Biomass Conservation and Indoor Air Pollution Mitigation through Efficient Cook Stoves in Pakistan

About 65% of Pakistan’s population lives in rural areas. Majority of the rural population meet their domestic cooking and heating energy needs by burning biomass in inefficient traditional cook stoves (TCS) resulting in deforestation and indoor air pollution. High exposures to indoor air pollutants have resulted in serious health problems. In the last few decades, scientific methods were applied to improve the performance of cook stoves. Different types of improved cook stoves (ICS) were introduced and propagated among the rural community. This paper presents an assessment of the potential of ICS for biomass saving and indoor air pollution mitigation in Pakistan. The total potential number of ICS has been estimated to be about 17 million, 85% in rural areas and 15% in urban areas. The total potential of biomass saving through replacement of all TCS with ICS has been estimated as 14.5 million tonnes. The paper concludes that more than half of the total biomass consumption for cooking and heating purposes could be saved through substitution of TCS with ICS. The dissemination of ICS would also result in the conservation of forests, reduction in the indoor air pollution level and associated health hazards etc.