Cooking with Corn Cobs Instead of Coal in China

Project type: Efficient cook stoves , Biomass

Project location: Provinces of Shanxi, Hubei and Guizhou, China

Project status: In operation, no credits available

Annual emission reduction of the whole project: 399,501 t

This project replaces coal consumption from traditional coal burning stoves with improved clean biomass burning semi-gasifier stoves in rural households within Shanxi Province, Hubei Province and Guizhou Province in China. CO₂ emissions can be avoided by reducing coal consumption by using the inner part of the corn cub for cooking. The cleaner stoves improve indoor air quality which benefits the health of the women and children.

"We can use the money saved for the education of our children, to buy new clothes, improve our lives and visit the doctor." Liu Zhihong, User of Biomass Stove

This grandmother paid 300 Yuan (USD 50) for her stove, myclimate subsidizes a stove with the same amount. The average income of the underclass is around USD 300.

The new efficient stoves can be lit with the rest of the corn cobs, which were not being used before the project.

Everybody helps in the harvesting season.

Corn cob piles which are dehydrated that way.

One of the most visible signs of the urban-rural disparity in China is the difference in the household energy sector. While cleaner-burning petroleum-based fuels are increasingly common in wealthier areas, at least 50 percent of all households still depend on solid fuels like wood or coal as an important household fuel.

Traditional stove which is lit with stone coal.

Depot of corn cobs – after having harvested the maize kernels – for cooking and heating. Corn is traditionally being cultivated in the area.

Typical scenario: coal depot of a family. People still use coal for heating in wintertime as coal burns longer therefore they do not have to get up at night.

Workers are provided with a steady workflow, and a steady income, as a result of the business development introduced by the project proponents.

Both Jinqilin CKQI and CKQ model stoves can use unprocessed crop residues and processed “briquette” crop residues, which are continually loaded with a manual fuel-feed. The stoves increase combustion efficiency by using primary airflow that flows up through the grate at the bottom of the stove, and secondary airflow that enters the combustion chamber through holes added on the upper part of the stove.

One of the most visible signs of the urban-rural disparity in China is in the household energy sector. While cleaner-burning petroleum-based fuels are increasingly common in wealthier areas, at least 50 percent of all households still depend on solid fuels like wood or coal as an important household fuel. A practice resulting in pollution exposures that the World Health Organization estimates to be annually responsible for over 420,000 premature deaths in China alone.

What I like most about the stove, besides the convenience, is that since buying the stove I’ve saved so much money from not having to buy coal for cooking. It is wonderful, every home in our Shanxi should have one.

Li Xiaoxia, owner of a Jinqilin stove since 2009

myclimate, Impact Carbon and the China Association of Rural Energy Industry (CAREI) have partnered to alleviate the health and climate burdens found in rural China due to the inefficient and dirty use of solid fuels such as wood and coal for household energy demands. This partnership promotes the use of efficient and clean household energy technologies that can be used for cooking, heating, and water purification throughout China.

The coal used to cook cost us 1500 Yuan per year. Now with the biomass stove we save a lot of money and it’s more convenient. In spring we plant the seeds. The corn is then sold on the market for money and the leftovers can be used for cooking with the biomass stove.

Nie Bianyu, User of biomass stove, China

Carbon finance revenues will be reinvested into the project for social marketing campaigns, quality control measures, solidifying supply chains, and a host of other activities.