Africans baulk at poo-based cooking gas

[NAIROBI] An aversion to cooking with gas based on human and animal excreta and other organic waste means many Sub-Saharan Africans are unnecessarily exposed to pollution from wood-based stoves, according to a report.

Heralded as a solution to the problem of wood-based pollution, naturally occurring microbes can break down organic material to produce so-calledbiogaswhich can be used for cooking and producing energy.

通过成立于2009年的非洲沼气合作伙伴计划，在布基纳法索，埃塞俄比亚，肯尼亚，坦率审查published in the August issue ofCurrent Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry.

“一些社区认为，由于生物生物生物与各种废物一起工作，因此将其用于烹饪是不当的。”

俄勒冈州立大学Pravesh Raghoo

其他非洲国家，例如博茨瓦纳，科莫罗斯，科特迪瓦，马达加斯加，卢旺达和津巴布韦，正在试行使用沼气来发电。

But despite biogas from biodigesters being smokeless and reducing the negative健康impact of fuelwood-induced household airpollutionsuch as respiratorydiseases评论补充说，它在撒哈拉以南非洲的采用非常低。

For instance, a学习conducted in Kenya shows that among 1.2 million households that can own biogas technology, the success rate of biogas adoption was only 0.03 per cent.

“Use of human and animal excreta in biodigesters gathers little socio-cultural acceptance and is against the religious beliefs of some people,” explains Pravesh Raghoo, a co-author of the review and a graduate student researchingenergyandenvironmentalpolicy在美国的俄勒冈州立大学。

“一些社区认为，由于生物生物生物与各种废物一起工作，因此将其用于烹饪是不当的。”

与燃料炉相比，用燃料厂准备食物味道更好的看法比沼气的味道更好，对技术, unappealing market incentives and poor regulations further add to the hurdles of biogas uptake, Raghoo explains, adding that increasedawareness campaigns关于沼气可以提高其采用。

The review calls for政府采取干预措施，以增加撒哈拉以南非洲的沼气吸收。

According to Raghoo, policymakers can give interested people biodigesters to try, and introduce small loans, industry subsidies, and channel资金改善获得沼气的机会。

But Henry Mutembei, director, Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, University of Nairobi in Kenya, recommends the use of biogas producers’ associations that can hand out small loans to people to want to try biogas.

Mutembei告诉SciDev.Net该评论有助于展示撒哈拉以南非洲越来越多的社区如何采用沼气。

''People indeed have various choices and preferences when it comes to food preparation. For instance, the taste of Kenyan roasted meat known asNyama Choma是由于口味从柴火吗or charcoal,” he says. “People gather around the fireplace in the villages. It is part of their culture. However, biogas does not bring that warmth and it is part of the adoption challenge.”

Mutembei解释说，非洲采用沼气采用的主要障碍是由于与建造沼气植物相关的成本而无法获得资本。

他说：“政府应支持社区在社区中传播沼气的使用，否则非洲的大量收养不会很快发生。”他补充说，采用沼气必须考虑当地的观点。

Catherine Mwikali, a 30-year-old mother of two children, and a hotelier based in Westlands in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, says that she prefers using biogas to charcoal or firewood because it is easier to use and has more advantages.

“There is no smoke. When I cook with charcoal, I get dirty, experience headaches and my body feels weak,” Mwikali says.

But cooking with charcoal has its advantages like when you want to roastNyama Choma, charcoal or firewood is a more suitable fuel, she explains, echoing Mutembei’s concerns about the impact of local beliefs on biogas adoption.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.