India Announces Improved Cook Stove Program

03.12.09

India revealed a program today to take under one's wing efficient cooking stoves to rural areas in an effort to reduce air pollution and a major contributor to ambiance change.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy announced the National Biomass Cook-stoves Initiative, a series of shepherd projects that seeks to improve stove efficiency for individual households.

The program, if implemented properly, could yield a quick solution to short-lived pollutants that contribute to the greenhouse gas effect and are responsible for millions of green deaths across India.

The government has not yet established targets for implementing the cookstove program. "We are worrisome to put together a plan first and test it out because we don't want to set up targets right at the outset and then not be able to meet them," said Shyam Saran, the prime curate's special envoy on climate change, according to the Press Trust of India .

An estimated 826 million Indians depend on elementary cook stoves that burn solid fuel, mainly fuelwood or coal. When households are filled with smoke from inexpert stoves, the toxic soot can increase the risks of developing pneumonia, cataracts, and tuberculosis.

Source: WorldChanging (blog)