[Stoves] Fuel specific Stoves

[cornelio torrijos]

Hi LIst,

There will always be fuel specific stoves because local artisans or
household members will make ones specific to their fuel and area.

The challenge is to design stoves that are less fuel specific and more
inclusive of other biomass materials. In areas with great seasonality, some
fuels available in a particular season may not be as abundant at other times
of the year.

Unlearned users are more inclusive and generic, scientists tend to be are
more specific and excluding because of their ability to measure and
differentiate between things.

My experience is that satisfying users wants, needs and desires is
paramount. This is however not to deny the importance of producers.
capabilities, limitations and desire for economic gain to be able to
continue serving consumers. Between the several sets of needs and desires
a multitude of products result. Witness the proliferation of personal
computers and programs.

I can see that even now, a whole new set of charcoal stoves are being
developed in numerous countries. Dean Still has posted about China made
stoves that can burn wood and charcoal. Designs are not standing still
because of the inherent creativity of human beings.

A billion stoves of one specific design, this is a matter of distribution
and marketing; just do not require that the buyers use them every day.

Cornelio



On 10/16/07, adkarve <adkarve at pn2.vsnl.net.in> wrote:
>
> Dear Stovers,
> we must have stoves designed for specific fuels used in a particular
> region.
> I site here two examples. In the Tibetan plateau and the Indian region of
> Ladakh, there are no trees. Yak dung is the only fuel available free of
> cost
> to the people in these regions. In my own state of Maharashtra, we have
> almost 2 million hectares under cotton. Cotton stalks serve almost
> exclusively as domestic fuel in this region. They are stacked in heaps
> larger than the people's houses, and used throughout the year. Even
> landless
> people use them, because they are allowed to carry away the stalks
> uprooted
> by them from a field. This custom provides the landless poor with free
> fuel
> and it clears the fields of the farmers for the next crop. Under such
> circumstances, it is imperative to develop stoves specifically for the
> fuel
> that people use and not to give them stoves developed by using a standard
> fuel. We should also test the stoves in the laboratory with the
> regio-specific fuel.
> Yours
> A.D.Karve
>
>
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