Throughout the developing world, people cook or heat by openly burning stuff, such as wood, animal dung or charcoal. Breathing in the smoke leads to severe health problems, with 4.3 million people dying a year, which is more than die of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Gathering wood, meanwhile, leads to deforestation and desertification. In a country with one of the hightest rates of per capita firewood consumption, Bhutan, an organization called Dazin is now providing an alternative. The solution comes with two components, a smokeless stove and a so-called “Fuel Cookie,” made from waste wood, which could lower the consumption of wood by 84 percent. The waste wood is widely available in forests and can be easily collected and brought to a Dazin facility where it’s turned into Fuel Cookies. Emissions are 98 percent lower than traditional open fires.
