Millions of Asian families use cookstoves and often fuel them with cheap biofuels to prepare food. But the smoke emitted from these cookstoves has a definite, detrimental environmental impact, particularly in India. New research from Washington University in St. Louis offers a clearer picture of the topic’s true scope.

A group of Washington University aerosol scientists, engineers and administrators traveled to Asia this summer to address some of the important problems related to energy, environment and health that we face today. Here, four engineering faculty share their takeaways.