Project details
1507 · Improved cookstoves
  • Countrywide, Honduras
Efficient cookstoves improve health, air, and economy

About 20 million people across Central America cook on rudimentary stoves using biomass, which - in addition to CO2 emissions - leads to deforestation and indoor air pollution. By providing efficient cookstoves to rural households in Honduras, this project helps to reduce CO2 emissions, fuelwood consumption and improves indoor air quality. Needing less wood for cooking saves time and money for families. Women and children, who are mainly exposed to smoke while cooking, benefit from improved health.

The stoves are installed through a franchise-like social enterprise system. Local entrepreneurs are trained and paid by the project owner to build the stoves in allocated areas. Some components of the stove are locally produced and provided. Others like cement, rebar, or bricks, which are available in the villages, are contributed by the households to foster a shared responsibility. Also, the users must agree to remove old stoves as soon as the new ones are installed.

How improved cookstoves contribute to climate action

According to a statistic from the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) around a third of the global population still relies on un­safe and environmentally harmful cooking methods. This includes, for example, cooking over open fires or using polluting cooking fuels, such as coal or kerosene. Improved cookstoves tackle this problem by using thermal energy more efficiently. Depending on the model, an improved cookstove can reduce fuel consumption by up to 70 percent, which significantly saves CO2 emissions and can lower the pressure on local forests as less firewood needs to be harvested.

Improved cookstove projects allow the distribution of the - often simple - devices made from metal or clay to households, small enterprises or community facilities. Especially for households, this has an impact beyond the CO2 reduction: better indoor air quality decreases respiratory diseases and families can save time and money as less fuel is needed. Improved cookstoves projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.

Contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
No PovertyThe project provides employment in areas where work is hard to find. The efficient cookstoves require only half the amount of wood as traditional stoves, which results in saving money and time.
Zero HungerMoney saved can be used to buy food and families can use the time they usually spend for cooking and collecting wood to start a job and improve their income.
Good Health and Well-BeingThe stoves provided by the project reduce harmful indoor air pollution and benefit the health of women and children who are mainly exposed to the smoke while cooking.
Quality EducationThe project provides professional training for stove builders as well as educates the households using the stoves about proper maintenance and wood conservation.
Gender EqualityThe project provides employment for Honduran women, including extensive training. In addition, the stoves help women to reduce time for cooking and collecting wood.
Affordable and Clean EnergyThe stoves use a chimney to lead the smoke out of the house and reduce indoor air pollution.
Decent Work and Economic GrowthParts used to build the cookstoves are provided by local suppliers, which contributes to the local economy. In addition, the project provides jobs, technical training, and the possibility for entrepreneurs to create their own businesses as stove building contractors.
Climate ActionThe project saves about 181,230 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Life on LandBy reducing the fuelwood use by about 50 %, the project helps to protect the forests that are crucial for biodiversity.
Project standardGold Standard VER (GS VER)TechnologyImproved cookstovesRegionCountrywide, HondurasEstimated annual emission reductions181,231 t CO2Verified byEarthood Services Private LimitedValidated byERM Certification and Verification Services