ARC E-Newsletter 5/14/26: What's Cooking at Aprovecho
Aprovecho Research Center
A Four-Nation Design Collaboration
On their recent trip to SSM in Shengzhou, China, Nordica and Jaden were reminded that many minds are always better than one. SSM were gracious hosts to ARC, OffgridSun from Italy, and Tango Energy from Tanzania for a week. Together, they designed a stove for Tanzania that addressed cooks' needs, had improved performance, and could be jointly manufactured at SSM and Tango Energy. Meeting in person turned a several-month-long process of emails and phone calls into a streamlined week of design. Maybe when it comes to stove design, there is no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.
ETHOS 2026
The ARC team attended another successful ETHOS conference, this year in Portland, Oregon. Sam and Dean hosted Stoves 101, providing a valuable crash course in cookstove design. We also presented on the effects of forced air in stoves, LEMS testing around the world, RTKC capacity building, and much more. ETHOS is always a great time for us to reflect on the work we did and what we learned throughout the year. It's also wonderful to see what everyone else is working on.
LEMS Around the World: Now in Burundi
Our mission to ensure everywhere has the capability to perform stove emission testing continues. Sam traveled to Burundi where he set up a LEMS and trained (in French) a team at the Laboratoire de Biomasse et de Cuisson Propre et Économe/Université du Burundi. Over 10 ISO tests on various stove types were run with the lab team as well as lab CCTs, a vital test to measure stove performance while performing a cooking task. ARC is now working to add CCT capabilities to their open-source data processing software. Working in another language takes patience but it allows ARC to work in cross-cultural settings where lab testing, stove design, and market testing come together.
New Webinar Series - View the first installment now!
The team at Aprovecho Research Center is excited to launch a new webinar series. We will cover the areas that have the largest interest as indicated by a recent survey of Regional Testing & Knowledge Centers, from carbon finance to stove design.
We hope you can join us live! The webinars will be recorded and posted on the Aprovecho.org website, but live participation is preferred if possible so you can ask questions.
Click each link below to RSVP and receive a calendar invitation in your local time zone.
VIEW NOW ON YOUTUBE: Carbon Financing, Dr. Nordica MacCarty
The basics of carbon financing, including how it works and the details of the sample sizes and measurement requirements of the new CLEAR methodology.
Carbon Financing: https://youtu.be/FbfieX-zeZQ?si=YnYsQ9brshOoFMDj
Thursday, May 21st, 8am-9am PST: Field Testing, Jaden Burger
An overview of the various field tests for cook stoves available, what they measure, and when to implement them.
Field Testing: https://www.addevent.com/event/m517fnk48v04
Thursday, June 11th, 6am-7am am PST: Stove Design, Sam Bentson
Current test results from new stove design work at Aprovecho on charcoal stoves, rocket stoves, and TLUDs and teaches how they are made.
https://www.addevent.com/event/bcc6t5pv6l7g
Thursday, July 2nd, 8am-9am PST: Emissions Testing, Travis Volpe
The basics of Emissions Testing with an overview covering methods and equipment.
https://www.addevent.com/event/3lshl97kw1w0
We look forward to seeing you there,
The Aprovecho Team
Find the book "Improving Biomass Stoves 2025," resources, publications and information about our work at www.aprovecho.org
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