Did you know that over 3 billion people still cook their meals on open flames or inefficient stoves powered by solid fuels like charcoal and wood every day? Or that the demand for those fuels is a leading driver of deforestation, with over 50% of all wood harvested worldwide being used as fuel?

Cooking with solid fuels also results in one of the greatest health threats to individuals living in developing countries, particularly women and children as they tend to spend more time in the home. More than 4 million deaths are attributed to indoor air pollution each year—that’s more than the amount caused by malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined.

It is often assumed that this problem is restricted to rural communities; however, city dwellers are greatly impacted as well. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, nearly 80% of individuals residing in urban areas (approximately 380 million people) are still cooking with solid fuels, thickening the smog of airborne toxins that blankets most large cities.