Some of the stakeholders closely inspecting the level of smoke churned out by the conventionally lit fire (right) as opposed to a BnM fire (on the left).

A new method of lighting a fire proves that sometimes clean energy solutions come from the grassroots without the help of complicated engineering.

In this case, 63-year-old Mrs Nobelungu Mashinini of Embalenhle township in Secunda, discovered that by placing a few lumps of coal on the top of a fire at the right time, it improved ignition of the underlying coals. Thus a new clean energy project was born named "Basa njengo Magogo" (BnM) in her honour. The name is Zulu for "make your fire like the old lady".

Mrs Mashinini developed this method during her participation in a clean energy project undertaken by Nova with Sasol support. The principle of the method is based on the fact that smoke is generated at the hot/cold boundary.

In the normal bottom-up coal fire ignition process, the smoke rises through the cold coals and thus escapes. In the top-down ignition process, the smoke rises through the hot zone and is consequently burnt. This new method stands to reduce indoor air pollution, and result in coal and monetary savings for low-income households.

A 2006 retention study revealed a 50% uptake in Tembisa township, indicating that the method was ready for a wider scale roll-out, and a stakeholder workshop held in Johannesburg on Thursday March 22, set out to do just that and re-launched the BnM project.

The workshop was a collaboration between a sub-division of CEF that is leading research into alternative energy sources - the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) - in conjunction with the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME). 58 participants attended the workshop in Muldersdrift which aimed to raise awareness of, demonstrate and re-introduce the BnM strategy to interested and affected parties, including municipal representatives, community based organisations and private sector partners.

The workshop also set out to provide government with a platform to communicate the strategy to its potential implementation partners.

The burning of fossil fuels for cooking, water and space heating during winter results in high levels of both, indoor and outdoor air pollution. Low-income households in particular depend on coal for household fuel. Health and environmental impacts are most prominent in these households because of the way coal is being used, in open fires, mbawulas and old stoves.

To address the high levels of air pollution in urban areas that use a significant amount of coal as a household fuel, the DME  initiated the Low Smoke Fuels Programme to promote the use of low-smoke fuels and efficient combustion appliances for the improvement of air pollution from coal and wood use.

During 2002, a draft Clean Energy Strategy for Households was approved by the Minister for areas within South Africa where significant volumes of coal are used by households as a source of energy.

Air pollution from coal fires poses a serious threat to households since its indoor fumes amount to ten to fifteen times the international health standards. In 1998, the DME formulated the White Paper on the Energy Policy of the Republic of South Africa.

With respect to managing energy-related environmental and health impacts, the White Paper stated that "government will work towards the establishment and acceptance of broad national targets for the reduction of energy-related emissions that are harmful to the environment and to human health".

One of the short- term policy priorities associated with this objective is to improve household air quality. It is also envisaged that coal will probably remain a major source of energy for the foreseeable future and so reducing its impact on the environment and human health is critical.

World Health Organisation information indicates that hospital admissions and premature mortality are directly proportional to exposure to such particulate matter in the air.

Based on preliminary health risk cost calculations, it is estimated that the direct cost associated with inhalation exposures to ambient air pollution in the Vaal Triangle is in the order of R290 million (R1200 per household) per annum. The results of studies done in 2001/02 indicated that the implementation of BnM reduces such ambient air pollution by approximately 40%.

To date around 80 000 households have seen demonstrations of the BnM. Three Black Economic Empowerment companies have been capacitated to roll out the program through skills transfer: Menyetla Ltd, Akanani, and Mayibuye. Other companies with the expertise include Business Enterprise and NOVA.