[Stoves] Peru Stove Projects?

[Richard Stanley]

Laurie & Steve,
Please go down the industrial area find the Adventisti office near  
the Pepsi or is it the Coco cola distribution center on the road  
bordering the airport on the town side.
We worked with trained the Adventist development Releif Organisaiton  
(ADRA ) and three campos (Anta, Mossacyacta and San Louis, San Jose)  
in the departamente de Cusco, in the art and craft of briquettemaking  
between yr. 2000/2002. We also looked at the stoves in use tested  
them and suggested alterations as partof that effort.
Alas,  I have had zero feedback from that effort. It too may have  
died on the vine(bad joke for a biomass user). It may have failed to  
take hold,   for all the reasons  that you have mentioned and more  
which take us away from anything technical and on into the fine– and  
all too under-appreciated  art of community development and  
participative capacity development which underlies anybodys  
development efdforts stoves briquettes solar tech methane or what  
have you.

HArd one to figure out that....

At any rate,  we discovered that about three times the wood was  
required for cooking at that altittude than at say 0-1000 meter  
elevations.
(ie 4kg per person per day as opposed to the widely pubished figure  
of 1.2kg per person per day).
We however, fairly well demonstrated that at the given produciton  
scenarios (using a 4kw hammer mill the briquettes could be made in a  
commercially viable manner even with shipping of the "BriquettasINTI"  
into the cusco town center for sale.

I wanted also to add that some very recent and very positive results  
are being gerated for side feeding of the hollow core non wood  
biomass fuel briquettes through a modified Rocket stove, through the  
good efforts of colleague Rok Oblak and Larry Winarski and others at  
Aprovecho. Rok and   Approvecho folks were at the Ethos Conference  
and will be publishing their results soon.  Our effort is not to  
produce another be all fit all one solution stove butt to adapt the  
principles of the findings to existing stoves---not for, but with,  
and through  the concerned end user. This latter part cannot be over  
empasised if you want to make a good idea stick.

But please do get around to ADRA and find out wht happened to el  
projecto de las Briquettas.

Adios,
Richard Stanley





On Jan 29, 2009, at 08:58, Laurie Iaccino wrote:

>
> hi there,
> I (Laurie Iaccino ) and my partner (Steve Bouton) are in the Cuzco  
> area doing stove projects.   We are a long way away from Lima  
> though.  but  i thought i would share some of our experience.  we  
> were here almost 2 years ago and worked in 3 villages in the Cuzco  
> area building 100 stoves.  we did surveys but more in the way of  
> health surveys and as it turns out not nearly enough teaching about  
> the stoves.  this was discovered when we returned and re-visited  
> the villages to do the follow up health testing.  of the people we  
> were able to visit (homes are upwards to 14000 feet and nearly  
> impossible to reach) many had de-constructed their stoves (a sort  
> of Lorena model with a rocket chamber of thick metal (yes, bad idea) 
> 2 burners and chimney).  reasons for this appeared to be: (a) not  
> enough hands on instruction because we could not always get to the  
> homes, they needed to meet with us which did not dependably  
> happen.  (b) up in these elevations it is not just about cooking.   
> their traditional 3-stone fireplace also provides heat.  and the  
> opening of the rocket did not provide enough heat. (c) many did not  
> prepare their wood properly and often used branches of eucalyptus  
> with dried leaves attached and all just stuffed into the rocket.  
> and (d) finally the metal rocket, for the folks who did try to use  
> the stove properly, developed holes in spite of its thickness and  
> weight of 7 kg.  interestingly enough the problem was not in  
> lighting it tho, it was the holes that developed after 1 year.
>
> now we are in a small village at a lower elevation and working with  
> 10 families and building a stove that has been in part designed by  
> the residents.  it has a chimney and is made of 18 adobe bricks.   
> we have a local welder who has made us chimneys and grates, and  
> painted the part of the chimney that is outside with a waterproof  
> paint.  of course the chimney has a hat, as well.  the burn chamber  
> is larger than our rocket was and made of a mix of arcilla, fine  
> dirt, mud, and a liquid extracted from a planty called paqpa, a  
> type of cactus that our friends in the village says makes it more  
> durable and water proof. we are hoping it addresses the heat  
> issue.  it has two burners again but each will accomodate 2  
> different size pots. so, families provide the local materials:  
> (arcilla or clay, fine tierra (dirt), mud and this extracted liquid  
> and also pay 30 soles.  we provide the chimneys, rejillas, (or  
> grates) and the retention cooker and various other things aiding in  
> improved hygiene.  (with our past experience, its always better to  
> have them have ownership, and to realize that an improved stove is  
> not the only thing that improves the lives of the people we have  
> come to work with in the andes.)
>
> we are still doing health surveys but this time we are asking more  
> questions about the type of food they cook, and hygiene issues.  we  
> are also giving each family a large basket that we are teaching  
> them to use as a retention cooker.  here they simply will not cook  
> on a one pot stove.  our hope is to teach them to make things like  
> potatoes, rice or soups by first boiling for a certain number of  
> minutes over the cookstove and then putting the pots in a basket  
> lined with rice sacks filled with either paja (grasses) or other  
> insulating materials such as blnkets, pillows etc.  then they have  
> 2 burners still free and also when they head to their farmland,  
> food can be cooking while they are working and ready when they get  
> home. i am using one now in our apartment and have made soups, rice  
> and potatoes.
>
> so forgive me for going on.  i would advise you locate local people  
> to help you design something that uses local materials.  sometimes  
> hiding in these villages are a few people who have put something  
> together already.  and these folks are often willing to work and  
> help out their compañeros.  and to think about what they eat and if  
> they need the stove for heat.  just a few ideas.  hopefully its a  
> bit helpful.
>
> soon we will be posting pictures on our blog and also the design of  
> our stove and the survey tool.  the address is http:// 
> pencilsforperu.blogspot.com
> sincerely,
> Laurie and Steve_______________________________________________
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