IMPROVED COOKSTOVES IN LONGJIE (GUIZHOU), CHINA - CARBON OFFSET
To equip over 2,000 rural families in Longjie county with improved cookstoves in order to reduce their fuel needs.
CONTEXT
The Guizhou province, located in Southwest China, is the poorest Chinese province in terms of GDP per capita. It has approximately 40 million inhabitants, and is overwhelmingly rural. The project area has been the victim of deforestation and serious erosion due to a fragile environment.
The selected site for this project is Longjie, a very poor and isolated county, where the average annual income is about 1,000 Yuan. Longjie currently has 27% forest cover, compared to 40% nearly 20 years ago.
The project's rural areas are still very underdeveloped. Families tend to live in clay houses, often along with animals, and they cook on the floor. The main sources of fuel are wood energy and coal.
PROJECT
The project's aim is to build 1,000 improved stoves between September 2010 and September 2011 in Longjie's (Guizhou Province) rural areas. This equipment allows for more efficient wood cooking and less indoor smoke emission.
An efficient wood cooker has a metal hearth built into a furnace set in masonry, and a flue gas stack. This equipment has a thermal efficiency of at least 35% (compared to 20% for a conventional cooker).
For the project, technicians are trained to build the cookers. One stove costs about 500 Yuan, or € 55. The beneficiary finances 30% of this cost by providing materials and labor.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
- Reduction of pressure on local biomass resources
- Annual reduction of approximately 2 tons of CO2e per cooker
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL BENEFITS
- Reduction of poverty
- Time-saver for beneficiaries
- Improvement of hygiene and indoor air quality
- Provision of local technical capacity
FRENCH NGO "INITIATIVE DÉVELOPPEMENT" (ID)
For over 15 years, ID has helped meet basic needs (health, education, access to water and sanitation, etc.) in 7 southern countries. ID's work helps sustain the emergence and growth of local development. The association runs 21 programs that affect approximately 250,000 peple living in a state of extreme poverty. ID received the 2007 Solidarité Internationale Prize for its work.
ID HAS BEEN WORKING IN CHINA SINCE 2002
The Guizhou province has been selected due to its socio-economic characteristics and the few NGOs present in the field. The project began as a water access project in the Weining district, before growing to include a biogas project in 2005. When the project grew, ID sought GoodPlanet's help in order to take advantage of carbon financing on this project.
These two entities have been collaborating on the Guizhou project since 2007. Their partnership has grown to cover new projects in the same region and in the neighboring Yunnan region. Among these projects is the improved stove project in Longjie, whose goal is to reduce the environmental impact of traditional cooking via an innovative alternative.
NEWS
2010 marked the project's preparatory phase. First, 1,000 beneficiary families were selected based mainly on the following criteria: motivation, low standard of living, energy profile and cooking habits.
Then, twenty locally recruited technicians were specially trained to build the improved stoves. Stove production will begin in 2011.
Studies have also been started on the beneficiaries’ fuel consumption in order to quantify the project's benefits in terms of reducing GHG emissions. Based on the results, which have a planned release date of summer 2011, the DP will be drawn up and the project will be registered with Gold Standard.
GOLD STANDARD METHODOLOGY
The project uses a methodology developed by Gold Standard: Technologies and Practices to Displace Decentralized Thermal Energy Consumption.
In addition to the project's eligibility criteria to be shown in the DP, the methodology indicates the calculation method for projected emissions reduction. This calculation focuses on the comparison between baseline and actual project scenarios, while adopting statistical correction factors to ensure conservative results.
A source of greenhouse gas emissions is being studied: the fuel used by the beneficiary family.
Finally, the methodology includes the monitoring plan to be established for rigorous monitoring of the calculation parameters for effective emissions reductions during the project.
The project is in the process of being validated by Gold Standard in the "micro-scale" scheme (GS918). A stakeholder meeting was held in 2010 to introduce the project to local stakeholders and get their various opinions. This meeting, which was a mandatory part of the Gold Standard labeling process, ensured that public consultation was initiated and also proved that the project meets local needs. The meeting report is available in the media library.
Project in the process of being registered with Gold Standard: GS918
