The proposed VPA will undertake the production of biomass pellets sourced from sustainable feedstock, for use in modern, clean-burning cookstoves, made available at a cost to end users that is at par or below the cost of existing (charcoal) fuel and cookstove technologies.  

In most urban areas, people cook on charcoal. This fuel is often produced from unsustainable sources, using inefficient techniques that waste wood (conversion rates of ~10%, meaning that ten kilos of wood are required to produce only one kilo of charcoal). Often, charcoal is burned in traditional stove (fatapera) which are also inefficient – meaning they consume a lot more charcoal than efficient (more expensive) stoves. Such stoves are also smoky and create indoor air pollution, which causes cancer and other ailments. The present cooking economy requires astonishingly huge quantities of wood are cut down, every day, to supply towns in Madagascar with charcoal. This contributes to deforestation and emits greenhouse gasses that exacerbate climate change.

Unfortunately, alternative cooking methods such as LPG gas or electricity are too expensive or unavailable to most people. However, in recent years fuel-efficient cookstoves have become available that can burn pellets made from woody biomass. Such stoves can be lit in a minute or two, and are clean-burning: indoor air pollution is minimal. If the fuel pellets are produced from a renewable source, then use of the stoves no longer contribute to deforestation or greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, the quantity of (sustainably-sourced) wood is also far lower, by about ten times, because the wasteful carbonisation process is avoided.

This project intends to set up a pellet manufacturing facility, using wood that is exclusively sustainably sourced. Clean-burning, efficient gasifying cookstoves will be provided to households, who will be able to purchase pellets at a price that is at par, or lower, than that of charcoal. Meanwhile, existing charcoal producers will be encouraged to grow and/or harvest existing sustainable wood resources, thereby providing them with a comparable income with less demanding work than traditional charcoal production.

The VPA aims to target 20 thousand households in the town of Fort Dauphin, before replicating and scaling to other suitable urban areas. The carbon credits that are generated through the avoided emissions will be used to subsidize the stoves and the pellet fuel. This way, large environmental, social, health and economic benefits are created.