Providing households in Guatemala with fuel-efficient ONIL cookstoves to replace conventional open fire. 

Background

Currently, approximately one-third of the world’s population depend on firewood and other solid fuels for cooking. This is projected to increase by 8% by 2030. For many years, families in Guatemala have been burning firewood with a traditional open fire. This method requires large amounts of firewood, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere as it burns. Traditional cooking practices produce an estimated 2 to 5% of annual greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Not only is this bad for the environment, this firewood is also expensive, putting strain on family finances to afford enough fuel for cooking. What’s more, open fire cooking inside homes or in areas with limited ventilation releases plumes of smoke and fumes, liable for 4.3 million premature deaths each year.

The ONIL stove is a fuel-efficient cookstove that reduces the amount of firewood required by households by up to 58%. A single ONIL stove will save 3.8 tonnes of CO2 per year. By installing these cookstoves, households will save on expenditure related to firewood purchases. And they will also save on time spent gathering firewood. This will help improve living conditions for families in Guatemala.

“Improved clean cookstoves can address the pollution from burning wood or biomass in traditional stoves. Using various technologies, they reduce emissions and protect human health”

Project Drawdown

About the project

This project is certified to the highest level by the Verified Carbon Standard.

Criteria	Project
Additionality	This project is highly additional as without the distribution of these stoves, families would continue cooking on traditional open fires.
Emissions reduction	3.8 tonnes of CO2e per year per stove, with a total 195,765 tCO2e reduced between December 2010 to July 2017
Verification	Verified Carbon Standard
Contribution to sustainable development (in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals*)	3 – Good health and well-being13 – Climate Action15 – Life on land

* Read more about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We require that the projects we support meet at least 3 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, of which one is climate action. This means that as well as fighting climate change by offsetting carbon emissions, the projects your money is supporting contribute to sustainable development for ecosystems and communities around the world. 

The impacts and benefits of this project: 

This project contributes strongly to sustainable development both within the local area and at a national level. 

Environmental benefits: 

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions from burning wood.
• Reducing rate of deforestation in Guatemala by reducing demand for wood fuel.

Social benefits:

• Health benefits from switching to ONIL stoves include less carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions, which are linked to respiratory diseases.
• Reduced instances of burns and injuries associated with open fire cooking.

Economic benefits: 

• Saving time particularly for women on collecting firewood. This means that they have more time to dedicate to education and other employment.
• Contributing to economic stability in Guatemala through more efficient use of firewood, reducing household expenditure.
• Training and employment opportunities for locals involved in distributing and installing ONIL stoves.

You can read more about how we select our projects here: Behind the scenes: How do we choose our projects?

Your impact

You can see a record of our donation to this project on our public ledger.

Thanks to the contributions of our members, we are reducing carbon emissions for a more sustainable future.

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