EnergySource DB

In recent years, several advanced indoor air quality models have been developed to help minimize indoor air pollution exposures in urban settings of the developed world. The majority of health impacts from indoor air pollution (IAP), however, occur in rural areas of the developing world where biomass fuels—responsible for 1.6 million IAP-related deaths per year (WHO 2006) —are often the only household fuel option. EnergySource DB is a novel geo-tagged fuel use database that addresses these concerns by tracking regional climate change impact and individual human IAP intakes across diverse population profiles in the rural Himalayas based on architectural, stove, fuel, and activity parameters. It also acts as a quantitative mechanism for evaluating renewable energy project installations by comparing mechanical and actual efficiencies with respect to environmental and individual health impacts. EnergySource DB serves as both a policy and research tool for reducing the health impacts of IAP from biomass burning in rural areas of Asia and Africa by optimizing architecture, energy technologies, and regulations.