Abstract
The energy demand is ever increasing with the growing population with increased consumption and
living standard. In the developing country like Nepal, traditional sources of energy such as fuel-wood,
dung and agriculture residues are still in use. Such a traditional energy sources and cooking practices
have several environmental and health implications. The present study was carried out in Meghauli
Village Development Committee of Chitwan districts in which attempts have been made to assess
the status of Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) and its contribution in reducing firewood consumption,
carbon dioxide (CO2) emission that help saving time and lessening women drudgery in household
work and ultimately reducing climate change impacts. Moreover, health status of the people was also
undertaken. For the purpose, household survey method was applied for gathering the information.
The results showed that ICS to be more efficient compared to the traditional cooking stoves. The
average firewood consumption for household purpose prior to installation of ICS was found to be
310.62 kg/month which reduced to 253 kg/month, i.e. 57.62 kg less in a month. This helped to reduce
CO2 emission by an average value of 105.44 kg/month. It has also been reported that there was
substantial (262 hours in a year) reduction in time consumption for household work. However, yet
higher number of people (11.63%) was found suffering from respiratory and eye diseases probably
due to biomass burning and other labor based works.
living standard. In the developing country like Nepal, traditional sources of energy such as fuel-wood,
dung and agriculture residues are still in use. Such a traditional energy sources and cooking practices
have several environmental and health implications. The present study was carried out in Meghauli
Village Development Committee of Chitwan districts in which attempts have been made to assess
the status of Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS) and its contribution in reducing firewood consumption,
carbon dioxide (CO2) emission that help saving time and lessening women drudgery in household
work and ultimately reducing climate change impacts. Moreover, health status of the people was also
undertaken. For the purpose, household survey method was applied for gathering the information.
The results showed that ICS to be more efficient compared to the traditional cooking stoves. The
average firewood consumption for household purpose prior to installation of ICS was found to be
310.62 kg/month which reduced to 253 kg/month, i.e. 57.62 kg less in a month. This helped to reduce
CO2 emission by an average value of 105.44 kg/month. It has also been reported that there was
substantial (262 hours in a year) reduction in time consumption for household work. However, yet
higher number of people (11.63%) was found suffering from respiratory and eye diseases probably
due to biomass burning and other labor based works.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nepal Journal of Environmental Science |
| Volume | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 57-61 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| ISSN | 2350-8647 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Biomass, Carbon Dioxide Emission, Climate Change, Improved Cooking Stoves, Respiratory Problems