Background Paper For Clean Cooking Market Place 2013, Nepal

Out of 5.43 million families in Nepal, 4.50 million (83%) live in rural areas and most of them have no access to any clean cooking energy. These households are using fuels like firewood, cattle dung or agrowaste in traditional three-stone or metal tripod stoves. Roughly 1.78 million households are using some kind of clean cooking energy like Improved Cookstoves (ICS), biogas, kerosene, LPG and electricity. This figure is obtained by adding an estimated 450,000 households using ICS and around 1.33 million households using cleaner fuels like biogas (131,596), kerosene (55,610), LPG (1,140,662) and electricity (4,523)1, as primary cooking fuel.

Thus, roughly 3.65 million rural households are cooking in traditional stoves with fuel like firewood, dung and agrowaste and almost 2.85 million households may qualify only for ICS at least in short term and some 800 thousand households may qualify for domestic biogas, particularly those currently using cattle dung for cooking(563,126)2. Of course, solar cookers can be promoted as cooking energy solution in some mountain districts,where firewood is really scarce and biogas is also not feasible.

Source: nepalcookstoves.org
Author: Saroj Rai, Senior Renewable Energy Advisor, SNV

Link for the Full Text 

Controlled Cooking Test (CCT) Training concludes at RETS premises

CCT Team at the end of the training

Controlled Cooking Test (CCT) is one of the most effective tools to get insights of the improved stoves to traditional ones. This tool is used to compare the efficiencies, emissions and other stoves parameters of two different stoves in completely controlled conditions in the field. Comparatively CCT is quite often not preferred as to WBTs and KPTs as it is quite lengthy and needs a precise controlled environment.

Preparing raw materials for CCT meal

CCT being carried out under the PEMS hood at RETS

CCT training took place during 15-19 September 2013 at the Renewable Energy Test Station (RETS). The training was provided by Mr. Alex Seidel and Mr. Dean Still from Aprovecho Research Centre (ARC), Origon USA.  All together 8 participants (5 from RTKC, 2 from RETS and 1 from AEPC) benefited from the training, including 3 local cooks. 3 cooks cooked 18 same meals, 3 in each stove (traditional three stone fire and CRT/N’s improved rocket stove.

Photo credit: Ms Sarmila Katwal (AEPC)