Clean cooking for households in Africa

This startup makes biomass cookers greener and more affordable than ever

Spotted: Over 2.1 billion people, or around 26 per cent of the global population, still lack access to clean cooking today. They rely instead on open fires, charcoal, or low-grade biomass such as crop waste or even dung. As well as being unsustainable, contributing to deforestation and emitting significant carbon pollution, these fuels also lead to significant health impacts and safety issues. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), household air pollution from cooking is one of the leading causes of death in developing countries, such as those in Africa. Ecosafi is a biofuel energy utility provider addressing this problem through affordable, eco-friendly biomass solutions with cutting-edge cookers that are delivered and maintained as part of a fuel subscription package. They even come with a lifetime warranty.

Ecosafi’s innovations and business model centres around two key components: the fuel and the cookers. The EcoMoto fuel is a pellet briquette that uses 100 per cent waste biomass (made of compressed materials like sawdust and agricultural remains) to burn hotter and cleaner than traditional fuels and stoves. The cookers are also engineered for high efficiency, a wide range of temperatures, and low emissions, with the latest model BetterStove achieving 25 per cent better efficiency than any other gasifying stove. It also meets the WHO definition of a clean cookstove, based on metrics for carbon particulates and carbon monoxide, and is 95 per cent cleaner than burning charcoal.

The utility-style subscription model embeds a customer-centric approach, with stoves delivered at a household’s doorstep at no upfront cost other than a one-off servicing fee of $5, effectively lowering the barrier for families to transition to cleaner cooking. As CEO Tom Price puts it, “That makes it easier for families to start using, and builds a long-term relationship with our customers, where their continued savings and benefit is what makes us a success.” One batch of EcoMoto fuel provides up to 2.5 hours of cook time, meaning that EcoMoto is roughly half the consumer cost of charcoal or LPG, and can save up to 3.5 tonnes of carbon per customer per year.

The company recently cemented its green credentials by being the first in Africa to generate carbon credits under the Gold Standard’s Metered and Measured Energy Cooking Devices (MECD) methodology. Market demand for this sustainable cooking solutions was also confirmed as these carbon credits were bought up quickly at 10X the spot price. Currently available in Kenya and Uganda, demand for Ecosafi’s solution is growing rapidly and they are working to develop a wider range of products tailored to meet different needs.

Written By: Oscar Williams