REAL TIME ASSESSMENT OF CLIMATE-RELEVANT POLLUTANT EMISSION FROM BIOMASS BURNING COOKSTOVE

Solid biofuels combustion is a highly permeated source in the South Asian countries for cooking. It has been also found to emit enormous amount of carbonaceous aerosols and other climate relevant pollutants per kilogram of fuel burnt, hence its control is fundamental to climate change mitigation. Recent estimates of climate relevant pollutant species have shown large divergence between satellite retrieved absorbing aerosol optical depth and climate model simulated values over Asia. Absence of field based evaluation during actual traditional cooking may lead to uncertainty in emission estimates and hence is critically important to understand actual real time emission of pollutants contributing to climate change. The study has been conducted in a northern Indian village located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) region. Measurements of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), Greenhouse gases and other trace gases concentration were carried out during daily cooking regimes of the households. The emissions due to the burning of mixed solid biofuels consisting of fuel-wood, cow dung-cakes and crop residues together in rural cookstoves are captured for the first time in the field with the help of a multi-arm smoke collecting system designed based on literature. A 10 Lpm PM_2.5 cyclone based multi-stream sampler is used with Teflon and Quartz filters for particulates collection and a sensor based flue gas analyzer (Testo 350 XL) has been used to monitor the real time concentration of greenhouse gases and trace gases. The emission factor is estimated using carbon balance approach and were found to be higher by 4-6 times than the single fuel emission factor in laboratory tests. Further controlled cooking test (CCT) were also conducted in a simulated kitchen to monitor the same set of measurements while replicating the cooking cycles as per the field observations. For a better assessment the specific energy consumption (SEC) associated with local cooking tasks and emission parameters were evaluated concomitantly. The results of CCT have been compared with the field modified CCT tests that will prove to be a stove designing aid by better connecting the field and lab tests results. The study presents a detailed assessment of pollutants emission from solid biofuel burning during the traditional cooking cycles using a very specific mixture of various types of fuels available locally, which will be helpful in developing more relevant protocols for cookstove testing.