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Improved biomass cookstoves have been promoted as important intermediate technologies to reduce fuelwood consumption and possibly cut household air pollution in low-income countries. This study uses a randomized controlled trial to examine household air pollution reductions from an improved biomass cookstove promoted in rural Ethiopia, the Mirt improved cookstove. This stove is used to bake injera, which is very energy intensive and has a very particular cooking profile. In the overall sample, the Mirt improved cookstove leads to only minor reductions in mean household air pollution (10 percent on average). However, for those who bake injera in their main living areas, the Mirt improved cookstove reduces average mean household air pollution by 64 percent and median household air pollution by 78 percent-although the resulting household air pollution levels are still many times greater than the World Health Organization's guideline. These large percentage reductions may reflect decreased emissions due to less use of fuelwood, given Mirt's energy-efficient design, and the likelihood that higher-emissions three-stone cooking is moved outside the main living area once a Mirt improved cookstove is installed. Households in the subsample who experience a greater decline in household air pollution tend to be less wealthy and more remotely located and burn less-preferred biomass fuels, like agricultural waste and animal dung, than households that cook in a separate area.

Air Pollution --- Air Quality and Clean Air --- Ambient Particulate Matter --- Biomass Fuel --- Brown Issues and Health --- Cooking Technology --- Cookstoves --- Energy --- Energy Conservation and Efficiency --- Environment --- Fuels --- Household Air Pollution --- Indoor Air Quality --- Pollution Management and Control

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This paper informs the national and international policy discussions related to the adoption of the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Programme. Effective program instruments must carefully consider incentives, opportunity costs, and community interactions. A choice experiment survey was applied to rural Ethiopian communities to understand respondents' preferences toward the institutional structure of the program contracts. The results show that respondents have particular preferences about how Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation programs are structured with regard to the manner in which the payments are divided between the households and the communities, the restrictions on using grazing land, and the level of payments received for the program. Surprisingly, restrictions on firewood collection do not significantly impact contract choice. The paper further analyzes the structure of the preferences by using attribute interaction terms and socio-demographic interaction terms. The analysis finds significant regional variation in preferences, indicating that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation should be tailored to specific regions. Finally, the marginal willingness to pay for attributes is calculated using the traditional preference space approach, as well as the more recent willingness-to-pay approach.

Agriculture --- Environment --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth

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This paper investigates household preferences for improved cook stoves using a choice experiment administered in rural Ethiopia, and the cost-effectiveness of an improved stove for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. In Ethiopia, about 96 percent of household energy demand is fulfilled by biomass. Improved stoves use less firewood and produce less smoke, and they have been touted as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and health effects from indoor air pollution, as well as to improve forest conservation. Although there are many studies on the adoption of improved stoves, there is limited information on the willingness to pay for particular attributes of stoves, information that is vital for designing effective stoves and improving stove adoption. The paper finds that households have a positive willingness to pay for the durability, fuelwood use reduction, smoke reduction, and cooking time reduction of improved stoves. It also shows that the stove used in this experiment can be cost-effective for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which suggests that programs providing payments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions could strengthen stove adoption if they are well implemented. The main reason the stoves are not being adapted is the lack of availability, which is a key message to policy makers.

Biomass --- Carbon Dioxide Emissions --- Carbon Policy --- Climate Change --- Cooking Technology --- Energy --- Environment --- Greenhouse Gas Emissions --- Renewable Energy