Almost 30% of people will still use polluting cooking fuels in 2030 – Silver Screen Beat

Despite advances in efficient fuels as well as renewable energy devices, one in three people will still use polluting cooking fuels by 2030, according to a new study. The study indicates that just under 3 billion people worldwide will still use polluting fuels such as firewood and charcoal by the end of the decade.

Researchers have warned that the use of these fuels is a major source of disease and environmental destruction and devastation in areas where this type of cooking fuels is used and that measures should be taken to reduce the use of these fuels.

Scientists further said that number rose to more than four in five in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of people using mainly polluting fuels is increasing at an alarming rate.

These “dirty” fuels are a source of major health risk because they produce high levels of household air pollution – chronic exposure to which increases the risk of heart disease, pneumonia, lung cancer and stroke, among others.

While the overall percentage of the world’s population using mainly polluting cooking fuels has been steadily declining since 1990, this trend is already showing signs of stagnation. Six in ten people in rural areas still depend on biomass fuels such as wood and charcoal.

Reports from the WHO and others have attributed household air pollution from these fuels to millions of deaths per year, which is comparable to the number of deaths from outdoor air pollution. At the same time, fuel collection is often left to women and children, reducing educational opportunities.or income generation

Polluting fuels are also a major cause of environmental degradation and climate change, with carbon black from residential biomass cooking accounting for 25% of global anthropogenic black carbon emissions each year.

The researchers insist that the crucial new study shows that while progress has been made, the quest to provide universal access to clean kitchens by 2030 is “far off track.”

They believe world leaders and policymakers need to make meaningful, short-term progress to help tackle the health and environmental risks of domestic air pollution.

The study is published in Nature Communications on 4^e October 2021.