HOUSEHOLD TIME REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING COOKING FUELS IN RURAL AREAS IN DEVELOPING NATIONS

Fuelwood is the primary and traditional energy source for cooking mostlyin developing nations. Consumption of fuelwood depends upon climatic conditions, number of family members, geographical elevation and socio-economic conditions. Everyday collection of fuelwood is time consuming, which affects rural people, as they have to spend most of their qualitative time on it. This study focuses on three case studies from Nepal, India and Ghana. In this analysis, detailed production chains of different energy resource were prepared and then the time required for collecting, transporting and processing the wood was collected. Outcomes of the analysis show that, in both cases, just transforming wood into charcoal or briquette and burning in an open traditional cookstove is not saving wood or hours, but with intervention of improved cookstove, the demand for wood and time saves eventually.