The following are the main research, results and conclusions of the stove emissions testing conducted by FdS Haiti in May and June of 2018. This summary accompanies the full-length research study also currently available from FdS Haiti.
Haiti burns over 400,000 tons of charcoal annually (USAID 2011); that amount translates to over 4,000,000 tons of trees destroyed since it takes 10 tons of wood to produce one ton of Haitian charcoal (ESMAP 2007). Regional environmental studies in Haiti, including Ghilardi, et al 2018, have determined that the Haitian charcoal industry has a destructive effect on the trees of Haiti. However these studies have neglected to discuss health effects of charcoal cooking. International studies that explored charcoal’s negative health effects, including, Mortimer, et al 2016, have focused on PM 2.5 measurements. Charcoal stoves also release CO emissions in concentrations considered deadly.
Fuego del Sol Haiti SA (FdS) is a Social-Eco Enterprise that has implemented ecological cooking solutions in Haiti and the Dominican Republic since 2006; FdS has worked as a partner in the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves since 2010. FdS Haiti is now studying the PM2.5 and CO emissions in charcoal stoves and in the FdS Eco-Cooking System. Preliminary results confirm that charcoal cookstoves threaten the health of Haitian cooks and that the FdS Eco-Cooking System does not emit harmful quantities of smoke particulate matter or carbon monoxide.
Fds Haiti implements the FdS Eco-Cooking System: the FdS Gen-8 Gasifier Stove, non-carbonized recycled fuel briquettes (recycled paper, cardboard and sawdust), and the Retained-Heat Basket Cooker that reduces fuel-to-cook-beans by 60+%. Since 2012, FdS Haiti has recycled over 130 tons of material, offset over 13,000 trees, and fueled over 850,000 meals, mostly for homes, schools and orphanages
