co2balance has initiated a new project in South Africa that will prevent the release of carbon emissions and help impoverished areas.

The project involves the free distribution of Heat Retention Cookers to people who cook with Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) powered stoves. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the amount of LPG used by South African households for cooking.

A heat-retention cooker is essentially a box that retains the heat of a pot of food with insulating material similar to that used for bean-bags.  Boiling is the most common cooking method in South Africa – often with staple foods that take a long time to cook.  People cooking with an LPG stove can bring their food to the boil and then place it into the insulated heat-retention cooker to continue simmering. This is instead of continuing to simmer the pot on the LPG stove, which households tend to do normally.

This project, in addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, also reduces the amount of money needed for cooking fuel by households. Consequently, it improves the livelihood of impoverished South Africa, which is currently particularly relevant in light of rising global fuel and food costs.