The results of field testing the POCA/Maputo Ceramic Stove (MCS) and traditional metal stoves (TMS) using an uncontrolled cooking test (UCT) are attached. In a UCT people cook whatever they want and we watch carefully. The results have fuel-moisture compensated values. The charcoal was almost always hardwood lumps. Larger meals tend to be watery and small meals tend to be frying something in oil.

The comparison indicates a clear change in relative performance with meal size. The bigger the meal, the more the savings with the improved stove. There is also a chart attached showing the increase in thermal efficiency with meal size.

The meal size on one the X-axis.

The WBT locates one point on the line. Performing the test seven times locates that point very accurately but is it difficult to know where the line goes from that point.

No ‘outliers’ were removed in this analysis even when they were obvious. The meal size varies with the season so the question about consumption has more than one answer.

Regards
Crispin
Air Jordan

Christa Roth, February, 2011

Dear all, find below the links to new publications by GIZ HERA poverty-oriented basic energy services, among them the manual on Micro-gasification: Cooking with gas from biomass. For queries please refer to the respective authors or Michael Blunck from HERA.

the HERA web site

Micro-gasification: Cooking with gas from biomass

- new link : https://energypedia.info/wiki/File:Micro_Gasification_Cooking_with_gas_f...

Micro-gasifiers: much more than „just another improved cook stove”. In this new HERA handbook, Christa Roth provides an introduction to the concept and the application of wood-gas burning technologies for cooking.

Modern Energy Services for Modern Agriculture. A Review for Smallholder Farming in Developing Countries.
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/giz2011-en-energy-services-for-modern-agr...
This publication provides an overview on energy inputs required in different steps of the agricultural production chain, such as production, post-harvest and storage, processing, and commercialization.

Small-scale Electricity Generation from Biomass – Part III: Vegetable Oil
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/giz2011-en-small-scale-electricity-genera...
In the third and final part of HERA’s paper series on power generation from biomass, GIZ and non-GIZ experience with electricity production from vegetable oils is compiled. While from a technology point-of-view, plant oils constitute a very viable option for off-grid power generation in developing countries, their sustainable application in daily operation for rural electrification projects still remains rare. The paper identifies remaining bottlenecks and provides recommendations for future electrification projects based on plant oil.

Carbon Markets for Improved Cooking Stoves – Revised Edition: January 2011
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/giz2011-en-carbon-markets-for-improved-st...
After receiving a lot of positive feedback for the 2010 edition of the carbon market guidebook for cooking stove projects, HERA has come up with a major revision for 2011. Besides a large number of minor corrections and updates, a new chapter on “Implementing a Carbon-funded Cooking Stove Project” with information on how to practically design a carbon-funded stove project has been added. The chapter includes information on stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities, the CDM-PoA approach, recommendations on the use of carbon revenues as well as an overview on expected costs and revenues from a stove project on the carbon market.

Crispin Pemberton-Pigott & Christa Roth, December, 2009

Chinese Draft Enhancer

Dear Friends

Working on advice brought by Cecil Cook from Lusaka, Peter Coughlin in
Maputo has tried using a short vertical tube (about 400mm) held over the
lighting charcoal to accelerate ignition. This tool is widely used in
Lusaka. It is typically 50mm in diameter and can be made from an piece of
scrap pipe or rolled metal sheet.

Peter reports that people using it have reported faster lighting and a
reduction in emissions during ignition (which is the smoky part of a
charcoal fire).

I tried a similar though larger tube over coal in a bucket and achieved a
dramatic reduction in particulate emissions - certainly more than 90%.

Regards
Crispin

This principle is not only limited to Zambia, it is pretty widely applied by other charcoal users in the region.
Though the most perfect 'chimney' I have got is from China: It came as a standard accessory packed in the carton of the Chinese coal-briquette stove marketed in South Africa under the name of 'Lotti stove'. I think the stove is manfuactured by Shengzhou. So it could be standard chinese practice. The conical shape with the two little air-holes on both sides shortly below the top works much better than a straight tube. We used one at stove camp this year on a two-can TLUD instead of the upper straight can and draft increased considerably. Foto attached, but not sure if it makes it on the list. regards, christa

http://stpenergy.blogspot.com/

Teaching Renewable Energies and Sustainability in the School of Diogo Vaz (São Tomé, Africa)

This work aims to show how sustainability and renewable energies could benefit a rural area of Africa (in São Tomé) by means of using solar energy and biogas. Applying these technologies requires ingeniousness and little founding, the favourable outcomes are becoming less dependent of fossil fuels (wood, coal and gasoline) while saving time and, more importantly, the forest. We have taught how to design, build and operate systems for cooking, lighting and water-heating that use renewable sources of energy.