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This paper provides field experiment-based evidence on the potential additional forest carbon sequestration that cleaner and more fuel-efficient cookstoves might generate. The paper focuses on the Mirt (meaning "best") cookstove, which is used to bake injera, the staple food in Ethiopia. The analysis finds that the technology generates per-meal fuel savings of 22 to 31 percent compared with a traditional three-stone stove with little or no increase in cooking time. Because approximately 88 percent of harvests from Ethiopian forests are unsustainable, these findings suggest that the Mirt stove, and potentially improved cookstoves more generally, can contribute to reduced forest degradation. These savings may be creditable under the United Nations Collaborative Program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries. Because of the highly specific nature of the Mirt stove and the lack of refrigeration in rural Ethiopia, rebound effects are unlikely, but this analysis was unable completely to rule out such leakage. The conclusions are therefore indicative, pending evidence on the frequency of Mirt stove use in the field. The effects of six randomized behavioral treatments on fuelwood and cooking time outcomes were also evaluated, but limited effects were found.

Climate change mitigation and green house gases --- Energy --- Energy production and transportation --- Environment --- Environmental economics & policies --- Improved biomass cookstoves controlled cooking test --- Randomized treatment --- REDD+ --- Renewable energy --- Urban development --- Urban environment

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This paper reports on electronically-monitored improved use of the "Mirt" biomass stove in Ethiopia over a relatively long period of three-and-a-half years, using stove use data collected at five points in time. The results show that 62 percent of the households surveyed still retained their stoves after more than three years, which is a low level of abandonment, as the lifetime of the Mirt stove is approximately five years. Dis-adoption of the stove is not correlated with any of three monetary incentives provided at the time of distribution. With and without adjusting for dis-adoption, no longer-run differences in stove retention are found across treatments. Among those who retained their stoves, average regular stove use increased over time, but generally it is statistically the same toward the end of the first year. Thus, despite the relatively long timeframe, no decline is observed in regular usage. Comparing the persistence of the treatment effects, the paper finds that, in the longer run, subsidizing the cost most effectively promotes increased regular use over time.

Air Quality and Clean Air --- Biomass Energy --- Cooking Technology --- Energy --- Energy Demand --- Energy Policies and Economics --- Environment --- Household Air Pollution --- Improved Stove --- Renewable Energy