It is estimated that over 2 billion of the world’s population live in families that use firewood or some other form of biomass to cook every day. Stoves that require less wood would go a long way in reducing climate change due to deforestation and reduce the firewood collection burden on women and children.

This is a traditional three-stone fire used by many households in rural settings around the world. In a bid to reduce the health risks associated with the fumes produced by this fire and to slow the rate of forest depletion, various manufacturers have created stoves that are expected to use less firewood and produce no harmful emissions.

We test different firewood stoves to determine which ones use the least amount of wood. We are also aware that it's one thing to tout a stove as fuel efficient and another thing for people to buy and use these stoves. This is why our tests go beyond the lab to and into the kitchens of families that cook with firewood at various Millennium Villages sites.

See our results