Back to insights
Wok being used to cook over a naked flame

Sector Snapshot: Cookstoves

  • BeZero Carbon
  • Ratings

Contents

Learn about our ratings and research on cookstove projects, and how you can use our platform to dig deeper into the sub-sector.

What are cookstove projects?

  • Cookstove projects aim to reduce emissions from fossil fuels used in household cooking and heating, especially in the developing world. 

  • Most replace stoves that burn biomass on an open or partially covered flame with more fuel-efficient technology, though some make use of stoves with cleaner fuel sources (e.g. liquified petroleum gas). 

  • Beyond their potential carbon benefits, cookstoves can improve health outcomes for families by reducing their exposure to smoke and soot. Co-benefits such as these are often valued by end buyers of carbon credits.

Key figures

  • One of the largest non-Nature Based sub-sectors in the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), cookstove projects account for approximately 4% of the total market by credits outstanding.

  • Cookstoves credit issuance has soared in the past six months. Only the Regenerative Agriculture sub-sector experienced higher growth over the same period.

Three month rolling issuance of cookstove credits compared to the Voluntary Carbon Market as a whole, as of 21/03/2023, available on the BeZero Carbon Markets platform.

How we rate projects

  • You can find BeZero Carbon Ratings for more than 20 cookstoves projects across Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific on our platform.

  • We find most have a moderately low to low likelihood of reaching their carbon avoidance promises.

  • Details on our sector-specific approach to rating cookstove projects can be found in our Household Devices methodology.

Distribution of BeZero Carbon Ratings for 24 cookstove projects compared to the wider universe of projects rated by BeZero, as of 18/04/2023.

Dig deeper on the BeZero Carbon Markets Platform

  • Find project specific analysis and interactive charts explaining our ratings, such as the effect of energy trends on a project’s additionality.

Proportion of Kenya’s urban population with primary reliance on charcoal and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking. Available on BeZero Carbon Markets platform.

  • Using our risk factor distribution charts, you can get a sense of how additionality, over-crediting and other risks play out within the sub-sector.

  • For example, our analysis finds significant risk of over-crediting for the overwhelming majority of cookstove projects.

Over-crediting risk across 24 cookstove projects rated by BeZero Carbon, as of 18/04/2023, available on BeZero Carbon Markets platform.

Further exclusive insights and webinars on cookstoves are available for platform users. If you’d like to learn more, our team will be happy to set up a demo.