Kerosene-fueled wick lamps used in millions of developing-country households are a significant but overlooked source of black carbon (BC) emissions. We present new laboratory and field measurements showing that 7–9% of kerosene consumed by widely used simple wick lamps is converted to carbonaceous particulate matter that is nearly pure BC. These high emission factors increase previous BC emission estimates from kerosene by 20-fold, to 270 Gg/year (90% uncertainty bounds: 110, 590 Gg/year). Aerosol climate forcing on atmosphere and snow from this source is estimated at 22 mW/m 2 (8, 48 mW/m 2), or 7% of BC forcing by all other energy-related sources.

Kerosene lamps have affordable alternatives that pose few clear adoption barriers and would provide immediate benefit to user welfare. The net effect on climate is definitively positive forcing as co-emitted organic carbon is low. No other major BC source has such readily available alternatives, definitive climate forcing effects, and co-benefits. Replacement of kerosene-fueled wick lamps deserves strong consideration for programs that target short-lived climate forcers.

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Introduction One-fifth of the global population lacked access to electricity in 2009, and many more had only intermittent access. Lack of clean energy provisions for basic household needs leads to use of appliances and fuels with high pollutant emissions. Products of incomplete combustion from biomass and coal used in cookstoves affect not only household environments and human health but also outdoor air pollution and climate. Lighting is another component of this household energy challenge, with millions of households still relying on simple liquid-fueled lamps, but little is known of the associated environmental and health impacts.

One environmental issue that has been linked with emissions from household-solid fuel burning is that of black carbon (BC) and climate change. BC is a product of incomplete combustion and one of the few components of atmospheric aerosol that absorbs light and heats the atmosphere, thereby contributing to climate warming. The most common measure of climate impact, termed radiative forcing, describes the change in Earth’s net energy balance imposed by a single constituent or set of constituents at the top of the atmosphere. Positive forcing is associated with average warming. During its short atmospheric lifetime, one kg of BC produces as much positive forcing as 700 kg of carbon dioxide (CO 2) does during 100 years. Some have proposed that reducing BC emissions could rapidly reduce this warming and prevent Earth’s temperature from reaching dangerous levels, – while simultaneously improving human health. Most sources of BC, however, also emit aerosol organic carbon (OC), which cools the Earth by reflecting sunlight and increasing cloud brightness., The net effect (warming or cooling) of particles from any source depends on how much of the emitted total aerosol carbon (TC) is BC.

Thus, mitigating many BC sources may not actually reduce warming if their OC emissions are substantial. Kerosene (paraffin) is the most common lamp fuel in developing countries because it is easily transported, stored, and affordable, due principally to government subsidies. It has been estimated that houses without electricity consume 77 billion liters of liquid fuels (mostly kerosene) to meet lighting requirements, corresponding to 190 million metric tonnes of CO 2 per year.

Despite the existence of clean and efficient lamp designs, households often burn kerosene in locally constructed simple wick lamps, which consist of a rope or cloth wick extending from a metal or glass container. Also common is the commercially manufactured, glass-shrouded “hurricane” wick lamp.