Fir trees and blue sky

Black and White Smoke

Fir trees and blue sky

Biomass: Captured sunlight

Wood burning cookstoves make smoke and many different gases that change climate. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed when the plant grows and the same amount of carbon dioxide can be released when that biomass is burned. So emissions of CO2 can be zero with no effect on global warming (carbon neutral) if the burned biomass is used at the same rate as it grows.

But other emissions from combustion are also bad for climate change. Generally, wood burning cookstoves do not make a lot of methane and carbon monoxide so these gases do not add a lot to their effect on climate change. 

On the other hand, biomass cookstoves without engineered forced draft can make a lot Black Carbon (the soot in smoke) and BC is very bad for climate change. For this reason, when protecting climate, cookstoves should make as little black smoke as possible. 

White smoke can have a cooling effect on climate. ARC has been learning how to make combustion chambers that emit as little smoke as possible and make 95% white smoke and 5% black smoke. We are working with manufacturers to make stoves with health/climate combustion chambers.

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