Biogas cooking ‘halves wood smoke and toxic agents’

[内罗毕]沼气技术— a system that converts organic waste fromlivestockmanure intoenergy用于烹饪 - 可能会缩短用木材燃料烹饪的时间，也可以减少健康problems caused by the exposure to smoke, according to a study in Kenya.

The researchers say many women living on small-scale dairy farms in Kenya, as in most rural households in developing countries, cook primarily with wood in poorly-ventilated kitchens. Such women and their children could suffer from exposure to wood smoke and its harmful effects on their健康.

To determine whether using biogas could be a better alternative in rural Kenya, the researchers studied the levels of exposure to smoke and its poisonous chemicals among two different groups of rural women. They compared a group of women who used mainly biogas — but who could also use wood — with another who used only wood fuel. They also examined the amounts of time each group spent on cooking over seven days.

根据发表在该研究的结果，与其他群体相比，使用沼气的妇女用木材燃料花费的时间减少了50％曝光科学与环境流行病学杂志beplay足球体育的微博7月31日。

这项研究的合着者，加拿大爱德华王子王子大学的一名流行病学家约翰·范·韦恩（John Vanleeuwen）指出：“使用沼气的妇女受益于木烟的有害排放的时间大大减少。”

范利文（Vanleeuwenpollution.

Jeremiah Chakaya, technical advisor of Kenya Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, explains: "Wood fuel smoke contributes immensely to indoor air pollution and increases the amount of toxic emissions inhaled. The smoke destroys the lung defense mechanism, causing breathing problems and the risk of severe lung infections such aspneumonia and obstructive pulmonary disease".

VanLeeuwen指出，该研究的发现对Sub-Saharan Africa因为随着牛奶的消费量的增加，该地区奶牛的普及正在增长。

他说：“牛的肥料可用于产生一种具有成本效益的烹饪能源来源，从而减轻了现有森林的压力。”

据肯尼亚农村五岁的母亲玛丽·恩约基（Mary Njoki）说，尽管有好处，但由于安装沼气消化者的高昂成本，这项技术仍然无法触及。

她说：“六个月后，我不得不借贷款80,000 ksh80,000（900美元）。”

她补充说：“沼气很好，因为它煮得很快，但是当寒冷的季节寒冷时，我仍然使用木材燃料来加热房屋并烹饪食物，因为在此期间，沼气产生的热量还不够。”

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本文是由Scidev.net的撒哈拉以南非洲桌制作的。