Charcoal, livelihoods, and poverty reduction | Climate Change – Boiling Point, Issue 61, 2013 | Methodology to assess children’s exposure to indoor air pollution
Dan Campbell
Charcoal, livelihoods, and poverty reduction: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa
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Charcoal, livelihoods, and poverty reduction: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa.Energy for Sustainable Development, Volume 17, Issue 2, April 2013, Pages 127–137.
Leo C., et al.
More than 80% of urban households in sub-Saharan Africa use charcoal as their main source of cooking energy, and the demand is likely to increase for several decades. Charcoal is also a major source of income for rural households in areas with access to urban markets. We review studies of the socioeconomic implications of charcoal production and use, focusing holistically on the role of charcoal in poverty alleviation based on four dimensions of poverty defined by the World Bank: (i) material deprivation, (ii) poor health and education, (iii) vulnerability and exposure to risk, and (iv) voicelessness and powerlessness.
We draw conclusions from household-level studies to better understand the determinants of participation in charcoal production and sale, and of urban household demand. Poorer households are more likely to participate in the production and sale of charcoal but their participation is mainly a safety net to supplement other income. Although charcoal production contributes to poverty reduction through alternative income-generation opportunities, it can also undermine production of ecosystem services, agricultural production, and human health.
Reducing rural household dependence on charcoal requires coordinated policies providing alternative income opportunities for farmers, affordable alternative energy sources for urban households, and more efficient and sustainable approaches for producing and using charcoal. For future research, we emphasize the importance of large-N panel datasets to better understand the net benefits of charcoal production as a poverty-reduction strategy.
Exploring the consequences of climate change for indoor air quality.Environmental Research Letters, 8(1) 2013.
William W Nazaroff.
Climate change will affect the concentrations of air pollutants in buildings. The resulting shifts in human exposure may influence public health. Changes can be anticipated because of altered outdoor pollution and also owing to changes in buildings effected in response to changing climate. Three classes of factors govern indoor pollutant levels in occupied spaces: (a) properties of pollutants; (b) building factors, such as the ventilation rate; and (c) occupant behavior. Diversity of indoor conditions influences the public health significance of climate change.
Potentially vulnerable subpopulations include not only the young and the infirm but also those who lack resources to respond effectively to changing conditions. Indoor air pollutant levels reflect the sum of contributions from indoor sources and from outdoor pollutants that enter with ventilation air. Pollutant classes with important indoor sources include the byproducts of combustion, radon, and volatile and semivolatile organic compounds. Outdoor pollutants of special concern include particulate matter and ozone. To ensure good indoor air quality it is important first to avoid high indoor emission rates for all pollutants and second to ensure adequate ventilation. A third factor is the use of air filtration or air cleaning to achieve further improvements where warranted.
Climate Change – Boiling Point, Issue 61, 2013
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Climate Change: Adaptation, Resilience and Energy Security. Boiling Point, Issue 61, 2013.
It is becoming ever more important that energy programmes are reliable against changes in the climate. Ways of providing people access to energy whilst minimising impact on the environment and natural resources are now considered vital for sustainable development.
This edition of Boiling Point seeks to address some of the challenges in making this provision, and it presents examples of related initiatives being implemented and explored to enhance the adaptive capacity, resilience and energy security for households and communities against climate change.
Contents:
Editorial: Climate Change: Adaptation, Resilience and Energy Security 1
Enhancing resilience through energy efficiency:Experience from Tajikistan 2
Kambulakwao Chakanga, Heike Volkmer
Transforming household energy practices to reduce climate risks: Charcoal use in Lusaka, Zambia 5
Aaron Atteridge
Integrating renewable energy into resilient livelihoods: Christian Aid’s experience 8
Richard Ewbank
Emerging institutional perspectives: A case study on managing bamboo resources for charcoal production in Nagaland, India 11
Jay Anand, Dr. Appadurai Arivudai Nambi
Building climate resilience through community based energy security 17
Jim Jarvie, David Nicholson
Low Carbon Development and energy access in Africa 24
Haruna Gujba, Yacob Mulugetta, Jabavu Nkomo, Youba Sokona
A microenvironmental modelling methodology to assess children’s exposure to indoor air pollution
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A microenvironmental modelling methodology to assess children’s exposure to indoor air pollution in Porto, Portugal.
PTBS BRANCO, et al.
Abstract – Assessing children’s exposure to indoor air pollution is an emergent area of research, and also an increasing political and scientific concern. During their daily routine, children move through different locations (microenvironments), where they are exposed to different levels of air pollutants that can cause adverse effects on their health, like asthma and other respiratory diseases. Several methods and approaches are available to assess personal exposure.
This paper presents: i) a review of the study designs and input data requirements needed to assess air pollutant levels on microenvironments (home indoor, home outdoor, school indoor, school outdoor, in transit); and ii) the microenvironmental modelling methodology developed to assess children’sexposure to indoor air pollution in Porto Metropolitan Area (North of Portugal). This methodology will allow the assessment of children’s exposure, as well as contribute to identify the main pollutants influencing exposure and their sources. Scientific positive contribution and population raise awareness are additional benefits from this study.