Financial and Economic Analysis of Charcoal and Wood Use for Cooking and Alternatives for Forest Conservation in the DRC

This announcement was originally posted on Climatelinks.

Management Systems International (MSI) and USAID partnered on an analysis of the financial and economic costs of household cooking fuels, stoves, and charcoal production in four urban areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Bukavu, Goma, Kinshasa, and Kisangani). The speakers were Dr. Douglas Krieger (MSI team lead) and Dr. Eric Hyman (USAID).

This study analyzed eight fuel and stove combinations:

• Wood in a three-stone stove;
• Charcoal in a traditional metal stove;
• Charcoal in low- and medium-efficiency artisanal stoves;
• Charcoal in two high-efficiency, imported stoves (Jikokoa Xtra and EcoZoom Jet);
• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove; and
• Single-burner coil electric hotplate.

It analyzed five charcoal production methods:

• Traditional earth mound kiln;
• IFDC improved earth mound kiln;
• Casamance improved earth mound kiln;
• Portable metal drum kiln; and
• Brick kiln.

The financial analyses assessed the costs to households and charcoal producers over a 10-year time horizon. The economic analyses covered a 50-year time horizon and adjusted costs for taxes, tariffs, and subsidies; the global social cost of greenhouse gas emissions; the lost value of forest environmental goods from unsustainable woodfuel harvesting; and the social cost of premature mortality risks from fine particulate exposures (PM2.5).