[Stoves] Solar City business model

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Andrew P

Good points. The stove community projects are not threatened by failure of
the PV subsidies but they are certainly affected by the (looming?) collapse
of the carbon trading market. A number of castles have been built in the
air. Recent emphasis on the health aspects of smoke inhalation will probably
provide a more grounded source of development revenue. The recent doubling
of the estimated number of people who die from cooking fire smoke will
probably enhance interest.

The programmatic problem I have encountered with this is that cleaning up
indoor air can be done without improving the stoves at all - just piping it
outside where 'dilution is the solution to pollution', to quote and EBRD
consultant. Inventors want to create stoves, not just clean up the air.

The fuel saving aspect of stoves will always remain a strong contender in
the funding cycle because it is an easy sell. Certainly easier than resource
creation and management. Better to whine over how little there is than to
create more.  

I am not so sure how the broad translation of agriwastes into fuel is going
to be viewed by the people who promote agriculture. The biodynamic and
permaculture people would not like to see all the mulch and humus removed to
be turned into cooked food - or char for that matter. I think they tend to
see biogas as a way forward because they retain access to the minerals in a
digestible form, as it were.

Economically viable solutions are going to dominate, no matter what the
flavor of the month.

Regards
Crispin

++++++++
Paul,

Solar City does not exactly provide solar installation for free.  They
provide an option in which they will install a complete system with no money
down, but it involves a long-term contract (purchase option after 5
years) in which the customer buys the electricity generated by the panels at
a set price (I am guessing that option requires the existence, beyond
federal subsidies, of state, local and utility subsidies for solar panel
installation and solar generated electricity).

I am not poo-pooing the idea.  It is a sound model.  It would be sounder if
it did not rely on subsidies.

Where there is a strong market for rice husk char and ash, I agree that such
a model could be used to market char-producing stoves to provide energy to
the customer in exchange for char and ash, and a fee, if needed.  I truly
hope you can convince someone to invest.