Gaia bringing ethanol stoves to Ethiopia in bid to reduce soot, CO and reduce deforestation

In Ethiopia, Project Gaia and its sister organization Gaia Association (an Ethiopian NGO) are leading a global initiative to promote the simple alcohols, ethanol and methanol, for household cooking and appliance use, and are leading with a high-performing stove, the CleanCook stove.  This stove, developed by a Swedish inventor 30 years ago and popularized in developed world markets by the Swedish company Dometic AB, is ‘Best Available Technology’.  It burns hot and clean, producing 1.5 kW per burner, closely resembling the performance of a propane gas or LPG burner.

It produces no soot and very low carbon monoxide (CO).  Alcohol can be sourced locally from agricultural feedstocks and residues (ethanol), or even from landfill gas, gasified wood waste and flared gas from oil fields (methanol).   Gaia is
currently commercializing the stove in Ethiopia, and runs a stove project for the UNHCR in several refugee camps where the camp residents have no access to traditional fuels.  To date approximately 6,000 stoves have been disseminated.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Gaia launches pilot ethanol stove program in Ethiopia; emissions, deforestation, crime reduction are goals

In Ethiopia, the Gaia Association said that it has provided ethanol stoves to more than 1700 families in a pilot program to promote safety and reduce wood consumption. The ethanol fuel for the stoves ...

Ethiopian ethanol stove program wins Ashden Award for reducing deforestation

In Ethiopia, the Gaia Association, won an Ashden Award for its ethanol stoves distributed to residents of Kebribeyah Refugee Camp. The ethanol cookstove, designed in Sweden and distributed by Gaia, wa...

Ethiopia to increase sugarcane ethanol production, ethanol stove distribution in bid to counter intolerable kerosene stove fuel costs

In Ethiopia, the national government said that it intends to increase ethanol production capacity to 34 Mgy from four sugarcane ethanol plants in Methara, Wonji, Finchaa and Tendaho, while the Gaia As...

Ethiopia launches E5 ethanol; will save $50 million per month in foreign currency

In Ethiopia, the Petroleum Blending Depot in Sululta, near Addis Ababa, has commenced distribution of E5 ethanol-blended gasoline. Government officials said that the five percent ethanol blend, using ...

Japanese researchers say next-gen biomass heaters could save 4.6 million tons of CO2

In Japan, researchers have developed a waste biomass charcoal heater with a thermal efficiency range of 60-81 percent, compared to existing biomass stoves which have a 46-54 percent thermal efficiency...

Landmark study re-models soot impact in climate change, rivals carbon

US researchers have remodeled soot emissions, concluding that soot is causing nearly 60 percent of the global warming impact of CO2, and because soot has a shorter lifecycle than carbon emissions (tha...