A glimpse into real-world kitchens: Improving our understanding of cookstove usage through in-field photo-observations and improved cooking event detection (CookED) analytics

The combustion of solid fuels in residential cookstoves is a global health and climate issue, and expanded use ofimproved cookstoves could have significant benefits locally and globally. Evaluating impacts of improved cookstove programs requires more accurately measuring stove use patterns. This work builds on and improves existing stove use monitoring methods. First, we introduce and describe a novel, in-field photo-observation sampling method designed to capture near-continuous, real-world, ground-truth stove usage information. These measurements are used to validate predictions made by electronic stove use monitors (SUMs). Second, we present Cooking Event Detector (CookED), a SUM algorithm that translates stove-temperature measurements into classifications of cooking or not-cooking. The predictive performance of the new algorithm is evaluated using results from the photo-observations and compared to existing algorithms. CookED demonstrates considerable improvement over some methods for all five types of improved and traditional stoves monitored in the study. Overall minute-level predictive accuracy of CookED ranges from 95.6% to 98.4%, depending on the stove type, while Matthews correlation coefficients range from 72.8% to 88.3%. Comparisons between predicted and observed average cooking event durations show high correlation (Pearson&rsquo;s r = 0.85). These methods can be applied in a wide variety of applications, including research studies linking behavior, technology, exposure, and human and environmental health, as well as operational programs that aim to scale up improved cookstove adoption and quantify benefits.</p

Development and Trial of a Usability Testing Protocol for Biomass Cookstoves : An Interdisciplinary Approach

Improved cookstoves have been designed and disseminated for several decades in an effort to address the human health and environmental issues caused by the inefficient, traditional biomass cooking and heating methods used by 40% of the world’s people. Engineers and designers working on these improved stoves have tended to focus on technical design criteria, such as improved fuel and combustion efficiency, but neglect aspects that are important to cooks, such as usability. If a stove design does not meet a cook’s needs and preferences, however, the stove will likely be used only as a supplement to a traditional stove, or not used at all. As a result, improved cookstoves have often fallen short in efforts to reduce harm to health and the environment. A testing protocol for cookstove usability was developed to help stove designers and implementers consider and evaluate user needs more effectively. The proposed protocol is based on established usability practices from product and software design, and uses anthropological testing methods to increase validity in cross-cultural testing applications, where the test administrator and stove user come from different backgrounds. Tests include objective measurements and observation, as well as subjective survey and semi-structured interview questions. Usability criteria are generally assessed with paired Likert scale survey questions that elicit both user perception of a given criteria, as well as their relative importance. These results are supplemented by interview questions and objective measurements, wherever possible, to identify potential bias in the results. Preliminary validation and refinement of the protocol was accomplished through a study in Northern Uganda, which included 10 rural and urban households and 2 institutional kitchens. Key outcomes from the study included improvements to the language used in survey and interview questions, restructuring of questions dealing with location-specific stove functions, the adoption of a conversational test administration format to increase participant comfort and the likely quality of responses, and the development of alternative testing procedures to allow for laboratory testing and less time-intensive field testing options. The protocol was further calibrated on a sample of stove designs at the Aprovecho Research Center in the United States. Through the field testing process and feedback from local expert test administrators in Uganda, these trials demonstrated that the protocol is a viable tool for increasing the understanding of cookstove usability and highlighted opportunities for additional research to validate, expand, and improve the protocol. The protocol is undergoing additional trials and review by several international development organizations in 2018. Elements of the protocol are also being incorporated into an International Standards Organization standard for cookstove testing, and it will be hosted on the websites of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and Oregon State University. In addition, the methods used by the protocol elicited data from field study participants regarding their attitudes towards improved cookstoves and the relative importance of reducing air pollution and fuel use in the larger context of their lives. This information may be invaluable for better understanding the stove stacking and low adoption rates experienced by many cookstove projects. The interdisciplinary approach may be replicated in other work to increase the accessibility of user input in international development more broadly

The New Solar Kiosk Model: A Sustainable Solution to Address the Uptake and Access of Renewable Technologies to Create Energy Kiosks That Improve Women’s Income in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Kiryandongo District, Northern Uganda.

This thesis was carried out in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda to test a new model to improve access to clean energy technologies in the refugee settlement. The settlement hosts more than seventy-five thousand refugees, including the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Bududa landslides in Eastern Uganda. The literature review shows the challenges faced in the humanitarian sector. The challenge is met in providing lighting and improved cooking technologies to all refugees in settlements and camps globally. The refugees tend to cut down trees in the surrounding forest, and the wood is used for firewood to cook and lighting up their homes. The solar kiosk model has improved access to affordable briquettes, which is a replacement for charcoal and firewood, while solar products provide clean light. The four installed solar kiosks have contributed to the distribution of 577 Solar Home Systems, 843 improved charcoal stoves, and 18480.37 Kilograms of briquettes, and two purifiers were purchased. In terms of accessibility, the time to buy the technologies has dramatically reduced because the clean energy technologies are closer to the community members. The sale of water purifiers is low, having sold only two pieces in a population where over 90% drink unsafe water from wells and boreholes in the settlement. For the model to be sustainable, this study established that there is a need for continuous product education for both the kiosk operators and the masses in the community to live a more sustainable life

Understanding the diffusion and adoption of improved cookstove technologies in Uganda through the technological innovation system

About 2.5 billion people in the world rely on the traditional use of solid bioenergy to cook their meals, and in Sub-Saharan Africa almost 80% of the population still cooks with solid bioenergy. Despite the multifaceted promises associated with improved cookstoves to overcome the inefficient use of bioenergy, their diffusion and adoption remains slow. In making a contribution towards understanding this problem, this thesis departs from the extensive studies that explain it from the users’ and technology attributes’ perspective, and interrogates the role of systemic factors. The thesis draws from the Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) theory, and employs an interpretive multiple case research design. Data was collected using a multi-method approach including semi-structured interviews, document analysis, Focus Group Discussions and direct observation, and it was thematically analysed. The improved cookstove TIS in Uganda is at a critical stage of going through what I have called structural thinning resulting from change of context in terms of national policy direction and reduced external funding, which brings in the critical question of ability of the system to cope with, and overcome these structural shocks. Structural thinning refers to premature disengagement of key structural elements from the TIS. This change in context comes at a time when the system, which started in the 1980s is working under a largely misaligned structure and the key processes (functions) are largely externally induced, exposing the system at all levels (firm, network and national) to the vagaries of the changing needs and priorities of the external dominant actors especially development partners and carbon finance projects. Although entry of firms is perceived in literature as an inducement to systems in the formative stages, in Uganda’s case it portends a barrier because of firms’ capability and motivation issues. Stove dissemination is largely limited to urban areas and the quality of locally manufactured stoves is generally poor mainly because of the proliferation of counterfeit stoves on the market. The system is largely unregulated and the household biomass stoves standard, which is currently the main supporting institution is detached from local innovators’ focus and user habits and preferences, thus raising questions on the usefulness of standardised stove testing processes. Results also reveal how indigenous knowledge (informal structures) applied in some of the stove making and use processes (at firm and user levels respectively) is excluded from knowledge generation and exchange mechanisms at network and system levels, and how this exclusion impedes the generation of appropriate technologies. Relatedly, results show how actors perceive innovation and stove quality differently, and how the divergent perceptions (technological frames) work to slow progress of improved cookstove generation, diffusion and adoption in Uganda. Further, limited autonomy caused by donor dependence for survival coupled with weak legitimacy among local manufacturers weaken the voice of formal networks, which inhibits learning and knowledge exchange. In an effort to address the interaction gaps, some actors like networks use social media for research and information dissemination, albeit with challenges. R&D financing schemes boosted stove generation and dissemination in the short run but caused retrogression in the long term especially at firm level and are largely not adapted to the needs of the system. Results above represent a nascent system in formative stage. However, the improved cookstove TIS has been growing for about 35 years now, which points more to the system being stunted than young. The factors responsible for this stunted growth are embedded in the weak and misaligned structure, which affects fulfilment of the key processes. The study recommends restructuring of both the institutions and networks in order to absorb the current shocks and also create better structuration for progressive development of improved cookstove TIS in Uganda. This restructuring is specifically about aligning the improved cookstove standard to the needs of the system as well as building new necessary institutions such as supporting policy, and integrating the dominant informal institutions with formal ones to generate appropriate technologies. The restructuring also speaks about the reorganisation of networks to overcome dependency and legitimacy challenges.

Making energy efficiency pro-poor : insights from behavioural economics for policy design

This paper reviews the current state of behavioural economics and its applications to energy efficiency in developing countries. Taking energy efficient lighting in Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda as empirical examples, this paper develops hypotheses on how behavioural factors can improve energy efficiency policies directed towards poor populations. The key argument is that different types of affordability exist that are influenced by behavioural factors to varying degrees. Using a qualitative approach, this paper finds that social preferences, framing and innovative financing solutions that acknowledge people’s mental accounts can provide useful starting points. Behavioural levers are only likely to work in a policy package that addresses wider technical, market and institutional barriers to energy efficiency. More research, carefully designed pre-tests and stakeholder debates are required before introducing policies based on behavioural insights. This is imperative to avoid the dangers of nudging

Integrated Evaluation of Drinking Water Purification: A Mixed-Method Laboratory and Field Assessment of a Biomass-Powered Water Treatment Technology

The global water crisis is defined as one of the major threats facing humankind over the next decade with over 1 in 10 people lacking access to clean drinking water worldwide. An estimated 1.2 million people pasteurize their drinking water by using boiling as an indicator. Pasteurization is the process of heating liquids or materials to sufficiently high temperatures for a specific amount of time to kill pathogens. Traditionally, boiling occurs over inefficient biomass fires requiring extensive natural resources and posing a health risk to both humans and the environment. A biomass-powered high-efficiency water pasteurizer was designed by InStove, an improved cookstove manufacturing firm, in an effort to improve the traditional pasteurization process. This study highlights the importance of a mixed-method research approach to technology evaluation intended for global development. We analyze the performance of this product, including experimental and computational modeling to determine microorganism reduction as a function of time and temperature, and present a field study from Eastern Uganda. A diffusion of innovations framework is used to gain insight into potential benefits and barriers of adopting the new technology within this specific context. Potential benefits to adoption include decreased overall time and labor to purify water, decrease in biomass resources, increase in overall water output, and low learning curve for the product operator. Potential barriers to user acceptance include the trust required by users, lack of water temperature control, and change in fuel wood preparation and time allocation compared to boiling water. Furthermore, recontamination of drinking water after collection and before point-of-use is common for households who intermediately collect their water outside of the home. Regular cleaning of drinking water storage containers is recommended to reduce recontamination, however, limited data is available on the effectiveness of different container cleaning methods in reducing enteric bacterial indicators. This work evaluates the efficacy of container cleaning processes in terms of logarithmic reduction of E. coli. A water rinse, Oxfam-recommended soap and water rinse, Oxfam-recommended bleach rinse, and two CDC-recommended procedures, which each includes a soapy water rinse and chlorination, were evaluated in a controlled laboratory setting. Results show significant reduction of E. coli colonies for all tested methods with the exception of the water rinse procedure. We propose that, in addition to focusing on water treatment solutions, practitioners evaluate local container cleaning habits and promote cleaner and safer behaviors of water collection, storage, and container maintenance to individuals vulnerable to recontamination of their drinking water. Ultimately, this work highlights importance for holistic cross-disciplinary design and evaluation of water treatment solutions. Further research in pasteurization of water from heat of combusted biomass is needed as this type of water treatment is a feasible yet greatly understudied process. Additional research should be done to quantify kill rates and D values of pathogens, such as viruses and protozoa, so that engineers have accurate specifications when designing more efficient pasteurization technologies. Because many people boil their drinking water, improving this process has vast potential to improve both human and environmental health. In addition, the use of ethnographic method and social science theory should be applied to the design and evaluation of all technologies intended for social impact

Assessing the role of solar home systems in poverty alleviation : case study of Rukungiri district in Western Uganda

Not only does Sub-Saharan Africa have the highest number of people who live below the poverty line, the region has the lowest rate of modern energy access at 32%. The provision of modern energy access in rural un-electrified areas has the potential to contribute to alleviation of poverty. The main objective of this study has therefore been to investigate the impact of Solar Home Systems (SHSs) in poverty alleviation in Uganda. The paper focuses on the impact on four socio-economic categories namely: economic, education, health and gender equity. Our study was carried out in Kebisoni, Uganda. The main finding from our study is that access to solar power does indeed alleviate poverty. The data indicated an increase in households' disposable income due to the use of solar energy for lighting. Savings were generated from a reduced expenditure on alternative lighting fuels such as kerosene. Some households used these savings to meet medically related expenses. Furthermore, our results revealed that there was an improvement in indoor air quality. Children in solar electricity connected households benefited, as they were now able to increase their hours of study at night. Lastly, the study also revealed that access to lighting from SHSs enabled women to supplement household income by engaging in businesses

From Bottom of the Pyramid to Bottom Line Translating user understanding into social, environmental and business outcomes

This project investigates how a close understanding of human activity can inform the design of culturally and contextually sustainable innovations for subsistence markets. Building on existing literature related to poverty alleviation initiatives and using a mainly ethnographic research approach, this project attempted to understand the cultural and contextual challenges to the substitution of unhealthy and unsustainable biomass as cooking fuels by cleaner and competitive cooking alternatives in Kitintale, an urban slum in Kampala, Uganda. This project suggests that everyone’s choice is shaped by a triad of forces – daily living circumstances, evolutionary aspirations and cultural references – and that the weight assigned to each of the forces varies according to the immediacy of needs, access to resources and capacity to plan for the future experienced by individuals in different contexts. Moreover, it concludes that, while the living circumstances faced by impoverished groups might be a valid arrangement to generally describe contextually vulnerable groups, cultural references and evolutionary aspirations might be entirely different depending on the geographic and historic background of the group for which a solution is being designed