Tom Price is the founder and CEO of EcoSafi, and in today’s episode, we're diving deep into the challenge of access to clean cooking fuels in developing economies.
EcoSafi builds cook stoves and biomass fuel pellets that aim to reduce deforestation, improve in-home air quality and health outcomes, and reduce emissions. They work in Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda. The challenge at hand, as Tom discusses at length, is that as of 2020, Project Drawdown estimated that 43% of families in low and middle-income countries worldwide cook food at home using stoves fueled by wood or coal. The gas and induction stove debate is not even relevant. This phenomenon drives all of these earlier outcomes from direct emissions to negative health implications to deforestation.
Before we dive into this topic, we get to know Tom a bit. He's been working on this problem in Africa since 2017, first with a company called Inyenyeri, and now with EcoSafi since 2020. Our MCJ Collective venture funds are proud to be investors in EcoSafi. But, as you'll hear him describe, his path to working on this problem has been full of incredible zigs and zags that have given him a wealth of life experience and the confidence to be able to navigate and build a business with the complexities that EcoSafi demands.
In this episode, we cover:
- Access to clean cooking fuels in developing economies
- Tom's background in communications and journalism
- His experience in disaster relief after Hurricane Katrina and environmental management at Burning Man
- Tom's time on the Environmental Advisory Committee for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics
- His work in clean energy in Africa, starting with solar
- Impact of cooking with wood or coal on emissions, health, and deforestation
- EcoSafi's cookstoves and biomass fuel pellets
- Barriers to clean cooking in Africa
- The importance of carbon credits in the clean cooking market
- Issues with existing carbon offset methodologies
- EcoSafi's focus on verifiability and impact measurement
- Vertical integration and technology in EcoSafi's business model
- Potential for significant market growth in the clean cooking sector
- Impacts of deforestation, drought, and additional topics to continue the conversation
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Episode recorded on Oct 12, 2023 (Published on Nov 16, 2023)
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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