Third-World Cookstoves Ignite Carbon Debate

Cutting soot could slow climate change by 18%

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 16, 2009 7:48 AM CDT

(Newser) – A simple $20 stove may be the ticket to slowing global warming by nearly a fifth, the New York Times reports. Soot—otherwise known as black carbon—is the second-biggest contributor to climate change, and it spews from hundreds of millions of simple stoves in developing countries daily. Installing solar-powered or simply more efficient cookers would drastically reduce the emission of soot particles that both ruin villagers' health and land on glaciers thousands of miles away.

There, the particles absorb the sun's heat and cause significant melting—Himalayan glaciers are expected to shrink 75% by 2020. Scientists see the improved stoves as one of several cheap fixes that could be made while developed nations wrangle over the more difficult task of cutting carbon dioxide emissions, and a quick one at that: While CO2 lingers for years, soot only remains in the atmosphere for a few weeks. "We’re driving fast toward a cliff, and this could buy us time," said a leading climatologist.

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An Indian cook prepares food using a charcoal stove in the kitchen of a small restaurant, in Mumbai, India. (AP Photo/Rajesh Nirgude)

An Indian cook prepares food using a charcoal stove in the kitchen of a small restaurant, in Mumbai, India,. (AP Photo/Rajesh Nirgude)

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I’m not going to go to the villagers and say CO2 is rising, and in 50 years you might have floods. I’ll tell her about the lungs and her kids and I know it will help with climate change as well. - Dr. Ibrahim Rehman of the Climate and Resources Institute

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 4 comments

kokuaguy

Apr 18, 2009 5:36 AM CDT

The article is suggesting that one of the best ways for aid organizations to help the poor around the world (and the planet their children and ours will inherit) would be to aid them in finding ways to cook more cleanly and efficiently. Our former president did one thing that has been widely acknowledged as humane and successful in the area of foreign aid-- he secured billions for the PEPFAR program which addresses the worldwide AIDS pandemic. Imagine how much he could have done for his legacy had he launched a crash program to mass produce and distribute the kinds of stoves NEWSER tells us about in this fine article. And not one mention of the slur "Greenies." Mahalo NEWSER.

Timinator2K

Apr 16, 2009 2:23 AM CDT

Good for you, pwoodford! Our regional electric power company is going to jack everyone's rates up 43% over three years...and, of course, forever onward, to pay for "cleaner" power generation. All its going to do is cause most people to cut back on their power usage to bare minimum...and then they'll "need" to jack prices even higher to make up for "lost revenue" due to extreme consumer cutbacks...and put miners out of work...and then, MANY other industries out of work...a Perfect Obamaniac Economy.

Mr.C

Apr 16, 2009 1:16 AM CDT

greedy a$$ developed world - is this the only way to get people to care about a source that is directly responsible for the deaths of millions? These things are huge contributors to Upper Respiratory Disease and have been a problem for a long time. http://allafrica.com/stories/2...

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Third-World Cookstoves Ignite Carbon Debate