GIZ HERA Cooking Energy Compendium

This is 'work in progress': Until mid 2011 the compendium will be revised.

Basics about Cooking Energy

• Facts on Cooking Energy
  
• Frequently Asked Questions

Policy Advise on Cooking Energy

• Background - Cooking Energy Crisis
• Policy Challenges in the Woodfuel Sector
  
• Assessing Woodfuel Supply Potentials
  
• Cooking Energy Intervention Strategies 

Designing and Implementing Cooking Energy Interventions

Scoping and Inception Studies for Cooking Energy Interventions 

• Scoping Cooking Energy Systems
• Inception Studies for ICS opportunities 
• Inception Studies for Biomass Energy Supply Opportunities

• Carbon Funding for cookstoves
  

Designing and implementing ICS Supply Interventions

• Enhancing Production of ICS siehe alter links: (2.2 Production of Woodfuel Stoves und Intervention A: Introduction)
  (Product devolpment, production and marketing systems (incl. trainers)
• Commercialisation of Cookstoves
• Creation of Public Awareness
• User Training
• Financing Mechanisms for Cookstove Dissemination
• Quality Assurance of ICS
  national standards
• Scaling-up Strategies
• Result Based Monitoring
  outcome monitoring, impact assessment, methodology
• Sustainability of Cookstoves
  sustainability assessment, exit

Designing and implementing Woodfuel Supply Intervention

• Woodfuel Production Options
• Charcoal Production
  

Cooking Energy Technologies and Practices

• Global stove diversity

Cooking with Woodfuels (Firewood and Charcoal)

One of the characteristics of humankind is the ability to control fire and utilise it to prepare food. The oldest cooking fuel is firewood in the form of logs and branches from trees. Charcoal is the fuel derived from wood by pyrolysis in the process of carbonisation: the wood looses the volatile contents and the lighter yet energy-dense char remains. Due to the ease of transport and use, charcoal has become a prevalent cooking fuel in many urban areas of this planet, while firewood is more prevalent in rural areas.

As firewood and charcoal have very different burning properties they need different devices (stoves) for cooking. This section deals with both fuel-types seperately. Other types of biomass feature in the next chapter Cooking with other Biomass Fuels. (link reinsetzen)

• Cooking with Firewood
  woodfuel stove types (HH, SME, SI)
  
• Cooking with Charcoal
  Stoves designed to burn carbonised biomass
• Cooking Practices for Woodfuel Users
  fuel management, stove usage
• Testing of Woodfuel Stoves

Cooking with other Biomass Fuels

Not all biomass comes in the form of logs and thicker branches of trees, that have been used as cooking fuel since humans learned how to prepare food with the help of a domesticated fire. The efficient and clean use of other types of biomass as fuels requires some preparation, processing and refining of the fuel. Some fuel types need specific set-ups and burners to combust well and generate heat that is useful for cooking. Thus, this section is structured by the types of biomass fuels, including the devices needed for cooking with each fuel. You find information on other fuels that are not based on biomass (solar, fossil fuels) in a separate chapter. Please note that most households do not only rely on one type of fuel only. Mostly households have cater for the household energy needs wiht a mix of different fuels. People make choices depending on many factors like the availability, affordability, convenience and safety of a fuel.

• Cooking with Other Biomass Fuels (1. dung 2. unprocessed residues 3. processed fuels)
• Cooking with Liquid Biomass Fuels (1. alcohol fuels (methanol, ethanol) 2. plant oils)  
• Cooking with Gas from Biomass  (1. biogas 2. woodgas)

Cooking with Nonbiomass Fuels

• Cooking with Sun
• Cooking with Fossil Fuels (1. kerosin, 2. fossil gas, 3.coal)

General Cooking Practices

How efficiently cooking can be done in a household not only depends on the stove technology in use. Often the way the fuel is prepared or the stove is used and handled offers an even greater potential to improve efficiency and limit resource use for cooking. One option is for users to adjust their behaviour and adopt efficient cooking practices or techniques.

Another option is to integrate other energy saving devices and technologies into the household cooking system: 

• Pressure cookers enhance the cooking process, so that the same cooking can be done faster and with less energy input
• Heat retainers like thermos flasks or 'fireless cookers' (also called the heat-retaining box, the hay bag or hot bag) maintain the heat and can do both: keep on cooking without a heat source and keep food or liquids warm over time.
  

These are technologies that can save substantial amounts of energy, but not substitute a stove. In order to retain heat, that heat needs to be put into the food first!

Retained Heat Cookers or Fireless Cookers

Thermos flasks are an inexpensive way to maintain water, beverages or liquid food hot over time. In places, where food preparation is based on pouring hot water over food items like e.g. in Tibet, thermos flasks can be a major game-changer in the cooking system of a household:  Alongside solar cookers, families own up to five thermos flasks and store the water heated by the solar cooker during the day. The hot water is used for preparing both morning and evening meals (mainly soup and porridge) enabling the solar cooker to fulfil almost all the household energy needs. However, this represents a rather specific case, which may not be transferable to many other countries. Yet, thermos flasks are currently underutilised and could probably play a more important role.

Retained Heat Cooker Guide
The Guide to Designing Retained Heat Cookers was written by Don O'Neal, Vice President of HELPS International and Special Projects Director. The development of the HELPS International Retained Heat Cooker was funded by a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to further the mission of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, to improve health, livelihood, and quality of life by reducing exposure to air pollution, primarily among women and children, from household energy use. You can download an electronic copy in PDF format by clicking on the link below. If needed, you can download the current version of Adobe Acrobat reader free from Adobe's website.

You may order a free copy of the Guide to Designing Retained Heat Cookers, EPA-402-K-06-004, on-line at www.epa.gov/epahome/publications.htm. You may also order by fax at 513-489-8695. You will need to provide the publication name and number, your complete mailing address (i.e., name, organization, street address, city, state, zip code, country) and phone number.

Attachment Size
Guide to Designing Retained Heat Cookers (Spanish) 2.05 MB
RHC Guide English.pdf 600.54 KB