Burning dung cake as a household fuel: A review

Millions of households in developing countries burn dung cakes made from common farmyard manure to fulfil their household energy needs. Localised studies investigate dung cake use and its impact. However, a comprehensive review of the social practice of dung cake use as a household fuel and its impact are not available. Our exploratory systematic review on the social practice of burning dung as fuel and its impacts, reveals that due to their higher emissions than fuelwood and crop residue, dung cakes are primarily situated at the bottom of the energy ladder and are used as a niche fuel by energy-poor households. This review underscores the notable absence of knowledge about the social practice of dung cake as a fuel. Our study on the practice of burning dung cake as household fuel, dung cake users, their communities, and the context they are using dung cake helps to identify policy strategies as part of the clean energy transition, to benefit communities and improve global clean cooking practices. We highlight the importance of identifying cost-effective behavioural changes and context-specific solutions to accelerate the clean cooking transition in these communities.