Zero Carbon Clean Cookstoves for Africa - Benin, Ghana, Nigeria

Biofuels made from feedstock is a simple way to produce and achieve almost 100% renewable energy. Zero Carbon Clean Cookstoves for Africa is replacing kerosene fuel with biofuel cookstoves, promoting green businesses and mitigating climate change.

Fast facts:

This activity has created 71 jobs and empowered over 17,500 women;
There has been a 30-80% overall reduction in indoor air pollutants and 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions have been sequestered;
The new micro distillery plants are estimated to produce at least 10,000 litres per day of ethanol to replace kerosene, firewood and charcoal;
An estimated 4,375,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided during the year as a result of this activity scaling up.

The problem

To fuel their traditional stoves, low income families must either buy expensive charcoal or kerosene or walk for miles seeking firewood. Women, marginalized groups and youths will dig up roots to burn when no other fuel can be found. The burning of kerosene, firewood and charcoal can have damaging health effects.

The solution

This project is displacing kerosene with over 2,900,000 liters of a biofuel cooking gel equivalent. To date, this activity has supported 22,000 green businesses and has cut 1,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions. Around 300,000 homes are using the clean cook stove and the ethanol gel for their cooking needs. This project uses multi-level marketing and social marketing to engage cooperatives, entrepreneurs, associations and groups. More than USD 500,000 is provided monthly forming the turnaround working capital to ensure customers and entrepreneurs get access to cookstoves and other solar lighting projects.

Helping the planet

By switching to a clean cookstove, carbon emissions will be avoided.

Helping people

The people who benefit most from this project are Nigerians who pay for cooking fuel and are making less than USD 4 per day.

Scaling Up

This activity started with USD 2,500 in 2011 and the project has continued to attract funding from the private sector and institutions. Additional funding injection of USD 1 Million was recently obtained to expand cookstove production and build a biogel plant Nasarawa state in Nigeria.

This activity distributes their products from their warehouse and mini production facility to over twenty green centers across Africa. They plan to open 100 green centers in the 2016 and expect to grow to over 10,000 green centers in the next five years. Their distribution model factors in the cost of transportation and other associated costs.