[Stoves] [biochar] Understanding FUEL EFFICIENCY vs Energy efficiency

[Jonathan P Gill]

All,

Missing from this list of question are a number of items:

1. Does the "customer" want to help the environment?

2. Does the "customer" want to have a lower cost of fuel?

3. Does the "customer" want to increase crop yields and thus income?

4. What is the NET NET cost to the "Customer" if we take into account lower fuel costs and higher income from increases in crop yield?

5. What if the customer does not know of some key benefits?  How can they then want them?  Education is key to making a well informed decision. Where is this in the metrics?

A problem I have is that we are much more than customers.  We are also citizens.  To only see people as customers is fraught with limitations and loaded with assumptions.

What if we taught people to make their own stoves from open source designs?  Is it a requirement that stoves have a profit rent built in?  Three stone stoves do not.  If there is a profit rent, is the profit kept in the local area or exported as a tax to the the "first" world?  I have no problem with local artisans making a profit as long as the profit stays in the local economy to build the local economy. 

Regards,

Jock




On Apr 8, 2013, at 1:40 AM, Kevin <kchisholm at seaside.ns.ca> wrote:

> Dear Paul
>  
> I would like to suggest a different way of looking at things.... look at a stove through the eyes of the customer.
>  
> (The "Customer" is the person or Organization that pays the Manufacturer for the Stove.)
>  
> The fundamental question should be: "What does the Customer want?"
>  
> Does the Customer want the stove to produce biochar?
>  
> Does the Customer want the stove to have the least fuel input to accomplish a stated task?
>  
> Does the Customer want to minimize products of combustion vented into the living space?
>  
> Does the Customer want the stove to provide a space heating benefit for the stove user?
>  
> Does the Customer want a stove that requires extended burn times between refuelling, and a minimum of attendance?
>  
> Does the Customer want a single firing rate throughout the burn, OR, a "Two Level Firing Rate capability, OR a large range of firing capabilities?
>  
> etc....
>  
> "Efficiency" is basically a measure of "Resource Input to accomplish a desired task"
>  
> It is not the purpose of "testing" to promote a particular technology or philosophy, but rather, to measure the effectiveness of accomplishing a given task of importance to the Customer..
>  
> "The Customer is the King." Proper Testing Protocols should allow a Customer to test a range of stoves, under a variety of circumstances, so that he will be able to select the stove that best meets his requirements.
>  
> Best wishes,
>  
> Kevin

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