Analysis of Cookstove Change-Out Projects Seeking Carbon Credits

The Environmental Sustainability Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School produced this report in May 2011. Cookstove change-out projects in developing nations seek to replace open fire burning with more efficient cookstove technology. This report analyzes the characteristics of cookstove projects that are seeking to obtain carbon credits as a result of emissions reductions achieved through the stove replacement. The report identified 43 cookstove projects that have applied for or obtained carbon credits. Some of the key findings of the report are as follows: (1) most projects seek credits on the voluntary exchange market rather through the market created incident to the Kyoto protocol; (2) projects almost uniformly use replacement stove technology that more efficiently burns biomass rather than stoves that would require the user to a switch to other forms of fuel; (3) the timing for accomplishing estimated emissions reductions is strongly correlated to the scale of the project; and (4) stove price, costs and subsidies vary widely among projects.