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The document identifies that 76% of the sub-Saharan African population relies on traditional biomass for cooking, leading to deforestation, indoor air pollution, and gender inequality. It argues that while clean fuels like LPG, ethanol, and biogas offer significant health and environmental benefits, their adoption is stifled by high costs, lack of infrastructure, and socio-cultural preferences. The authors recommend national government intervention through targeted subsidies, the creation of clean cooking fuel bureaus, and the development of local sustainable energy resources for rural areas.

The Foundation Course on Air Quality Management in Asia is a six-module educational program for adult learners aimed at improving urban air quality. The document provides an overview of the course's goals and a comprehensive glossary of technical terms related to atmospheric chemistry, health effects, and regulatory standards. It highlights the severe impact of urban air pollution in Asia, noting it causes an estimated 537,000 premature deaths annually, with indoor air pollution causing more than double that amount.

The document is Module 5 of the Foundation Course on Air Quality Management in Asia, focusing on the impacts of common air pollutants. It details the health effects of particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide, and lead, while explaining exposure assessment and epidemiological study designs. The text also covers the economic valuation of health outcomes, the management of indoor air pollution—particularly from biomass fuels in developing countries—and the environmental effects of pollution on visibility, materials, and vegetation. Additionally, it discusses the Global Burden of Disease approach and the indirect health risks associated with climate change.

The document explores the role of decentralized renewable energy (DRE) in enhancing adaptive capacity to climate change in developing countries. It posits that DRE provides a 'win-win' by addressing adaptation needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when integrated with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The text details how DRE supports the Millennium Development Goals by improving health, education, and gender equality, and reducing poverty and environmental degradation. It references case studies from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Senegal, and Zimbabwe to illustrate these benefits.

The SEI/UNEP Fuel Chain Project developed a methodology and software tool within the LEAP/EDB system to assess the full life-cycle environmental impacts of energy resources. By analyzing the 'chain' from extraction to end-use, the project aims to provide a more comprehensive comparison of fuel options than site-specific assessments. Case studies in Sri Lanka and Venezuela were used to validate the tool, focusing on biomass, coal, natural gas, and petroleum. In Sri Lanka, biomass was found to be environmentally superior to coal for electricity generation, while LPG was cleaner than biomass for household cooking. In Venezuela, natural gas was preferred over residual fuel oil for electricity, but its advantage over diesel for transport was mixed due to methane emissions and lower vehicle efficiency.

The report examines the intersection of poverty, environmental degradation, and health in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). It identifies critical deficiencies in water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, and air quality, linking these to high prevalences of childhood diarrhoea and respiratory infections. The study highlights that while the wealthy have better access to amenities, the poor face severe risks from shared facilities, water vendors, and biomass cooking fuels. It concludes that integrated environmental strategies and poverty alleviation are essential for improving public health in the region.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) and other applicants argue that the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) has engaged in greenwashing by marketing natural gas as a clean and affordable energy source. The document asserts that natural gas has a lifecycle climate impact comparable to coal, causes significant indoor and outdoor pollution, and is less affordable than heat pumps, especially as carbon pricing increases. The applicants request a Competition Bureau inquiry, a public retraction of the claims, and a $10 million fine.

The document argues that the EU Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directives, particularly Directive 2008/50/EC, are essential tools for protecting public health and that failures to meet air quality targets are due to Member State implementation gaps rather than flaws in the legislation. The authors recommend maintaining binding limit values, updating standards to align with the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, and strengthening enforcement through infringement procedures. Key recommendations include the adoption of short-term action plans for particulate matter (PM) pollution events, the inclusion of indoor air pollution in future revisions, and stricter enforcement of Euro Standards for vehicles to address the 'Dieselgate' scandal.

Black carbon (BC), or soot, is a potent short-lived climate pollutant resulting from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. It causes significant respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, contributing to millions of excess deaths annually, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Economically, BC exposure and reliance on unclean cooking fuels cause trillions of dollars in losses. Climatically, BC warms the atmosphere by absorbing solar energy and accelerates ice melt in the Arctic and Himalayas by reducing albedo. The report argues that reducing BC emissions—especially through clean cooking fuels in sub-Saharan Africa and transportation improvements in urban areas—would prevent millions of premature deaths, reduce deforestation, and help limit global warming to 1.5°C.

The document outlines systemic financing barriers in Africa, noting that climate tech start-ups, nature-based enterprises, and women entrepreneurs—particularly in Francophone West Africa—struggle to access necessary investment. It highlights that Africa receives only 6% of global biodiversity funding and that in Senegal, only 3.5% of women entrepreneurs access formal finance. A specific case study focuses on Saglan Wajee General Hospital in Ethiopia, which, supported by FSD Africa's BimaLab, launched 'Efoy', a micro-health insurance product. Efoy 1.0 attracted over 1,200 customers in its first year, and the subsequent Efoy 2.0 has reached 900 new clients, providing affordable coverage for low- and middle-income families.

The report examines the gap between South Africa's high electrification rates and the actual ability of poor households to afford enough electricity to improve their lives. It introduces the concept of 'universal enabling access' and the 'Minimum Threshold Level of Consumption' (MTLC), arguing that current policies—such as the 50kWh Free Basic Electricity (FBE) allowance—are insufficient to catalyze socioeconomic development. The authors propose a 'Food First Approach,' suggesting that all households below the upper-bound poverty line should receive 350kWh of free electricity monthly to prevent a trade-off between energy and nutrition.

The report examines the failure of South Africa's electrification policies to translate physical infrastructure into socio-economic development due to a lack of affordability. It introduces the concept of 'enabling access' and the 'Minimum Threshold Level of Consumption' (MTLC), arguing that current policies like Free Basic Electricity (FBE) are insufficient. The authors propose a 'Food First Approach' where households below the upper poverty line receive 350 kWh of free electricity monthly to prevent them from sacrificing nutrition for energy.

The document provides a comprehensive framework of indicators designed to measure gender equality within the energy sector. It categorizes these indicators into three work streams: general gender equality, social inclusion/equity policies, and energy-specific impacts. The paper maps available data from sources such as the World Bank, ILO, and OECD, while highlighting significant data gaps in gender-disaggregated energy access and the specific time-use burdens of women in fuel collection and cooking.

The report examines the role of electric cooking (eCooking) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), proposing a typology of appliances and assessing their suitability based on technical, financial, and cultural factors. It categorizes appliances into 'cooktops' (e.g., induction, infrared, hotplates), 'self-contained' units (e.g., electric pressure cookers, rice cookers, air fryers), and 'task-specific' devices (e.g., kettles). The analysis emphasizes that while cooktops offer versatility, self-contained appliances like electric pressure cookers (EPCs) often provide higher energy efficiency per meal. The report highlights that successful adoption depends on aligning appliance choice with local infrastructure (grid stability, AC/DC compatibility), cultural cooking traditions, and the availability of after-sales support and financing models like Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO).

The report assesses the current state of cooking energy in Madagascar, where over 80% of rural households rely on wood and over 60% of urban households use charcoal. It models a 'Base Scenario' aligned with national policy and a 'Universal Access Scenario' aligned with SDG7, estimating the fuel production potential for bioethanol, biogas, and pellets. The analysis highlights that while bio-fuels have significant potential without impacting food security, the primary barrier to adoption is the cost of fuel, which represents 97.1% of transition costs. Transitioning to clean cooking could reduce residential energy consumption by up to 65% and prevent thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution by 2030.

The report evaluates India's transition to clean cooking energy through four primary mechanisms: Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL), the Give it Up Campaign, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), and the Unified Guidelines for Selection of LPG Distributorship. While PMUY successfully provided 80 million subsidized connections to poor households by September 2019, the study finds that access has not translated into sustained use due to affordability barriers, specifically the recovery of connection loans and the high recurring cost of refills. DBTL reduced leakages by blocking 42.3 million fake or inactive connections by March 2019, but inclusion errors persist as 90 percent of the non-poor population continue to receive subsidies. The report recommends a differential subsidy for the poorest households, waiving PMUY loans, and integrating LPG programs with other social safety nets like maternal health and livelihood schemes to ensure a complete transition from biomass.

The report evaluates Malawi's progress toward clean cooking goals, highlighting a significant gap between current ownership and 2030 targets. It identifies affordability and low stove durability as primary barriers, estimating a $108.8M investment needed for the Compact scenario and $246.0M for the more ambitious IEP scenario. The IEP scenario envisions a total phase-out of fuelwood and charcoal by leveraging universal electrification for e-cooking and expanding biofuels. The report emphasizes the need for durable stoves, innovative financing, and regional strategies, particularly in the Northern region, to reduce health risks and gender-based time burdens associated with fuel collection.

The study found that EPCs significantly displaced charcoal use, particularly for breakfast, and reduced mean charcoal consumption per capita per event by 30%. While the overall daily cost of cooking remained stable at approximately RWF 388 (USD 0.34), users experienced a median meal preparation time saving of 14 minutes. Most participants preferred monthly payment plans and reported high satisfaction, though the limitation of having only one cooking pot was a primary challenge.

The document provides a detailed technical walkthrough of the Settings menu in LEAP, covering the Scope & Scale, Years, Calculations, Costs, Optimization, IBC, Internet, Mapping, Folders, and Scripts tabs. It explains how users can enable specific analysis modules—such as energy demand, transformation, and environmental effects—and configure critical parameters like base years, discount rates, and optimization solvers. The guide also details the integration of the Impact Benefit Calculator (IBC) for health and climate impact modeling and the use of GIS shape files for geographical mapping of results.

The document highlights that over three billion people rely on traditional solid fuels, causing significant indoor air pollution and contributing to 1.6 million annual deaths. It notes that black carbon from these fuels accounts for 18% of global GHG emissions. The brief advocates for 'source' interventions, such as LPG, ethanol, and improved stoves, and emphasizes the need for consumer choice analysis to ensure technology adoption, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.