[Stoves] Stoves Digest, Vol 31, Issue 41

[tom abeles]

Hi Tom

Thanks for the insight. If one looks at what Phillips is doing in India and then thinks their strategy through, it is clear that they will introduce the product into the market through existing channels, maybe working with micro-finance groups and service or fuel suppliers. It seems to me that stoves in general need to go that route. As was pointed out, not all people want or need the same solution, so this tells me that one needs a distribution network which offers several models where the marketplace will determine the survival rather than each developer finding subsidies to promote their particular product. It seems that with the numbers being cited, there is a market and some of these stoves will sink or swim based on user preference, regardless of how they are financed. Looking at several projects on the web, there are small manufacturers making product lines, and there are site built units that probably compete in capital cost to subsidized factory units.  The arguments for the latter are not the end user market but the funding agencies subsidizing a particular product. Much that is cited as problematic will probably self correct when the market begins to develop. The community seems to understand this as some are now mass producing their stoves and looking at distribution. Maybe the next stove meeting should look more like a trade fair for any other product market?

thoughts?

tom

tom abeles

> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:13:14 -0800
> From: "Tom Miles" <tmiles at trmiles.com>
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] Stoves Digest, Vol 31, Issue 39
> To: "'Discussion of biomass cooking stoves'"
> 	<stoves at listserv.repp.org>
> Message-ID: <015a01c9825e$c9145760$5b3d0620$@com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Tom,
> 
> We hear this a lot, even from stovers themselves. There was considerable
> discussion at the recent ETHOS meeting about ways to overcome the misuse,
> hacking, etc. We need to realize that as of 2009, with more than 1.4 million
> stoves installed by some of the 250 PCIA partners alone and more than 14
> million stoves expected to be installed in the next few years by the same
> organizations, there is a very wide variety of circumstances of people,
> fuels, cultures and use. Some percentage will get hacked for reasons that
> are pretty well known. Some other percentage will get misused for reasons
> that are completely unfathomable. 
> 
> Many of these stoves have been and are being developed by engineers,
> technicians, food specialists, and social workers who have spent years in
> the field. Organizations like TWP, Aprovecho, ARTI and others on the list
> have extensive field experience and on-the-ground field personnel who go
> nuts keeping up with all of the bizarre things people do to stoves. Even to
> those stoves that have been developed primarily as a response to local
> needs. 
> 
> Many stoves are now meeting the "market" test in other ways. Some stoves are
> being mass manufactured to meet bigger demands. Not every appliance fits
> every circumstance. Discussions at ETHOS 2009 and similar meetings are
> usually about how to accommodate consumer needs and reactions to stoves.
> TWP, ONIL and others discussed the problems of keeping up with higher
> production. Philips reported that they are learning a lot from their current
> test in 80 homes. Their stove for India has changed substantially in just
> two years.      
> 
> It is well known that monitoring, follow up etc. are essential to proper
> stove use. The reality is that many programs to disseminate stoves do not
> fund the follow up work. And, the circumstances and funding of programs
> changes over the years. 
> 
> Tom
> www.bioenergylists.org
> 


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