How do Carbon Credits Work?
One carbon credit is the offset of the equivalent of 1,000kg of CO2. The idea of the voluntary carbon market is that responsible businesses or individuals can offset their emissions by investing in projects, usually within developing countries that create carbon savings. Our chispa cookstoves create these savings or offsets by reducing the amount of unsustainably sourced firewood that is burned and therefore reducing the amount of net equivalent CO2 emissions. The smoke from traditional open fires contains particulates and gases, some of which have a greater global warming potential than CO2 and some that have a greater potential to harm human health. For offsets to work well, it’s important that the companies or individuals who purchase credits do everything to reduce their emissions first and then offset the rest. Carbon offsets shouldn’t be used as a way to justify your second private jet (or first!).
Estufas Chispa offer the unique opportunity to support families living in poverty while investing in carbon offsets. In addition to the health and economic benefits that our chispa stoves bring to the family, our carbon offsets also result in many co-benefits and help create local employment opportunities and reduce stress on Guatemalan forest reserves.
We believe that the co-benefits alone are worthy of investment.
Carbon finance is a great way to encourage stove manufacturers and implementers to support their end users and increase impact and stove adoption. For this reason, carbon financed projects are superior to non-carbon financed projects. For example, we offer 3 years guarantee for every stove that is registered in our carbon project and also carry out additional visits to the houses to offer customer support as well as additional training sessions to project implementors and end users. Carbon finance is allowing us to grow our network of individual brand representatives who carry out customer visits and surveys and also are able to sell stoves creating opportunities for extra income. The overall goal is to increase user satisfaction and stove adoption.
Our stoves use efficient combustion chambers that reduce the amount of harmful smoke that is produced and then we use chimneys to exhaust any remaining smoke form the house. Many stoves throughout the world don’t use chimneys, mainly because it’s more difficult and costly to implement. We believe that chimneys are necessary in order to bring full health benefits to the family. Luckily our clients appreciate this and actively look for stoves with chimneys to improve their lives.
Estufas Chispa Carbon Credits are registered and verified with the Gold Standard, an institution with more than 20 years in the industry and is considered to be the most rigorous verification body. We work with CO2 Balance of the United Kingdom and the Gold standard as globally respected organizations with protocols that are superior to the alternatives and result in high quality verifiable carbon reductions.
In Guatemala, wood consumption for traditional cooking is exceptionally high, the local cuisine and cooking of tortillas from grain to comal is energy intensive and the use of rudimentary, traditional stoves or open fires mean that families will have to cut a huge amount of firewood or purchase locally which often costs between $40 and $60 per month. Using our chispa stoves, wood consumption is cut by more than 50% which brings important benefits to the family and can result in life-changing savings for low-income families. To measure baseline wood consumption accurately we carry out Kitchen Performance Tests (KPTs) which is the most accurate method but also the most time consuming and expensive to carry out. The results are always shocking and prove that the poorest families often pay the most for their cooking fuel.
We believe that the co-benefits alone are worthy of investment.
Carbon finance is a great way to encourage stove manufacturers and implementers to support their end users and increase impact and stove adoption. For this reason, carbon financed projects are superior to non-carbon financed projects. For example, we offer 3 years guarantee for every stove that is registered in our carbon project and also carry out additional visits to the houses to offer customer support as well as additional training sessions to project implementors and end users. Carbon finance is allowing us to grow our network of individual brand representatives who carry out customer visits and surveys and also are able to sell stoves creating opportunities for extra income. The overall goal is to increase user satisfaction and stove adoption.
Our stoves use efficient combustion chambers that reduce the amount of harmful smoke that is produced and then we use chimneys to exhaust any remaining smoke form the house. Many stoves throughout the world don’t use chimneys, mainly because it’s more difficult and costly to implement. We believe that chimneys are necessary in order to bring full health benefits to the family. Luckily our clients appreciate this and actively look for stoves with chimneys to improve their lives.
Estufas Chispa Carbon Credits are registered and verified with the Gold Standard, an institution with more than 20 years in the industry and is considered to be the most rigorous verification body. We work with CO2 Balance of the United Kingdom and the Gold standard as globally respected organizations with protocols that are superior to the alternatives and result in high quality verifiable carbon reductions.
In Guatemala, wood consumption for traditional cooking is exceptionally high, the local cuisine and cooking of tortillas from grain to comal is energy intensive and the use of rudimentary, traditional stoves or open fires mean that families will have to cut a huge amount of firewood or purchase locally which often costs between $40 and $60 per month. Using our chispa stoves, wood consumption is cut by more than 50% which brings important benefits to the family and can result in life-changing savings for low-income families. To measure baseline wood consumption accurately we carry out Kitchen Performance Tests (KPTs) which is the most accurate method but also the most time consuming and expensive to carry out. The results are always shocking and prove that the poorest families often pay the most for their cooking fuel.
Plancha stoves ≠ Bucket stoves
Unlike other regions of the world, in Central America, plancha stoves are widely implemented as they allow multiple pots to be used simultaneously and the surface can also be used for toasting, grilling, and cooking tortillas. The downside is that plancha stoves are larger, heavier, more difficult to install and more expensive than cheap bucket stoves that can only cook one pot. Even given the downsides, the effort is worth it and many households can use their plancha stove for all of their cooking needs eliminating the need for stove stacking. Our Chispa stoves have been designed with the input of end users and use efficient combustion chambers with multipot planchas connected to chimneys to improve indoor air quality.
Co-benefits / More than carbon
Purchasing a Chispa carbon offset is not just any old carbon offset and contributes to the following co-benefits:
Health, smoke reduction
The WHO estimates that over 4,000 lives are lost prematurely due to smoke form cooking in Guatemala alone and identifies the implementation of clean cookstoves as a priority.
Lab testing of our stoves consistently show that over 98% of the smoke is removed from the house via the chimney. (This is not achievable with cheap single pot stoves). The smoke that does leave the chimney has few PM2.5 and PM10 particles and CO thanks to the higher temperatures in the rocket combustion chamber.
Home economy / savings
The cost of firewood is high and many of our customers have reported increases since the pandemic. Typical savings are $20 per month which is a lifechanging amount for low-income families.
Women and children
Women and children are the most exposed to the dangers of open fire cooking and are also the most vulnerable. The simple act of using a stove with chimney, removes the child from the smoke and gives them a better chance of life.
Burns
Accidents happen and open fires are accidents waiting to happen. We often see people who have suffered burns from open fires. Our Chispa stoves score 98% in safety protocols and protect the users from burns.
Aspirational / Status
We try our best to create products that are aspirational for our clients. A new Chispa stove in the kitchen can improve hygiene and living conditions and can inspire a family to make further improvements to their living space.
Traditional open fires produce a lot of acidic smoke that stains the walls and causes the tin roofs to rust out quickly. When families switch to using a Chispa stove it’s common for them to invest the savings in a new tin roof knowing that it won’t go rusty like before.
Time saved collecting firewood
Our clients who don’t purchase their firewood are able to reduce the amount of time required to cut firewood by more than 50% which can benefit the whole family. People often collect firewood illegally which can involve cutting trees from protected conservation areas or trespassing on land. The use of efficient stoves reduces the number of families who are likely to be forced into these dangerous situations.
Deforestation
Guatemala means the land of many trees and we want to keep it that way. As population rises and pressure on the last remaining forest regions intensifies, the importance of wood fuel saving technologies increases. From 2016 to 2020 guatemala lost 244,395 hectares of forest cover which is largely due to the use of rudimentary stoves or open fires. This tool from INAB shows where forest cover has been lost in recent years.
Switch to sustainably sourced wood
Typically, households will purchase mature oak firewood for use in open fires as it burns for a long time and produces long burning charcoal that will heat the clay pots of beans all day long. It is common for us to receive feedback from clients who are using the chispa and have switched from unsustainably sourced firewood to burning waste wood from saw mills or just branches that fall from trees. A benefit of the rocket combustion chamber and the use of the plancha and chimney is that people don’t need to buy premium firewood and can instead use waste wood or thin branches from trees. This benefit is not taken into account by carbon projects or carbon critics and would result in underreporting of offsets.
Quality local employment, reducing pressure to emigrate.
Estufas Chispa currently have 35 full time formal employees who receive government benefits, bonuses, and access to the national health service. In addition we have a profit sharing scheme where a portion of profits are shared with employees based on their performance throughout the period, rewarding positive behaviour and encouraging staff to focus on our impact and quality of products. Currently we also have a growing number of local contacts from within the remote communities where we work who are on call to carry out stove inspections and carbon related monitoring work on a contract basis as a form of extra income.
Capacity building of employees
Most of our employees are trained on site and we encourage peer to peer training. We encourage the transition to different work areas and level of responsibility based on ability and pride ourselves on creating a positive safe working environment.
Creating opportunities for resellers in areas of low employment
During 2024 Estufas Chispa are projecting to increase their team of independent micro entrepreneurs to 100 people. This will create income for a further 100 families and opportunities for the future. These micro entrepreneurs will also be offered the opportunity to be trained and carry our carbon related field work such as surveys to generate more income.
Empowering Women
Our products are designed with input from women end users to ensure they work as women want. As Estufas Chispa grow we are dedicated to searching for more ways to bring opportunities to women such as becoming brand ambassadors and resellers who can earn commission from sales.
Links to hunger and malnutrition (income)
Guatemala has one of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world and families living in poverty have to prioritise the little income they have. Sometimes this income is directed to purchasing firewood and sometimes to medicine to treat smoke related illness which reduces the money available to buy food. Chispa cookstoves may not be the silver bullet but definitely help reduce the burden on families living in poverty.
Health, smoke reduction
The WHO estimates that over 4,000 lives are lost prematurely due to smoke form cooking in Guatemala alone and identifies the implementation of clean cookstoves as a priority.
Lab testing of our stoves consistently show that over 98% of the smoke is removed from the house via the chimney. (This is not achievable with cheap single pot stoves). The smoke that does leave the chimney has few PM2.5 and PM10 particles and CO thanks to the higher temperatures in the rocket combustion chamber.
Home economy / savings
The cost of firewood is high and many of our customers have reported increases since the pandemic. Typical savings are $20 per month which is a lifechanging amount for low-income families.
Women and children
Women and children are the most exposed to the dangers of open fire cooking and are also the most vulnerable. The simple act of using a stove with chimney, removes the child from the smoke and gives them a better chance of life.
Burns
Accidents happen and open fires are accidents waiting to happen. We often see people who have suffered burns from open fires. Our Chispa stoves score 98% in safety protocols and protect the users from burns.
Aspirational / Status
We try our best to create products that are aspirational for our clients. A new Chispa stove in the kitchen can improve hygiene and living conditions and can inspire a family to make further improvements to their living space.
Traditional open fires produce a lot of acidic smoke that stains the walls and causes the tin roofs to rust out quickly. When families switch to using a Chispa stove it’s common for them to invest the savings in a new tin roof knowing that it won’t go rusty like before.
Time saved collecting firewood
Our clients who don’t purchase their firewood are able to reduce the amount of time required to cut firewood by more than 50% which can benefit the whole family. People often collect firewood illegally which can involve cutting trees from protected conservation areas or trespassing on land. The use of efficient stoves reduces the number of families who are likely to be forced into these dangerous situations.
Deforestation
Guatemala means the land of many trees and we want to keep it that way. As population rises and pressure on the last remaining forest regions intensifies, the importance of wood fuel saving technologies increases. From 2016 to 2020 guatemala lost 244,395 hectares of forest cover which is largely due to the use of rudimentary stoves or open fires. This tool from INAB shows where forest cover has been lost in recent years.
Switch to sustainably sourced wood
Typically, households will purchase mature oak firewood for use in open fires as it burns for a long time and produces long burning charcoal that will heat the clay pots of beans all day long. It is common for us to receive feedback from clients who are using the chispa and have switched from unsustainably sourced firewood to burning waste wood from saw mills or just branches that fall from trees. A benefit of the rocket combustion chamber and the use of the plancha and chimney is that people don’t need to buy premium firewood and can instead use waste wood or thin branches from trees. This benefit is not taken into account by carbon projects or carbon critics and would result in underreporting of offsets.
Quality local employment, reducing pressure to emigrate.
Estufas Chispa currently have 35 full time formal employees who receive government benefits, bonuses, and access to the national health service. In addition we have a profit sharing scheme where a portion of profits are shared with employees based on their performance throughout the period, rewarding positive behaviour and encouraging staff to focus on our impact and quality of products. Currently we also have a growing number of local contacts from within the remote communities where we work who are on call to carry out stove inspections and carbon related monitoring work on a contract basis as a form of extra income.
Capacity building of employees
Most of our employees are trained on site and we encourage peer to peer training. We encourage the transition to different work areas and level of responsibility based on ability and pride ourselves on creating a positive safe working environment.
Creating opportunities for resellers in areas of low employment
During 2024 Estufas Chispa are projecting to increase their team of independent micro entrepreneurs to 100 people. This will create income for a further 100 families and opportunities for the future. These micro entrepreneurs will also be offered the opportunity to be trained and carry our carbon related field work such as surveys to generate more income.
Empowering Women
Our products are designed with input from women end users to ensure they work as women want. As Estufas Chispa grow we are dedicated to searching for more ways to bring opportunities to women such as becoming brand ambassadors and resellers who can earn commission from sales.
Links to hunger and malnutrition (income)
Guatemala has one of the highest child malnutrition rates in the world and families living in poverty have to prioritise the little income they have. Sometimes this income is directed to purchasing firewood and sometimes to medicine to treat smoke related illness which reduces the money available to buy food. Chispa cookstoves may not be the silver bullet but definitely help reduce the burden on families living in poverty.
Under crediting potential
Some criticism of carbon projects is the potential for over crediting, i.e. over calculating the benefits of an intervention. While this can occur, there are also factors in some projects that can lead to under crediting
Our carbon program is valid for five years however many stoves will continue to be used beyond this period giving rise to a potential for under crediting. For example, the stoves that continue to be used beyond 5 years continue to generate carbon reductions however these reductions are not monetized.
As mentioned above, our Chispa cookstoves with rocket combustion chambers work well when burning any type of wood including offcut waste, fallen branches from trees and thin brush wood. In contrast open fire users often purchase high quality oak firewood from mature trees.
This means that families can switch from unsustainable wood to sustainable wood through the use of a chispa stove which can result in underreporting. The improved efficiency and wood savings means that many people can become self-sufficient on the wood generated by their own land.
Our carbon program is valid for five years however many stoves will continue to be used beyond this period giving rise to a potential for under crediting. For example, the stoves that continue to be used beyond 5 years continue to generate carbon reductions however these reductions are not monetized.
As mentioned above, our Chispa cookstoves with rocket combustion chambers work well when burning any type of wood including offcut waste, fallen branches from trees and thin brush wood. In contrast open fire users often purchase high quality oak firewood from mature trees.
This means that families can switch from unsustainable wood to sustainable wood through the use of a chispa stove which can result in underreporting. The improved efficiency and wood savings means that many people can become self-sufficient on the wood generated by their own land.
If you’re interested in purchasing carbon offsets and supporting Estufas Chispa’s future, please follow the link to the Gold Standard’s Marketplace website:
https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/collections/projects/products/co2-balance-guatemala-improved-cookstoves
https://marketplace.goldstandard.org/collections/projects/products/co2-balance-guatemala-improved-cookstoves