Energy performance of wood-burning cookstoves in Michoacan, Mexico

There have been few detailed assessments of the actual impacts of improved stove interventions in rural communities, although many improved stove projects have reported overall efficiencies from tests in simulated kitchens using water-boiling tests (WBTs). This paper presents an integrated energy ev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Renewable energy 2008-05, Vol.33 (5), p.859-870
Main Authors: Berrueta, Víctor M., Edwards, Rufus D., Masera, Omar R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Biomass
Devices using thermal energy
Energy
Energy performance
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Exact sciences and technology
Furnaces
Kitchen performance test
Latin America
Stove efficiency
Water boiling test
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Summary:There have been few detailed assessments of the actual impacts of improved stove interventions in rural communities, although many improved stove projects have reported overall efficiencies from tests in simulated kitchens using water-boiling tests (WBTs). This paper presents an integrated energy evaluation of the Patsari cookstove, an efficient wood-burning cookstove developed in Mexico that has recently obtained international recognition, in comparison to traditional cookstoves in rural communities of Michoacan, Mexico. The evaluation uses three standard protocols: the WBT, which quantifies thermal efficiency and firepower; the controlled cooking test (CCT), which measures specific energy consumption associated with local cooking tasks, and the kitchen performance test (KPT), which evaluates the behavior of the stoves in-field conditions and estimates fuel savings. The results showed that the WBT gave little indication of the overall performance of the stove in rural communities. Field testing in rural communities is of critical importance, therefore, in estimating the benefits of improved stoves. In the CCT for tortilla making, the main cooking task in Mexican rural households, Patsari stoves showed fuelwood savings ranging from 44% to 65% in relation to traditional open fires ( n=6; P
ISSN:0960-1481
1879-0682
DOI:10.1016/j.renene.2007.04.016