William Brisson
ABOUT US
We are three students from the Pingry School in New Jersey who started a cookstove project to combat climate change and enhance the living conditions of rural and impoverished communities in Guatemala.
To date, we have completed three stove deployment trips, distributed more than 75 stoves and raised over $250,000. Initially, we planned to fund our project through the forward sale of carbon credits. However, due to recent developments in the international market for cookstove carbon credits, we have re-positioned our project into a spring intensive course at Pingry. As a first at Pingry, we – students currently enrolled at the school – will teach the class of 15 students on Guatemala history, climate change and climate finance. The course will culminate with our fourth trip to Guatemala to deploy cookstoves in May 2026.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change stands as the most critical challenge facing modern civilization because it fundamentally alters the Earth's climate systems, threatening the stability of human health, global food security, and biodiversity. As re-confirmed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), “[h]uman activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming, with global surface temperature reaching 1.1°C above 1850-1900 in 2011-2020”. Climate change already has significant impacts on the environment, people and the economy across the globe. Recent data shows that the most vulnerable communities (e.g., in Africa, Latin America and Asia) who have historically contributed marginally to the global stock in greenhouse gas emissions are and will continue to be disproportionally affected by climate change.
GLOBAL RESPONSE TO THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions at the global level began in 1992 with the signature in Rio of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The UNFCC was followed by multiple additional treaties and protocols, including the Kyoto Protocol that first imposed quantified emission reductions limits on certain countries (the OECD countries) and allowed countres to meet their obligations through the use of economic instruments.
More recently, in 2015, parties to the UNFCC signed the Paris Agreement which aims to limit warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing even more rigorous efforts to cap the increase at 1.5°C. The Paris Agreement functions through a system of Nationally Determined Contributions, where countries must submit increasingly ambitious plans every five years to reduce their emissions. Ultimately, the Paris Agreement represents the first time the global community has united under a legally binding commitment to reach net-zero emissions, aiming to ensure a livable and sustainable planet for future generations.
ISSUES WITH OPEN-FIRE COOKING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 2.1 billion people (a quarter of the world population) cook using traditional open-fire stoves and inefficient stoves fueled by kerosene or biomass. In Guatemala alone, more than 500,000 people use open-fire stoves. Traditional open-fire stoves have many negative health, environmental, and economic impacts. For example, household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 2.9 million deaths globally in 2021, including over 309,000 deaths of children under the age of 5. Women and children, typically responsible for household chores such as cooking and collecting firewood, bear the greatest health burden from the use of polluting fuels and technologies in homes. Inefficient cooking is also a significant contributor to climate change.
Inefficient cooking is also a significant contributor to climate change. According to the Clean Cooking Alliance, approximately 1-1.5 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (about 2%-5% of global emissions) result from inefficient cooking, more than the GHG emissions of shipping or three time those covered by the Western Climate Initiative. Cooking using wood fuels also drives deforestation which increases greenhouse gas emissions and accelerates climate change.
“Traditional open-air cookstove in Guatemala; 9/21/23.
Source: EcoEducation, LLC”
DEVELOPMENT OF A COOKSTOVE PROJECT WITH HELPS INTERNATIONAL
Faced with the challenges raised by climate change and realizing the opportunities associated with the deployment of clean cookstoves, my friend Elliot Eng, my brother Henri, and I decided to act.
First, we researched and reached out to potential partner organizations in Africa and Latin America that have experience developing cookstove projects. We quickly zeroed in on HELPS International, a 501(c)(3) Guatemala and Dallas-based nonprofit that has longstanding in-country experience with medical and cookstove projects. We felt HELPS would be a good choice because of the relative proximity of Guatemala and our ability to communicate with the local population.
Second, we founded EcoEducation LLC for the purpose of raising $100,000 in capital investments to fund the purchase and deployment of cookstoves in Guatemala. Since the average cost per stove is $75.00 (assuming certain revenue-sharing arrangements and a user contribution), our goal was to deploy approximately 1,333 stoves over multiple community development trips.
INITIAL PLAN FOR FUND RAISING: FORWARD SALE OF CARBON CREDITS
It is possible to monetize the additional reductions in GHG emissions through the issuance and sale of carbon credits. A carbon credit is a tradable instrument that represents the reduction or removal of one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e). The stoves we have deployed in Guatemala have a thermal efficiency of 35%, 15% higher than traditional stoves, thereby reducing approximately 6.5 MTCO2e per year (net of average loss rates over time) relative to the applicable baseline or 50 MTCO2e over eight years.
To fund the deployment of cookstoves as part of our project, in 2023, EcoEducation entered into a forward sale agreement for carbon credits with a large Japanese bank. As shown on "Climate Finance" the deployment of 1,333 cookstoves is expected to generate 66,397 carbon credits over eight years. Assuming that we would share the sales revenues with our local partner HELPS, our project was projected to return approximately $200,000 to the investors for a total unlevered IRR of 17.4%.
TRANSITION OF PROJECT TO AN ACADEMIC AND CHARITABLE PROJECT
Unfortunately, as a result of adverse market conditions in 2024, the Japanese bank terminated its purchase agreement with EcoEducation, leaving our project in a distressed situation. After exploring multiple alternatives and speaking with other carbon credit purchasers, we decided to convert our cookstove project to an academic and charitable project. After several months of discussions, we convinced the head of the Pingry School to create a new "spring intensive" class focused on our cookstove project. Fifteen (15) students have now enrolled in the new class, which will focus on Guatemalan history and culture, climate change, and climate finance. Also, as a first in the history of Pingry, the class will be taught by us—existing high school students—given our experience organizing three successful community trips to Guatemala.