FCDO's Clean Cooking Initiative

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) partnered with Climate Impact Partners to spark a market for ethanol stoves, supporting people in Kenya to climb the energy ladder. 

Helping people in developing communities to adopt cleaner, less polluting fuels in ways like this is vital if we’re to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of clean, affordable energy for all by 2030.

The FCDO is leading the UK government’s efforts to end extreme poverty and help people in developing countries lead healthier, safer, more prosperous lives. 

FCDO sought Climate Impact Partners’ help to maximize positive outcomes through clean cooking, with a focus on helping people to adopt more sustainable fuels.

By promoting ethanol cooking in Kenya, Climate Impact Partners ensured FCDO used its funds efficiently and effectively. 

Ethanol – which is made from molasses, a by-product of the country’s sugar industry – is a sustainable alternative to charcoal because it is renewable and clean burning. Typically, 68% of household energy comes from wood and charcoal, endangering our forests and climate, as well as people’s health.

In partnership with Safi International, we marketed, distributed, and sold clean burning ethanol stoves. Our customers were mainly communities in Kibera, an underprivileged area of Nairobi.

We wanted the project to flourish in the long term, so we worked with local community finance organizations to set up a revolving fund. This gives families the money they need to buy a stove. We also purchased the CERs produced by the project.

In addition, Climate Impact Partners has supported and harnessed the findings of two studies which explore the relative benefits of ethanol as a cooking fuel, compared with more polluting alternatives. 

Using ethanol reduces household air pollution and black carbon (a major factor in climate warming) by up to 68% and 83% respectively compared to burning charcoal. Conversely, burning solid fuels in the home accounts for around a quarter of the world’s black carbon emissions, with 84% of this coming from developing countries.

Creating a market for ethanol stoves in Kenya has improved life for 40,000 people, lowering families’ exposure to smoky fumes and helping them to save money on fuel. 

The switch from charcoal to ethanol has also prevented further deforestation, cut carbon emissions, and reduced black carbon by 90%. 

In this way, Climate Impact Partners has supported FCDO in transforming lives in developing countries, while also promoting clean, affordable energy. We’re now working hard to expand the program and make ethanol the cooking fuel of choice for Kenyans.