On the ground in Mexico

 

How cookstoves installation projects are cutting carbon and improving lives

 

A report from Jon Lee

 

BP Target Neutral recently visited the Onil Cookstoves project in rural Mexico, part of the BP Target Neutral portfolio. The area of Villa Victoria is approximately a 90 minute drive west of Mexico City. The BP Target Neutral team provided BP Fuels Mexico an opportunity to see the impact of a carbon reduction project first-hand.

Cooking structures are generally separate from the main living area and can be quite small. Traditional cooking methods require more fuel and generate more emissions than with a cookstove. As a result, more time is spent cooking, generating and breathing emissions, which impacts health.

The ONIL cookstove project has equipped 25,000 rural homes in Mexico with cookstoves that burn much more efficiently and use up to 58% less firewood than a traditional open fire.

That means a reduction in carbon of 40,000 tCO₂e per year.

While reduced emissions is an important purpose of the project, there are other socio-economic benefits that come as a result of a stove being installed. Those include improved health, helping to reduce poverty, and opportunity for work and economic growth.

 

In addition to assessing the impact of stoves on the community of Villa Victoria, the BP Fuels team gathered video for an upcoming marketing campaign. Retail sites in Mexico are applying carbon credits from the project to neutralize the emissions from their operations, making them carbon neutral.