About the publication

The increasing focus on addressing the impacts from traditional fuel burning cooking practices, have spurred a number of innovative streams around the development of improved (clean) cookstoves (ICS). In particular, technologies and systems that have the ability to provide multi-dimensional benefits for air quality and the environment, socio-economic wellbeing and health, and gender equality and safeguarding, while being accessible and fully adaptable to different individual and household contexts. For this purpose, this study investigates the impacts of the fully solar powered electric cookstove, the ECOCA. A compact, self-contained, multi-purpose home cooking unit consisting of a battery pack, solar panel and a highly insulated pot. It has ability to charge small appliances, allowing for the typical household to cover basic electricity needs and even engage in electricity-based income generating activities. Proposing a clean, efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly cooking system. The study takes place within the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda, with 20 households, ten with access to their own ECOCA and ten with only access to traditional fuel cooking methods and solid biomass fuel. The project focuses primarily on investigating the emissions, respiratory, and well-being impacts between traditional fuel burning cooking methods (solid biomass/ charcoal/ firewood) and solar voltaic clean cooking methods, in this case, the ECOCA.