Abstract
Conventional biomass fuels (e.g., untreated firewood and raw cow dung cakes) continue to be the predominant household energy source in rural areas, but this can lead to serious indoor air pollution and associated health consequences. This study presents a cost effective, scalable, and environmentally friendly energy source derived from a mixture of locally available cow dung and groundnut shell powder. Fuel cakes are made in the form of a disc so that they could be used in current rural cookstoves, making them user-friendly and requiring minimal change in cooking habits. Four different composition ratios C1 (100% cow dung), C2 (75% cow dung + 25% groundnut shell), C3 (50% cow dung + 50% groundnut shell), and C4 (25% cow dung + 75% groundnut shell) are experimented. The C4 ratio results in a 29.6% higher calorific value (19,700 ± 370 kJ kg− 1) compared to pure cow dung with significant emission reduction up to 43% of particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in diameter, 29% of carbon dioxide, and 53% formaldehyde. The present study contributes directly to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action), providing a realistic solution to reduce pollution, improve indoor air quality, and promote energy equity in disadvantaged populations.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- ΔT:
-
Temperature rise during combustion(K)
- BC:
-
Black carbon(–)
- C1:
-
100% cow dung composition(–)
- C2:
-
75% cow dung + 25% groundnut shell powder(–)
- C3:
-
50% cow dung + 50% groundnut shell powder(–)
- C4:
-
25% cow dung + 75% groundnut shell powder(–)
- Cb :
-
Heat capacity of bomb(MJ K⁻¹)
- Cg :
-
Concentration of gas(ppmv)
- CO:
-
Concentration of carbon monoxide(ppmv)
- CO₂:
-
Concentration of carbon dioxide(ppmv)
- CPM2.5 :
-
Concentration of PM2.5(µg m⁻³)
- Cw :
-
Heat capacity of water in calorimeter(kJ K⁻¹)
- FWER:
-
Family-wise error rate (Tukey test)(–)
- GCV:
-
Gross calorific value(kJ kg⁻¹)
- HCHO:
-
Formaldehyde concentration(µg m⁻³)
- MPM2.5 :
-
Mass of PM2.5 collected(µg)
- ms :
-
Mass of fuel sample(kg)
- PM:
-
Particulate matter(–)
- PM₂.₅:
-
Particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm in diameter(µg m⁻³)
- Qc :
-
Correction for heat loss(kJ)
- SDG:
-
Sustainable Development Goals(–)
- Va :
-
Volume of air sampled(L)
- Vg :
-
Volume of gas emitted(mL)
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences to provide all required facilities throughout the research work.
Funding
The work of C-HH was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korean Government (MSIT; RS-2025-00555756) and the Ministry of Education (RS-2018-NR031078).
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S.G. conceived the study and developed the research framework. G.L.A. conducted data analysis and contributed to methodology development. S.G. and B.L.R. were involved in data collection and field investigations. S.G. contributed to the literature review and manuscript formatting. C.-H.H. provided expert guidance on climate data interpretation and validated the modeling outcomes. S.G. and B.L.R. wrote the main manuscript text and prepared figures. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
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Gautam, S., Asirvatham, L.G., Rakshith, B.L. et al. Feasibility of cow-dung groundnut-shell composite as a decentralized renewable fuel for clean cooking. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37608-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37608-6
