Rural Household Energy
About 60% of China's population lives in rural areas. They and many urban dwellers rely on solid fuels (biomass and coal) for cooking and heating, resulting in pressure on biomass resources in many areas. Household biomass burning also leads to very high levels of indoor air pollution (IAP)—even more than than tobacco—with respiratory disease being a leading cause of death in China. In addition, many products of incomplete combustion are greenhouse gases, and some coals release toxic emissions such as fluorine and arsenic.
National Improved Stove Program
- The National Improved Stove Program (NISP) started in early 1980s under Ministry of Agriculture, primarily to reduce biomass use.
- Similar successful local programs were implemented around the country.
- Nearly a billion rural Chinese citizens benefited from improved efficiency and reduced indoor air pollution.
- This program was the largest, most successful improved stove program ever, anywhere in the world.
For more information about current work please see "An Assessment of Programs to Promote Improved Household Stoves in China", a collaborative effort of the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco; Tsinghua University; Renmin University; and the Chinese Centers for Disease Control; and "A Review of China's National Improved Stoves Programs", a presentation given by Jonathan Sinton at the NISP Dissemination Workshop in Beijing, January 14-16, 2005 (also available in Chinese).