Reducing traditional fuelwood and charcoal use with improved cookstoves is key for a whole range of critical issues including climate change mitigation (e.g., black carbon emissions and emissions of short-lived GHG such as methane and CO), indoor air pollution and health (as 1.6 million excess deaths per year are attributable to cooking with open fires), forest conservation (as woodfuels constitute 60% of total demand from wood products), energy use (with 9% of worldwide energy supply) and, more than anything, for improving the living conditions of poorest households on earth. Improved woodburning cookstoves are witnessing a major breakthrough worldwide. The talk will discuss how the whole “stove” landscape is being transformed as major innovations concerning cookstove design, scales and approaches to dissemination programs, financing mechanisms, impact studies, and monitoring tools are taking place internationally. I will also discuss the critical challenges that remain in terms of cookstove adoption and sustained use, as well as on cost-effective tools for monitoring them. The discussion will make specific reference to the Patsari cookstove program in rural Mexico, which has obtained international recognition through the work on cookstove monitoring and user feedback. For further information about this seminar please contact Ashok Gadgil at (510) 486-7784, or send e-mail to AJGadgil@lbl.gov. Visitors from off site who plan to attend and will need gate access and parking arrangements, or who need information about riding the LBNL shuttle bus should contact JoAnne Lambert at (510) 486-4835, or send e-mail to JMLambert@lbl.gov. This seminar was recorded and the audio file is available at: http://cluck.lbl.gov/eetd_seminars/masera_february_25_2010.mp3 (15.6MB)