Berkeley Air is a part of a research initiative to quantify the benefits provided by switching from traditional cooking technologies to biogas stoves in rural Kenya. We will be focusing specifically on health and gender impacts by monitoring personal exposure to pollutants and characterizing how participants spend their time after this energy transition.
In this project Berkeley Air measured and explored gender impacts, namely time use and levels of perceived drudgery, in female cooks after the installation of an improved wood burning stove. Using a mixed method approach, data was collected using focus group discussions, and quantitative and qualitative surveys, in 75 HH located in two rural communities in eastern Zambia. Indicators measured…
Berkeley Air is leading a consortium to review RBF methodologies used for health, gender, and climate in the household energy sector. The methodological recommendations from that review will be applied to a field study quantifying the above-mentioned co-benefits of the Sistema Biogas program in rural Kenya. The review and practical experience will inform updates to RBF methods for World Bank…
The purpose of this study was to assess changes in time use patterns for women in rural Kenya who received an intervention wood-fueled cookstove, considering their contributions toward the generation of household income, their household chores and child-rearing responsibilities, and any additional demands on their time and labor in a standard day. The study specifically focused on changes in time…
Berkeley Air was funded by USAID’s WASHplus Program to collaborate with FHI-360 and Winrock International to assess the performance of the Jiko Poa cookstove.
Berkeley Air partnered with the Shell Foundation to assess the real-word impact of its Breathing Space Programme (BSP), which is promoting a range of improved biomass stoves through its implementing partner Envirofit International.
The World Bank contracted a consortium of organizations led by Practical Action Consulting to conduct a study in Madagascar to assess the potential economic, environmental, and health benefits of ethanol as a household fuel.
Berkeley Air researchers conducted a study in Ciudadela de San Martin, Nicaragua, to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of two models of the EcoStove (or Ecofogon) — one fully open and one semi-closed — in reducing indoor air pollution (IAP). Using a randomized stove intervention trial, we evaluated the influence of stove type on kitchen air pollution levels and women’s exposures to fine particulate matter.