Cleaner, Healthier Cookstoves

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/opinion/24fri4.html?ref=globalwarming

Nearly two million people — mostly women and children — in the developing world die annually from illnesses brought on by breathing toxic smoke from indoor cooking stoves. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a global partnership aimed at providing 100 million clean-burning stoves to villages in Africa, Asia and South America. That would cover about one-fifth of the 500 million poor families.The United States will provide $50 million in seed money to the project, known as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Other countries and private organizations have pledged a mere $10 million to the cause.Researchers have long known of the risks of primitive indoor stoves — including pneumonia in children, lung cancer, pulmonary and cardiovascular disease. The replacement stoves are small, simple cylindrical devices costing less than $100 and capable of capturing between half and 95% of the harmful emissions. The program will not use the money to buy and ship stoves but, rather, to create small manufacturing companies close to the target populations, thus creating new jobs in the process.