Better stoves make for less air pollution, healthier people, the World Bank argues

Nov 4, 2013 19:11 GMT  ·  By
The World Bank wants people in developing countries to have access to better, more environmentally friendly cooking stoves
   The World Bank wants people in developing countries to have access to better, more environmentally friendly cooking stoves

This Monday, the World Bank released a report stating that, should people in developing countries gain access to better cooking stoves, both the environment and public health would benefit greatly.

Specifically, the World Bank maintains that, if more efficient cooking stoves were to be used by people living in these regions, annual death tolls would drop by about one million. Besides, global warming would probably slow down to a considerable extent.

“If we act fast and cut common pollutants like soot and methane we can slow the rate of warming, and if we did so we can save millions of lives,” Rachel Kyte, the current World Bank vice president for sustainable development, said, as cited by Voice of America.

The World Bank explains that, according to its investigations into the matter at hand, cooking stoves presently in use in developing nations should be replaced by stoves that either burn less fuel, or by stoves that run on cleaner fuels such as gas from manure or crop waste.

If mass-produced, these stoves would also be appealing from an economic standpoint, meaning that one would only cost a few dollars.