An attempt to study the financial implications of
replacing a traditional biofuel cookstove with an
improved one has been made. The role of several
factors influencing the cost of an improved cookstove
has been discussed. The capital cost of a l~opular portable
metallic cookstove design in India has been
expressed in functional form and the fuel savings have
been quantified in terms of two cookstove performance
indicators--overall thermal efficiency of a pot-cookstove
combination and specific fuel consumption of a
cookstove. An LP model is proposed for biofuel
resource allocation in a rural setting. Expressions for
discounted payback period and the net present value of
benefits have been derived. Results of some typical
numerical calculations indicate that it is financially
quite attractive to replace a traditional cookstove with
an improved one. The results of the financial analysis
are relatively more sensitive to the economic life of the
cookstove and price(s) of the biofuel(s). Copyright ©
1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.