Some four million people die prematurely each year thanks to polluting stoves using kerosene or solid fuels such as coal1). Respiratory diseases, heart disease and stroke are just some of the killers that result, not to mention the danger to women and children in less secure environments while gathering fuel.
To try and combat this, the United Nations Foundation launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, with whom ISO has been collaborating to develop standards that will help drive the market for safe and efficient cooking solutions.
The result, so far, is three documents dedicated to testing protocols and laboratory measurement procedures to assess the performance of cookstoves under controlled laboratory conditions, with others in development.
Technical report ISO/TR 19867-3, Clean cookstoves and clean cooking solutions – Harmonized laboratory test protocols – Part 3: Voluntary performance targets for cookstoves based on laboratory testing, provides voluntary performance targets for cookstoves used for small-scale household applications. It supplements ISO 19867-1, Clean cookstoves and clean cooking solutions – Harmonized laboratory test protocols – Part 1: Standard test sequence for emissions and performance, safety and durability. The two documents join ISO/TR 21276, Clean cookstoves and clean cooking solutions – Vocabulary, a technical report on terminology which was published earlier this year.
Ranyee Chiang, Chair of the ISO committee that developed the standards and former Director of Standards, Technology and Fuels at the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, said this latest addition, ISO 19867-3, will provide a common way of measuring the potential performance of cookstoves and how laboratory test results can be interpreted.
“These voluntary performance targets for cookstoves will thus facilitate international trade in household energy technologies and fuels, as well as driving improvements in technology quality and performance,” she said.
“In this way, they support the development of the industry for cookstoves, fuels, and other clean cooking solutions, so we can make progress on this important issue that impacts millions of people and the environment.”
ISO 19867-1, ISO/TR 19867-3 and ISO/TR 21276 were developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 285, Clean cookstoves and clean cooking solutions, comprised of some of the world’s leading specialists from the clean cookstoves and fuels sector, with special expertise on testing, design, business and policy.
The committee is jointly led by ANSI, ISO’s member for the US, and KEBS, ISO’s member for Kenya, with a strong involvement from other developing countries for whom clean cookstoves are most relevant.
The documents are available from your national ISO member or through the ISO Store.