IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/enejou/v44y2023i6p43-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves on Fuel Use, Particulate Matter, and Cooking Practices: Results from a Randomized Trial in Rural Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Theresa Beltramo
  • Garrick Blalock
  • Stephen Harrell
  • David I. Levine
  • Andrew M. Simons

Abstract

Smoky cookfires contribute to global climate change and kill approximately four million people annually. While many studies have examined the effects of fuel-efficient cookstoves, this study does so while selling stoves at market prices. After introducing a fuel-efficient cookstove, fuelwood use and household air particulates declined by 12% and by smaller percentages after adjusting for observer-induced bias, or the Hawthorne effect. These reductions were less than laboratory predictions and fell well short of World Health Organization pollution targets. Even when introducing a second stove, most households continued to use their traditional stoves for most cooking. Future research should focus on improving the usability of fuel-efficient cookstoves and/or policies that assist consumers to shift to safer fuels like gas or electricity coupled with mechanisms to disable the existing smoky cookfire.

Suggested Citation

  • Theresa Beltramo & Garrick Blalock & Stephen Harrell & David I. Levine & Andrew M. Simons, 2023. "The Effects of Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves on Fuel Use, Particulate Matter, and Cooking Practices: Results from a Randomized Trial in Rural Uganda," The Energy Journal, , vol. 44(6), pages 43-70, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:44:y:2023:i:6:p:43-70
    DOI: 10.5547/01956574.44.6.tbel
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5547/01956574.44.6.tbel
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5547/01956574.44.6.tbel?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simons, Andrew M. & Beltramo, Theresa & Blalock, Garrick & Levine, David I., 2017. "Using unobtrusive sensors to measure and minimize Hawthorne effects: Evidence from cookstoves," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 68-80.
    2. Bensch, Gunther & Peters, Jörg, 2015. "The intensive margin of technology adoption – Experimental evidence on improved cooking stoves in rural Senegal," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 44-63.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Robert Metcalfe & Sefi Roth, 2025. "Making the Invisible Visible: The Impact of Revealing Indoor Air Pollution on Behavior and Welfare," Framed Field Experiments 00819, The Field Experiments Website.
    2. Bensch, Gunther & Jeuland, Marc & Lenz, Luciane & Ndiaye, Ousmane, 2024. "A bridge to clean cooking? The cost-effectiveness of energy-efficient biomass stoves in rural Senegal," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benedict S. Probst & Malte Toetzke & Andreas Kontoleon & Laura Díaz Anadón & Jan C. Minx & Barbara K. Haya & Lambert Schneider & Philipp A. Trotter & Thales A. P. West & Annelise Gill-Wiehl & Volker H, 2024. "Systematic assessment of the achieved emission reductions of carbon crediting projects," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Bensch, Gunther & Gotz, Gunnar & Peters, Jörg, 2020. "Effects of rural electrification on employment: A comment on Dinkelman (2011)," Ruhr Economic Papers 840, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    3. Wilson, Nicholas, 2021. "Why is ageing associated with lower adoption of new technologies? Evidence from voluntary medical male circumcision and a structural model," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    4. Hafiz Salami & Kingsley Okpara & Chomsri Choochuay & Techato Kuaanan & David Akeju & Manasseh Shitta, 2025. "Domestic energy consumption, theories, and policies: a systematic review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 5821-5867, March.
    5. Bonan, Jacopo & Battiston, Pietro & Bleck, Jaimie & LeMay-Boucher, Philippe & Pareglio, Stefano & Sarr, Bassirou & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Jeuland, Marc & Fetter, T. Robert & Li, Yating & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K. & Usmani, Faraz & Bluffstone, Randall A. & Chávez, Carlos & Girardeau, Hannah & Hassen, Sied & Jagger, Pamela & Jaime, Mónica , 2021. "Is energy the golden thread? A systematic review of the impacts of modern and traditional energy use in low- and middle-income countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    7. repec:zbw:rwirep:0538 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Yuya KUDO & Abu S. Shonchoy & Kazushi Takahashi, 2019. "Short-Term Impacts of Solar Lanterns on Child Health: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(11), pages 2329-2346, November.
    9. Suzanne M. Simkovich & Kendra N. Williams & Suzanne Pollard & David Dowdy & Sheela Sinharoy & Thomas F. Clasen & Elisa Puzzolo & William Checkley, 2019. "A Systematic Review to Evaluate the Association between Clean Cooking Technologies and Time Use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-16, June.
    10. Krishnapriya, P.P. & Chandrasekaran, Maya & Jeuland, Marc & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., 2021. "Do improved cookstoves save time and improve gender outcomes? Evidence from six developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    11. Adjei-Mantey, Kwame & Takeuchi, Kenji & Quartey, Peter, 2021. "Impact of LPG promotion program in Ghana: The role of distance to refill," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    12. Bensch, Gunther & Jeuland, Marc & Lenz, Luciane & Ndiaye, Ousmane, 2024. "A bridge to clean cooking? The cost-effectiveness of energy-efficient biomass stoves in rural Senegal," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    13. Zi, Cao & Qian, Meng & Baozhong, Gao, 2021. "The consumption patterns and determining factors of rural household energy: A case study of Henan Province in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    14. Faraz Usmani & Marc Jeuland & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak, 2024. "NGOs and the Effectiveness of Interventions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1690-1708, November.
    15. Gunther Bensch & Jörg Peters, 2020. "One‐Off Subsidies and Long‐Run Adoption—Experimental Evidence on Improved Cooking Stoves in Senegal," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 72-90, January.
    16. Brick, Kerri & De Martino, Samantha & Visser, Martine, 2023. "Behavioural nudges for water conservation in unequal settings: Experimental evidence from Cape Town," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    17. Gould, Carlos F. & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2018. "LPG as a clean cooking fuel: Adoption, use, and impact in rural India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 395-408.
    18. Jeuland, M.A. & Bhojvaid, V. & Kar, A. & Lewis, J.J. & Patange, O. & Pattanayak, S.K. & Ramanathan, N. & Rehman, I.H. & Tan Soo, J.S. & Ramanathan, V., 2015. "Preferences for improved cook stoves: Evidence from rural villages in north India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 287-298.
    19. Rudolf, Katrin & Romero, Miriam & Asnawi, Rosyani & Irawan, Bambang & Wollni, Meike, 2020. "Effects of information and seedling provision on tree planting and survival in smallholder oil palm plantations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    20. Jörg Peters, 2015. "Diskussionspapier: Von Staaten, Märkten und Subventionen – Paradigmenwechsel in der Armutsbekämpfung?," RWI Materialien, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, pages 13, 04.
    21. Laura E. McCann & Jeffrey D. Michler & Maybin Mwangala & Osaretin Olurotimi & Natalia Estrada Carmona, 2024. "Food Without Fire: Nutritional and Environmental Impacts from a Solar Stove Field Experiment," Papers 2410.02075, arXiv.org.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:44:y:2023:i:6:p:43-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.