Life Cycle Assessment of wood cookstoves from Mexico and Central America

Abstract

Currently, in the world, there is a use of obsolete technologies to satisfy cooking and water heating needs in rural areas. These technologies have emissions with environmental impacts, which contribute to climate change. This study performs a Life Cycle Assessment in the Global Warming Potential (CO2e) impact category in six firewood devices representative of Mexico and Central America. As part of this analysis, measurements of emissions and energy consumption in a typical day during water heating and cooking tasks were integrated. Devices such as open fire have zero CO2e contributions in the construction but represent the highest emissions and energy consumption in a typical cooking day. On the other hand, cookstoves such as the Patsari and the Onil contribute to mitigating CO2e emissions in the long term. The main CO2e contributions are produced in the final use. This analysis is useful in making decisions for the implementation of massive cookstove programs.