Improved Biomass Cooking Stoves

Woodgas Stoves Available
Tom Reed, Biomass Energy Foundation, April 2006

The Onil Cooker (pdf), Cocedora Onil, Helps Retained heat cooker, demonstrated at ETHOS 2006, Kirkland, WA.

Selbstkocher- Self Cookers
Boll, Martin Dr. April 4, 2006

Comparing Cook Stoves (pdf)
Dean Still, Aprovecho Research Institute, ETHOS January 2006

Performance benchmarks for biomass cooking stoves were presented at the 2006 ETHOS (Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service) conference by Dean Still, Nordica Hudelson and Damon Ogle of Aprovecho Research Center. The benchmarks will be useful to stove designers and developers to compare their stoves against many others. The benchmarks were derived from tests of 20 stoves (9 replications each) in work funded by Shell Foundation and the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (USEPA).

Improved Stoves and Organic Briquettes
Demetrio Roja, ADRA Peru August 2003
Richard Stanley, Legacy Foundation

Fogones mejorados y Briquetas Orgánicas

Fogones Mejorados

En la actualidad las diferentes comunidades no cuentan con cocinas técnicamente diseñadas y más aún no conocen tecnologías adecuadas con respecto a fogones ecológicos. En todos los casos se ha podido verificado IN-SITU, que las cocinas actuales son rústicas las denominadas Conchas, los que generan bastante humo, además de producir hulla, lignito y antracita con el tiempo. Por otro lado la extrema pobreza de los pobladores ha hecho que algunas autoridades muestre interés en solucionar dicho problema existente.

También se ha
observado que las ama de casa y los niños son las que sufren las consecuencias
de los humos que genera las cocinas rústicas actuales, teniendo como
consecuencia la enfermedad de antracosis.

La construcción de los fogones mejorados
tiene como finalidad evitar la presencia de humo dentro de la cocina ya que
esto genera amarillamiento de los ojos, crecimiento de carnosidad, afecta
directamente el aparato respiratorio pulmones, arterias pulmonares, fosas
nasales, etc, afecta el aparato digestivo, también evitara que el hollín se
acumule en el techo y paredes.

Los fogones
utilizados en el campo son precarios y antihigiénicos, su uso de este tipo de
fogones afecta a la salud de la madre y del niño ya que ellos son los que están en forma permanente dentro de la cocina.

El uso de los
FOGONES MEJORADOS tiene la finalidad de Mejorar las condiciones de Saneamiento Intradomiciliario en las viviendas rurales, ahorrar el combustible (leña) hasta en un 40 % y evitar el deterioro de los utensilios de cocina, así mejorar la calidad de vida del poblador del Ande Peruano.

ADRA PERU, en la
actualidad tiene un total de 720 fogones construidos, de los cuales 240 se
construidos en el presente año.

Costo: cada fogón tiene un costo de US$ 25.00 dólares americanos.

MANUAL PARA LA CONSTRUCCION DE FOGONES MEJORADOS

The Beehive (Honeycomb) Charcoal Briquette Stove in the Khumbu Region
Nepal, Sjoerd Nienhuys, March 18, 2003

Beehive Stove

The Beehive (Honeycomb) Charcoal Briquette Stove in the Khumbu Region, Nepal, Sjoerd Nienhuys (1 800 kb pdf) March 18, 2003

1.1 OBJECTIVE
The document is the result of a mission to Lukla/Mosi (8,000 ft. / 2634 m) and Khumjung (11,800 ft. / 3882 m) in the Khumbu region and contains observations about the use of the Beehive charcoal briquette stove for cooking and space heating. The Beehive charcoal briquette stove has the potential to become a practical source of renewable energy (RE) for domestic use, hotel owners and trekkers in high altitude camping grounds. Currently large amounts of kerosene is being brought into the region to satisfy the need for cooking energy and for use in Everest Base Camp.

The observations in this report are related to the potential use of biomass charcoal briquettes and improved briquette stoves at high altitudes in Nepal. With proper application of the available technology, biomass briquettes can be a means of providing a convenient source of energy for cooking and space heating, substituting the need for kerosene which is a non-renewable energy source subsidised by the Nepalese government.

The need to improve the locally manufactured biomass charcoal briquettes has been also identified by WWF Nepal Programme. The same problems in the supply of energy exist in similar high mountain regions, such as the conservation areas managed by the WWF-Nepal Programme and the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation. The charcoal briquettes are manufactured from agricultural residue and forest waste products. High firewood consumption for domestic cooking and heating purposes is depleting forest reserves because at the higher altitudes, where tree growth is considerably slower than at the lower altitudes such as in the Terai, regeneration of firewood cannot meet the demands. The author looked at some of the technical, social and financial implications of the produced briquettes and stove.

See attached report.

Renewable Energy Curriculum Design for Schools Potato Cooking as Science Education For Primary and Secondary Schools
Sjoerd Nienhuys Senior Renewable Energy Advisor, SNV-Nepal May 2004, Kathmandu

Renewable Energy Curriculum

ABSTRACT
A training module providing an example of a school curriculum in the area of energy conservation in households by comparing three different cooking methods for potatoes. The exercise can be undertaken in the classroom or as homework. By undertaking the exercise at home, the families of the students will also be involved and obtain direct practical knowledge. Lower cooking energy needs in rural areas has an important positive gender impact. Through participatory and real case demonstration, primary schoolchildren learn about the different amounts of energy used for different cooking methods. Secondary school students can use the same analysis, but more precise calculations and better understanding of kitchen energy can be developed. The methodology can be replicated for other types of cooking, such as for rice, beans and traditional dishes.

See attached report.

Installation of Improved Metal Cooking Stoves in the Khumbu Region: Field Visit Reports (3)
Sustainable Technology Adaptive Research and Implementation Center, Nepal Sjoerd Nienhuys, SNV-Nepal January 2005

Khumbu Metal Stoves

Attached reports:
(1 of 3)
(2 of 3)
(3 of 3)

1. BACKGROUND
The majority of people in Nepal live in rural areas (88%). From the total energy requirements of the country, the rural areas account for 80%, mainly used for cooking. Almost all rural energy consumption (98%) is from traditional biomass resources, such as fuel wood, agricultural residues and animal dung. Accessibility to the electric grid by rural people is very limited, while LPG gas and kerosene oil in the high altitude and remote areas is relatively costly due to the high cost of
transport. Therefore, people living in remote areas depend heavily on forest resources to meet their demand for cooking energy.

In high altitude areas fuel wood is needed for cooking and space heating; the amount increasing with the altitude and colder temperatures. This results in continuous forest degradation, nutrient depletion from soils (by burning agro waste and cow dung), low agricultural outputs and soil
erosion. Together, these aspects result in a further reduction of accessibility to fuel wood.

Cooking Stove Improvements: Design for Remote High Altitude Areas Dolpa Region Nepal, Sjoerd Nienhuys April 2005

ABSTRACT
Metal and mud cooking stoves are analysed in Dolpa, a remote high altitude district in Nepal (over 2000m) where poor firewood efficiency of cooking stoves has been observed whilst the area is already largely deforested. Current metal or mud stoves have the air-intake above the firewood, lowering gas temperatures and causing incomplete combustion. More than 20 improvement options are presented in a table. These lead to higher burning temperatures, reduced firewood consumption and lesser soot development. Modifications have been made to lower manufacturing costs. The paper briefly explains the principles of the improvements and provides detailed sketches of the solutions. Improved cooking efficiency requires chopping of the firewood into
small pieces, but the additional time spent is balanced against the considerably less time spent in the collection of firewood. The prototype stove has been field-tested and modified several times to produce a model that is easy to manufacture and is acceptable to the villagers.

Information is based on the author’s personal experience and technical information from the stoves discussion group at www.stoves.bioenergylists.org