h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mongolia really is an entrancing country and has one of the highest donor aid $$$ per capita of any country. This means there are some fascinating projects out there some of which are improving the quality of life and the environment. The improved urban stove project is one such:

Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world and to heat their felt tents and homes and to cook Mongolians use three main types of fuel: coal, fuelwood, and dung. In urban settings, however, coal stoves predominate and their numbers and inefficiencies have resulted in major air pollution, especially during the bitterly cold and long winter months when smoke from the 70,000 coal stoves sits on the towns and is the major cause of the respiratory complaints and diseases that account for half of the child deaths and a major part of child and adult morbidity. Each winter each ger household consumes about 5 ton of coal and 4-7 cubic meters of wood (to start the stove each morning), thus making a major contribution to overall CO2 emissions and damaging air pollution, and putting heavy pressure on the country's slow-growing forests. Indeed, Mongolia has one of the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita and GHG emissions per $GDP in the world. Not surprisingly, the improvement of household stoves was identified as a high priority action in the 1995 National Environmental Action Plan and is a major concern of the Ministry for Nature and Environment.

A remarkably efficient alternative stove, the G2, was invented by a metal worker from the Gobi region of Mongolia and, with technical assistance from ESMAP, the efficiencies were improved and other, cheaper means of achieving reduced consumption and pollution were developed. The G2 stove costs about US$ 60 equivalent which is unaffordable for many of the ger population even though the cash savings on coal purchases are significant. To address this ‘Kits’ for insertion into the normal stoves were developed, comprising a new inclined grate, air inlet adjusters, and smaller fire box, which alone could reduce CO2 emissions by 54 percent. Even minor (and cheap) adaptation of the existing stoves could result in 42 percent reductions. In addition to the engineering tests, household acceptability surveys were conducted by the Mongolian Womens’ Federation, and even the Chief Lama of Mongolian Buddhism became involved because of the spiritual significance of fire in Mongolian culture.

The Improved Urban Stoves project, using a grant of $750,000 from the GEF seeks to reduce coal fuel consumption--and corresponding CO2 emissions and levels of air pollution (indoor and outdoor)--in the ger area, to facilitate the creation of a market-based institutional delivery system that would allow sustainable reduction of coal consumption and corresponding CO2 emissions into the future, through the establishment of reliable manufacturers of efficiency indoor coal stoves and development of small energy service provider companies and other means as required, and to transfer experience to other areas in Mongolia, particularly provincial capitals.

It has been estimated that, if successfully implemented, the project could cause overall coal consumption in domestic gers and households to be reduced by 30% after four years, and up to 40% subsequently, or the equivalent of 10 percent of families’ annual income, with a payback of 4 months. It is expected that during the first three years, most of the low income consumers, or about 2/3 of the population in the ger area, will have the improvement Kits installed in their traditional stoves.

It is hoped that the project will make available to consumers different cost-effective options to reduce coal consumption and improve heating of gers, thus leading to a reduction in coal and fuel-wood consumption and lowered emissions of CO2 and other forms of air pollution, will provide a credible quality control system and standards for improved stoves, and will, by the end of the project, provide for the establishment of a market-based institutional and financial delivery system to supply and adopt improved stoves and stove improvements in Mongolia. It is also expected that it will be possible to detect a reduction in the loss of forests.