GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

credits. By increasing the efficiency of fuel combustion, improved stoves have
the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emission levels and also conserve
increasingly scarce fuel wood. However, some past efforts to introduce new stove
technologies have failed because they primarily emphasized environmental
benefits and were not well suited to local customs. Engaging women in the
design of improved stoves and implementation of projects will greatly increase
the chances that the equipment will actually be used, and therefore the
expected GHG reductions actually achieved.
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Biogas digesters and solar cookers are other technologies that offer
lower emission options for cooking and potential benefits to women – if they are
compatible with women’s daily routines and workloads, and adapted to the
local context. Large-scale biogas digester projects have already been approved
for funding under the CDM (see the Case study 3). Biogas digesters capture
the methane gas released as agricultural waste, manure and other organic
materials decompose; the gas is then piped to homes to be used for cooking
and lighting. So far biogas digesters have been most popular in areas where
people raise livestock, and there is plenty of water for processing purposes. Solar
cookers have been most readily accepted in areas where land degradation and
deforestation have made reliance on traditional wood fuels extremely difficult.
In areas beyond the reach of grid-based electricity, renewable energy
options such as wind, solar and small hydrotechnologies provide alternatives
to diesel engines and generators as low-emission sources of electricity and/or
motorized power for essential equipment such as water pumps and grain mills.
Since much of women’s time in rural areas is spent getting water and preparing
food for their families, motorized equipment greatly relieves the drudgery of
their daily routines and increases the time they have available for other types of
activities.
Production of liquid biofuels from plant products and waste materials
may also offer new opportunities for women and communities to gain
access to energy without adding to global carbon dioxide emissions. There is
much controversy about the advisability and sustainability of creating large
monoculture biofuel plantations, or using food crops for fuel, and in many cases
it is women who will be most impacted by food insecurity and loss of access
to land and resources for traditional biomass fuels. There are also questions
about whether biofuel operations actually reduce GHG emissions when all
the energy inputs required for large-scale operations are taken into account.