Is methanol a clean, efficient, healthy and safe cooking solution for Africa? Experiences of benefits, challenges and prospects for diffusion

Abstract

An estimated 970 million Africans lack access to clean cooking and largely depend on the combustion of unprocessed biomass and low-grade kerosene in leaky stoves. Many people are therefore regularly exposed to risks of health losses from household air pollution, burn injuries, and conflagrations. This unprecedented energy and health challenge underscores the urgency to scale up access to clean energy. Although LPG is widely promoted across the continent as a clean alternative, it's yet to attain widespread usage due to limited access. Conversely, renewable alcohol fuels, such as methanol, with comparable clean combustion characteristics to LPG, have received less attention. This article utilises a narrative review approach to offer a critique of alcohol fuel use with illustrations from four African regions. The reviewed literature includes recent research on the use of methanol and ethanol fuels in the continent and seminal work on the use of alcohol stoves. The aim is to enhance comprehension of the experienced benefits and challenges of using alcohol fuels, and how to deploy them more widely. The results indicate that alcohol-fuelled stoves perform satisfactorily in ease of use, energy efficiency, and emissions abatement, and could complement proven clean cooking solutions. However, these fuels, especially methanol, while posing less of a conflagration risk compared to more widely used fuels such as kerosene, still pose an elevated poisoning risk if ingested or on dermal contact. Considerations of its adoption should therefore incorporate specific policy protections against the possible health threats, including regulations that prescribe fuel denaturing, safe packaging and clear labelling, and compulsory appliance standards. The article builds on transitions research, focussing on the social, health and safety aspects of feasible and scalable clean energy options, with implications especially for energy planners and policy makers on the African continent.