Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Evaluating Impacts of Solid Fuel Use on Air Pollution, Climate and Health in Developing Countries

(Natural Resource Security, Energy and Environmental Policy)

Across the world, billions of people rely on solid fuel such as wood for cooking and heating. The use of these solid fuels can contribute to deforestation, degredation and climate change. Burning these solid fuels releases harmful levels of air pollution in and around households that can lead to adverse health impacts such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease. In recent years, national governments, the international development community, and NGOs have implemented a wide range of policies and projects to distribute cleaner burning stoves, and also develop mechanisms for funding woodfuel- and stove-based interventions through climate the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and voluntary carbon markets. In this panel, we evaluate projects and policies linked to solid fuel reduction. The first paper compares estimates for carbon offset reductions from woodfuel sustainability projects in a pan-tropical study. The second paper analyzes the quantitative impact of improved stove use on household air pollution and fuel use in a sample from India. The third paper explores impact of stove and fuel use on a detailed set of respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes in a sample from rural and urban Malawi. Drawing on a range of methods, these papers produce the kind of research that is needed to inform program and policy design, investigating policies and programs across a diverse set of developing countries.