Key differences between urban and rural populations can influence the adoption and impacts of new cooking technologies and fuels. We examine these differences among urban and rural households that are part of the REACCTING study in Northern Ghana. While urban and rural populations in the study area all use multiple stoves, the types of stoves and fuels differ, with urban participants more likel...

In the recent attempts to stimulate alternative energy sources for heating and cooling of buildings, emphasis has been put on utilisation of the ambient energy from ground source and other renewable energy sources. Exploitation of renewable energy sources and particularly ground heat in buildings can significantly contribute towards reducing dependency on fossil fuels. This paper highlights the...

Previously, the analysis of energy demand for wastewater treatment was often limited to onedimensional analyses of electricity demand. However, a comprehensive analysis requires the inclusion of all different contributions to energy demand, such as the energy required to produce chemicals (e.g. coagulants and flocculants) and transport sludge, and the additional fuels needed to dry sewage sludg...

Additional scientific partners include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Florida, Illinois State University, Iowa State University, and Lucigen Corporation. Located in the world’s most productive agricultural region, the GLBRC is taking scientifically diverse approaches to converting sunlight and diverse plant feedstocks (agricultural residu...

BACKGROUND Over half the world is exposed daily to the smoke from combustion of solid fuels. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the main contributors to the global burden of disease and can be caused by biomass smoke exposure. However, studies of biomass exposure and COPD show a wide range of effect sizes. The aim of this systematic review was to quantify the impact of bioma...

This work analyzes a process known as flash pyrolysis, which produces bio fuels using biomass for power generation. A life-cycle assessment of flash pyrolysis of wood waste was conducted to study whether a flash pyrolysis plant set up locally would be environmentally friendly. The results obtained show that the process of flash pyrolysis of wood waste is in fact environmentally friendly, and th...

BACKGROUND Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) are a leading cause of death among African children under five. A significant proportion of these are attributable to household air pollution from solid fuel use. METHODS We assessed the relationship between cooking practices and ALRI in pooled datasets of Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2000 and 2011 in countries of sub-Sa...

The United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development may not app pear, at first sight, to be a major playing field for public health. Nevertheless, when environment, energy and developp ment ministers from around the world assembled in New York on 1–12 May 2006 for the Commission’s 14th session, health concerns in relation to energy production and consumption emerged as a prominent argumen...

the major objectives of this study were to find out the mechanism behind the sapstaining fungal hyphae penetration into wood elements using electron microscope and to evaluate the exact role of phenolic compounds existing in wood vinegar towards the sapstaining fungal growth inhibition. to formulate the new environmental friendly wood preservative, we neutralized (to ph 7) wood vinegar with nao...

We present pre-burn biomass and consumption data from 60 prescribed burns in the southeastern and western United States. The datasets include pre-burn biomass in Mg/ha by fuel category: herbaceous fuels, shrubs, 1-hr, 10-hr, 100-hr, 1000-hr, 10,000-hr, and > 10,000-hr downed wood, litter and duff. Pre-burn depth (cm) and reduction (cm) are provided for litter and duff layers. Day-of-burn fuel m...