ARC E-Newsletter 2/14/25: No More Carbon? plus a correction to last week's newsletter
Aprovecho Research Center
No More Carbon?
The popular Jiko stove, photo by AIDG on Flickr
With carbon prices low and support apparently shifting, perhaps thinking about market-based improved cook stoves is increasingly interesting?
In the Millennium Villages studies, a high-end retail price of something like $10 was recommended to sell stoves directly into the market. (Adkins, Tyler, al, 2010)
What can be accomplished in stoves already being sold without raising prices?
- For instance, the pot supports in the Jiko shown above can be too high for optimal heat transfer efficiency.
- The door needs to be tight fitting to effectively simmer food.
- Perhaps the combustion chamber is too big, wasting fuel?
- Small changes in the refractory ceramic material used in the combustion chamber can double durability.
- A low cost pot skirt effectively reduces time to boil and fuel used to cook.
On the other hand, Rocket stoves or even forced draft TLUDs could theoretically be made for ~ $10, if metal was replaced by refractory ceramic or similar materials.
ARC is looking into this.
Sound interesting to anyone?
“To him that will, ways are not wanting.” (George Herbert, 1640)
And Now, A Correction to Last Week's Newsletter. Thanks, Kirk Harris!
I made a big mistake in last week's newsletter that Kirk Harris kindly brought to my attention. (Thermal Efficiency, How High Can We Go?)
I wrote that "Doubling radiation increases heat transfer efficiency to the 4th power."
After looking around a bit I found the following in our heating stove book. This seems more reasonable. See Designing Improved Wood Burning Heating Stoves.
From The Woodburner's Encyclopedia, 1976
Find the 2nd edition of "Clean Burning Biomass Cookstoves," resources, publications and information about our work at www.aprovecho.org
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