Jatropha: Stove fueled by 'tuba-tuba' launched in Leyte

Stove fueled by 'tuba-tuba' launched in Leyte INQ7.net
By Vicente Labro, Inquirer
Published on page A1 of the Apr. 21, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

Protos

BAYBAY, Leyte -- An environment-friendly cooking stove that uses coconut oil and other plant oils like those from the "tuba-tuba" or Jatropha is now being sold in Leyte.

The stove, called Protos, resembles a kerosene pressure stove and can also use kerosene. But its manufacturer, Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances Group (BSH), is pushing for the use of plant oils, which are cheap and environmentally friendly.

"The plant oil stove is easy to operate and offers a very safe cooking environment because plant oil can neither burn nor explode," said Dr. Elmar Stumpf, BSH plant oil stove project manager.

Sisinio Balaga, 56, a resident of Baybay town and a user of the plant oil stove for over a year now, said the new stove was not only user-friendly but efficient and affordable.

The stove cooks food faster than traditional stoves. "It takes only about 20 minutes to cook rice with the oil plant stove, while with a kerosene stove this usually takes about 30 minutes," Balaga said.

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