families could not afford the cost ofrepairs and maintenance. Despite the new study, the U.S. campaigners are determined to pushahead. Speaking to African journalists in a conference call today,they argued that the randomized trial in India was a good lesson inhow to improve their campaign and make it more effective. "It"s a great study," said Jacob Moss, a U.S.official who helped found the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves,the driving force behind the worldwide campaign.
He praised the "impeccable" research by the"top-notch" researchers. But he argued that the studyis actually a validation of the campaign"s efforts. Thestoves distributed by the researchers in India were low-qualitystoves (valued at just $12.50 each) and the campaign should insteadbe distributing better stoves, despite their high cost, Mr. Mosssaid.
He said the India study shows how the campaign needs more than justgood technology to succeed. It needs to persuade people to adoptthe stoves, and it needs to ensure that the results in the realworld are as good as they are in the laboratory. "If thestoves don"t perform in the field as they do in the lab, itwon"t work," he said. I am an expert from Automobiles & Motorcycles, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as dodge billet grille , automatic slack adjusters.
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