Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The project was started to reduce household energy poverty and to manage the aggressive propagation of invasive water hyacinth weeds in Lake Victoria. Given my background as a chemistry teacher, I worked with my students to develop our first prototype for Science and Engineer Fair competition. In 2017, with grant support from WWF, we conducted a qualitative analysis of our fuel at KIRDI, we conducted Market Acceptability Social Experiment by freely distributing 100 clean stoves to the parents, and as a result, we established our first 100 customers. Using the savings from team members, we purchased and installed initial machinery

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Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

In Kenya, it is still the case that women have primary responsibility for preparing meals for their families in polluted kitchens. Women often cook with children nearby. Women and girls have the responsibility for securing cooking energy, mostly firewood to cook meals. When women leave the safety of their community to search for wood fuel long-distance, they are at great risk of gender-based violence, particularly in conflict areas. The five hours spent collecting wood-fuel and another two more hours spent cooking using wood-fuel on traditional three-stone stoves is a time not spent on income-generating activity or education. Cooking has become one of the most dangerous, deeming and oppressive daily activities for women. Our project is a trans-formative as we facilitate the transition from traditional cooking to modern clean cooking technologies. Besides, we have employed many young women along the project value chain from water hyacinth harvesting to last-mile entrepreneurs. 
Our project helps in saving scarce foreign exchange by substituting imported kerosene and L.P.G. The households will earn from sales of certified emission reduction through carbon credit financing. Each ethanol stove reduces 0.96 tons of carbon equivalent annually and each tone of carbon trades at USD 10, hence each household will be entitled to 9.6 USD annually. Our fuel is USD 0.2 cheaper than kerosene and charcoal as a result, the households make substantial saving daily to meet their energy demands.

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