Cookstoves: Constructions and Carbon Credit Financing

Sammanfattning: Two issues within cookstove production are researched using experimental tests and interviews respectively. The purpose of the first part is to contribute to a reduction in biomass fuels used by households in Kenya by determining which woodstove construction available on the Kenyan stove market is the most efficient. This is studied through experimental testing of different types of woodstoves using the Water Boiling Test. The stove type Gasifer with Forced Air, a construction based on separation of the different stages of the burning process and additional air flow through the use of a fan, received the best results. The conclusion is that the Gasifier FA is the most efficient stove construction type available on the Kenyan household woodstove market.The second purpose is to elucidate how carbon credit trade can be used as a mean of financing as an enterprise enters the Kenyan stove market. This is investigated through interviews with players on the market to map the usage of carbon credits in stove businesses today and to distinguish any patterns. The results show that there are three different approaches to carbon credits in this industry: not using this mean of financing at all, using it to increase profit, or using it to subsidize products. The conclusion to be drawn is that the views on the Kenyan stove market and of the end customers’ purchasing power differ greatly, and that this lays the foundation to the business strategy of the company which in turn evidently plays a central role in the decision on if and how to incorporate carbon money in the business.