Resource information
Twenty million people in Central America
cook with biomass using open fires or rudimentary stoves.
The number of people using biomass for cooking in the region
will remain significant for a long time due to high
incidence of poverty, high Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices
coupled with unsustainable LPG subsidies, as well as
relatively easy access to fuel wood in the region. Providing
these people with clean and efficient cooking solutions is
not just an energy issue, but one related to poverty, gender
inequality, public health, environmental sustainability,
local employment, climate change, agriculture, and local
employment. A new generation of improved biomass cook stoves
(ICS) has recently become available in Central America. The
economic benefits from improving public health, reducing
deforestation, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions well
outweigh the costs of ICS dissemination. Efforts involving
donor agencies, governments, non-governmental organizations,
as well as local entrepreneurs have been made to disseminate
ICS in the region in the last 10 years. The objective of
this study is to better understand current developments in
clean and efficient biomass cooking solutions, factors that
have precluded a larger penetration of ICS within the
region, and lessons learned from past programs-both in the
region and in other countries-that may be relevant to
Central America. The study recommends key actions that may
help the region step up its current dissemination efforts
and promote sustained use of ICS, a first step toward
universal access to ICS by fuel wood users. Its intended
audience includes different stakeholders, including
government agencies, regional and international
organizations, as well as various implementing entities who
are thinking or rethinking appropriate technologies, policy
interventions, financing, and delivery mechanisms for
Central America to promote ICS.
