[Stoves] charcoal ProContra wood fuel

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Chris

Thanks for asking this very sensible question.  There is little room in the
energy efficiency equation for emotional diatribes against charcoal or a lot
of other things.

Charcoal is a very high quality fuel and can be made from lots of things.
Stoves cooking with it can be extremely efficient, like the SARAI Stove
among others.

In particular simmering can be done really efficiently if the stove is
designed for it.

Your point about the amount of wood needed to simmer beans for 1-1/2 hours
is a good one.  Also, there is a convenience factor for the stove.  If it
requires the cook to be present for that entire time it is worse than
costing money.

Being able to leave the for hours is a huge advance in living conditions,
what the Dutch government calls, 'Access to Modern Energy'.

A  good charcoal stove can simmer when burning 1 gm per minute. That is VERY
cheap and if at the same time, you don't have to attend to it, so much the
better.

I found that the combustion chamber should be conical in shape and have an
included angle of 135 degrees, not flat like a JIKO. This causes the
charcoal as it burns to keep moving together to maintain the fire. On a flat
surface the pieces cool and burn out individually, but it they are always
falling towards each other, the stay lit much longer so you don't have to
add fuel as often.

Regards
Crispin