About 40% of the world's population, or roughly 3 billion people, rely on solid biomass fuels like coal, wood, dung, and crop residues to cook and meet their household energy needs. This outdated energy system has severe social, health, and environmental implications. Women are disproportionately affected as they predominantly bear the burden of cooking and collecting fuelwood, which exacerbates the "time poverty" trap that restricts them from participating in economic and educational activities. Exposure to indoor solid fuel combustion, also known as household air pollution, is responsible for 3-4 million premature deaths per year and is a leading risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, childhood pneumonia, stroke, ischemic heart disease, and lung cancer. Solid-fuel cooking contributes to 16% of global ambient air pollution, emitting CO 2 and other climate-forcing pollutants like carbon monoxide, black carbon, and methane.To tackle the issue of solid-fuel cooking on a global scale, initiatives have been launched to introduce energy-efficient cookstoves known as "improved" or "clean" cookstoves. These cookstoves can significantly reduce fuel use, emissions, and cooking time compared to open fires or rudimentary cookstoves. They are considered a cost-effective climate mitigation strategy, with the potential to reduce emissions by 1 Gigatonne CO 2 e per year if implemented globally. Nevertheless, for improved cookstoves to have any tangible health benefits, they must attain high levels of efficiency. The reduced burden on women from less fuelwood collection time and labor, as well as shorter cooking times, should not be disregarded, but households must first adopt the improved cookstoves for any benefits to be achieved.
Improved cookstoves programs have largely failed to achieve their promised advantages dueIn summary, this research presents case studies and method analyses that highlight the importance of incorporating user-centered design techniques and sensor data in cookstove interventions. Using reliable methods to measure the impact of cookstoves' projects is necessary for the development of the cookstoves sector and addressing the negative effects of solid-fuel cooking globally. Moreover, the lessons learned from these studies can also extend to technology intervention projects more broadly. i Standing before the stove Hungry for hope Flames, wood, The smell of ash The planet speaks Not of ends, but beginnings. -Z. Hing ii Contents Contents ii List of Figures iv List of Tables ix x C.1 Testing data for field tests (n = 3) of the BIS and mud chulha (cold start), boiling