The largest
reductions in
indoor air
pollution can
be achieved by
switching from
solid fuels to
cleaner and
more efficient
fuels and energy
technologies.

World Health
Organization
(2006)

We have the material; we can create the market.
A well-designed alcohol stove functions beautifully when fueled with ethanol or methanol. In developing countries, the most promising feedstocks for production of alcohol fuels are molasses for ethanol and flared gas and biomass for methanol. For the production of alcohol fuels to be economically viable, however, a market for the fuel must exist. Household use of safe, clean-burning alcohol-fueled cookstoves and appliances would provide an ideal market.

Domestic markets are the ideal markets. In developing countries, the highest value and best use of domestically produced alcohol fuels is in the domestic, not the export, market. Transport of ethanol is often costly and exported ethanol rarely commands high export prices. This makes the domestic market a more attractive option.

Ethanol from sugar cane and molasses
Ethanol can be made from three types of crops and raw materials:
• sugar-bearing crops, such as sugar cane and its byproduct molasses, sugar beet, and sweet sorghum;
• starches, including cassava, potatoes, and maize;
• cellulose from wood, grasses, and agricultural residues.
Sugar cane and molasses are the most common and economical sources of ethanol at the present time. Although starches and cellulose are less common sources, they are receiving more attention as the raw material (i.e., “feedstock”) for the production of ethanol.

On-site distilleries. With the addition of a distillery, a local sugar mill can convert excess molasses to ethanol on site. The resulting ethanol is cost-competitive with other household fuels, making such a distillery an attractive investment. This process would eliminates the environmental damage caused by dumping molasses into rivers.

Valuable commodities from waste products
Because of the high cost of transporting it to European and American markets, large quantities of molasses are wasted every year; the excess is often dumped into rivers. Wasted molasses makes an excellent feedstock for manufacturing ethanol.

Methanol from natural gas
Although methanol can be made from any carbonaceous material—wood, bagasse, grasses, agricultural waste, lignite, or coal—at present virtually all methanol is made from natural gas. Methanol can also readily be made from biogas. Projects in the United States propose to make methanol from biogas recovered at landfills.

Capturing waste energy. Because not enough of it exists to capture and sell, or because it is too far away from where it’s needed, natural gas from oil fields and gas processing plants is often burned off (“flared”) for disposal, wasting large amounts of energy and releasing damaging greenhouse gases into the environment.

Modular conversion plants. With the installation of a small, modular methanol plant at the source, wasted gas can be converted to methanol efficiently and cost-effectively, allowing it to be delivered at an average cost comparable to, or cheaper than, that of fuelwood, kerosene, or propane purchased at free-market prices. As a result, the whole fuel system—from the oil or gas well that manufactures it down to the consumer who uses it—would produce wealth within the country. Less natural gas would be flared, and the need for hard currency to buy imported fuels would be reduced or eliminated.

Don’t forget biomass. Countries with ample biomass but without fossil fuel resources could construct biomass-to-methanol plants. These plants—components of which already exist in modular, highly transportable form—could be placed wherever sufficient reliable biomass resources exist. Biomass waste (such as piles of sawdust and lumber mill tailings) could supplement plantation biomass.

A transformation waiting to happen. Clearly, the development of sustainable, on-site ethanol distilleries and methanol plants has the potential to transform the energy economies of developing countries, while contributing to the overall human and economic development of these nations. However, it is essential that suitable appliances be introduced to stimulate the demand for such fuels and the development of a domestic household market for them.

Ideal appliance. . .

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