[Stoves] Tanzania Project

[ken goyer]

Dear Stephanie,
      I would like to offer you my ideas. Fan stoves are wonderful 
stoves, but they have two shortcomings. Firstly they require fans which 
are expensive and short lived, and secondly they require electricity, 
which doesn't exist in much of the world, especially where people are 
cooking with wood.  As good as they are and as much as we love them,  
their time has just not yet come.
      Dr. Larry Winiarski, working with Aprovecho, about twenty five 
years ago,  set out to design the simplest and cheapest good stove that 
could help the most poor people. He laid down ten principles, and when 
you follow these principles you get what is called the Rocket Stove. 
With the development of ceramics, the Rocket Stove became practical. 
Larry and I configured the Rocket Stove into the SixBricks Rocket stove. 
At that point I decided that eventhough the SixBricks Rocket stove might 
not be the best stove possible, the time had come to go out and improve 
the lives of those unfortunate enough to be cooking on open fires.
      I have now started SixBricks Rocket Stove projects in many places. 
Over the last couple of years we have made (and are continuing to make) 
about 40,000 SixBricks Rocket Stoves, mostly in the IDP camps of 
Northern Uganda and in Darfur. One big advantage is that they can be 
built locally, almost any place in the world, from local materials. They 
are very inexpensive. They are ugly, but they are cheap. Middle class 
people are not very attracted to them (There are other fancier, more 
expensive, more attractive models that are more appealing, Aprovecho and 
other projects are  now making some models for sale.). But wherever 
people are poor and fuelwood is dear, people immediately see the value 
and the utility of the Six Bricks Rocket Stove and they want one and 
they use it. While stove testing is going through it's throws right now 
and nobody is quite certain of anything, we have claimed that the 
SixBricks Rocket Stove uses one half of the wood and makes one quarter 
of the emmissions of the open fire. Whatever the numbers, people like 
them and use them.
                While our resources are spread thin, we like to teach 
others how to make and use the Six Bricks Rocket Stoves. We now have 
nine staff people in Gulu, Uganda. Several of  them might be able to 
help you to establish a stove project.  Also the last two weeks of 
January we will host a Rotary Club three way stove project in Gulu, 
Uganda. (The three ways are solar cooking, Rocket Stove, and Hay Box). 
Perhaps you could send a representative to our conference to be trained 
or at least find out whats happening.
      While an improved cooking stove should be better than the open 
fire (and some aren't), one half of the world is still cooking on open 
fires. How long should they have to wait before they have some improved, 
more efficient, safer way of cooking.?
     The best way to find more information (quickly ) is from what we 
call the "Stove Pages", this is at bioenergylists.org. Also a Google 
search of SixBricks Rocket Stoves will bring up some more material.
     Best of luck with your venture. Stoves are worth it. If we can 
help, let us know.
Sincerely,
Ken Goyer
AidAfrica
mail at aidafrica.net

Stephanie Keller wrote:

>We are a team of environmental scientists working in the Lake Victoria region of Tanzania for CHEMA, a locally-run environmental NGO with a focus on teaching the community how to incorporate sustainable practices in their day-to-day lives (www.chematanzania.org). We have begun to analyze household energy patterns through a series of village-based surveys on fuelwood consumption and have determined to implement an improved cookstove project. Still, we feel at a loss as to how to begin and do not wish to reinvent the wheel. Thus, we are looking for information as to current best practice and tips on how to implement such a project in Africa. If you have any information relating to durable and simple-to-construct improved cookstove designs, please advise. We are particularly interested in fan stoves due to their high efficiency.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Sincerely,
>Stephanie
>
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