[Stoves] Wood and WoodGas Fuels complimentary

[Thomas Reed]

Dear Ken:

Lucky you to be able to be so helpful to the Armenians - and their forests.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the risk of diverting you from your *Woodstove* mission, let me 
suggest that you add on *WoodGas stoves*.

*Woodstoves *typically require long sticks; *WoodGas stoves *typically 
use small particles, such as twigs, wood chips, wood pellets, cobs or 
SEEDS.   So they don't compete for fuel, but rather are complemental 
(each hand washes the other, biomass comes in both forms).  There are 
lots of both kinds of fuel around. 

Wood pellets have become an attractive fuel for cooking because they are 
very dense and widely available in the US and Europe.  It is nice to 
have a standard fuel and at $0.12/lb, 1 lb per meal they are inexpensive.

The SEEDS are particularly attractive fuels because they are very dense 
and reliably produced by many trees and plants.  (We have 8 tons of 
cherry pits.  You can buy stoves and a sample at www.woodgas.com or 
www.woodgasstove.com ).  The seeds typically burn for 30-40 minutes 
before requiring more fuel.  I picked up a few pounds of acorns at my 
sons house last week and am drying them for testing. 

Woodgas stoves burn a wider variety of fuels than wood stoves and have 
much lower emissions and higher efficiency.  We are working on a new 
version that will be cheaper, cleaner and simple to make if you want.

Good Luck on your mission

Your pal,

TOM REED










Warren Goyer wrote:
>  
>
> Greetings from Armenia,
>
>      Wilfred and I, and Cynthia from the Adana Rotary Club stove project  in
> Turkey, have returned to Armenia again this year to teach the integrated
> cooking method to the incoming Peace Corps volunteers. Peace Corps
> volunteers are the brightest and the best and we have had a delightful time
> working with them. We have also visited with old friends from both Rotary
> Clubs in Armenia, The Rotary Club of Gumri and the Rotary Club of Yerevan.
>
>      Our handout says "Armenia is recognized by the World Wildlife Fund as
> part of a "biodiversity hotspot" (see www.cepf.net <http://www.cepf.net/> ).
> Most of this biodiversity relies on forest ecosytems in the northern and far
> southern regions of the country.  Since independence in 1991, clearing of
> forests for fuel has intensified. Forests once covered more than 25% of the
> countryside, but have been cleared back to 8 or 9% of total land cover. Over
> 70% of this wood has been used for home heating and cooking (see
> www.armenianforests.am <http://www.armenianforests.am/> ).  Armenians care
> about their forests, but have not identified a cheap alternative fuel
> source. Natural gas is available in cities and large towns, but has proven
> unreliable and expensive (in April 2006, the price of natural gas increased
> by 10%). To protect what little remains of Armenian forests, we must promote
> an economically-viable alternative to wood.
>
>      A team of trainers representing the North Fresno Rotary Club will train
> Peace Corps Volunteers to use the Integrated Solar Cooking Method. The
> trainers have introduced this method to community groups in Africa,
> Southeast Asia, and Turkey.  Peace Corps Volunteers will be working in towns
> and villages all over Armenia where they can promote the use of these
> techniques as a cheap and healthy alternative to traditional wood stoves."
>
>      Teaching the Rocket Stove has been challenging due to the lack of
> ceramics. Armenia seems to have lost it's ceramics technologies. Even
> stoneware table service is imported to Armenia at great expense. We went in
> search of a potter rumored to live in Southern Armenia in the village of
> Shahumyan. We found him making small pots on a wheel, even though he had
> lost one arm in an industrial accident. His sons who mostly run the ceramics
> business have left, like so many others, to find work in Russia.  Our
> Rotarian friend Raya will continue to search for a source of ceramics and
> inform the Peace Corps of her progress.
>
>      Tonight we are leaving Yerevan and heading for Istanbul.  
>
> For me, next stop, Darfur.
>
> Best regards, Ken
>
>   
>
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