Main content

The ATMs that dispense clean fuel

How a start-up in Kenya reinvented the cooking stove to help prevent illness and combat climate change.

Sleek blue machines have been popping up in convenience stores across Nairobi over the past two years. These 鈥淜oko points鈥 look like cash machines but instead of giving out money they dispense bioethanol, a fuel made from plants which can be used in cooking stoves.

At the moment 80% of Kenyans use wood or charcoal as their main cooking fuel 鈥 but these materials have a devastating impact on the environment, and the smoke causes hundreds of deaths every week. Koko鈥檚 high-tech solution offers Kenyans a cleaner alternative, although it means a move away from some dearly-held customs.

Reporter: Mercy Juma
Producer: William Kremer

Release date:

Available now

24 minutes

People fixing the world on YouTube

Watch stories of people changing their world on the World Service English YouTube channel

Podcast