Partners for Euro-African Green Energy (PANGEA) and Project Gaia, Inc.,  held the event Clearing the Smoke: Promotion of CleanCook Ethanol Fuel Stoves in Developing Countries, as part of EU Sustainable Energy Week on Thursday, 14 April 2011 at the European Parliament. The event was hosted by MEP Christofer Fjellner (EPP/Sweden) and included presentations from the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI), Project Gaia, Inc., and stove manufacturer, Dometic AB.

MEP Christofer Fjellner said: “Everyone must have clean air to breathe and access to safe energy. We must stop assuming that ethanol is just about replacing fuel in our cars and reducing our own carbon emissions. We must see how ethanol stoves in developing countries can save millions of lives and significantly contribute to improving the quality of life in these regions.”

SEI researcher, Fiona Lambe, said: “To date, research regarding the determinants of stove choice at the household level has focused mainly on socio-economic attributes, such as income, age, gender and education. While the role of product-specific attributes, such as safety, indoor smoke, usage cost and stove price, have been given less attention.”

Project Gaia, Inc. Executive Director, Harry Stokes said: “There is an urgent need for clean cooking fuels in more than a billion homes across the developing world. Using ethanol for cooking will: (1) dramatically reduce disease and mortality in women and children, (2) reduce deforestation, and (3) substantially reduce the developing world’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and black carbon. It will stimulate local agriculture, create rural jobs and help poorer nations to reinvigorate their agricultural sector and produce for themselves.”

PANGEA Secretary General, Meghan Sapp said: “Ethanol stoves offer women and children freedom from sexual assault when collecting firewood and protect them from respiratory disease. The stoves save lives and protect the environment.”