[Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?

[Jonathan Otto]

Dear Joyce and stovers all,
 
My regrets for not responding to this request 6 months ago.  I admit that it got lost in my messy inbox which I have now reduced from 6000 messages to a mere 2400, and in the process uncovered Joyce's email.
 
Burning Jatropha seeds whole or in briquettes in open cooking arrangements is a bad idea.  It produces a smoky, smelly fire and probably exposes cooks to toxic emissions.  I even question burning Jatropha oil in lamps in enclosed areas for the same reason. Maybe others know of emissions studies.
 
Jet City StoveWorks in Seattle has developed and field tested a micro gasification cookstove fueled by whole unprocessed J seed, with the outer shell removed. (A nod to Dr. TLUD, Paul Anderson, who introduced us in the joy of TLUD technology, encouraged us early on and still inspires.) It's called jiko safi, meaning 'clean stove' in Kiswahili. To see video clips of a stove in use and being fabricated please visit: jetcitystoveworks.com.  This unit is highly efficient, with 2 kg of seed providing a households daily energy needs.  Hedges around the fields of a typical east African family will supply their annual fuel supply on a totally renewable basis.
 
I could go on for pages, but instead will invite inquiries off this list.  In brief, we begin a small 200 stove promotion project this month in northern Tanzania, marketing the stove in Jatropha growing areas through village community banking associations (VICOBA), a self-managed microcredit system known by various names that is spreading rapidly across Africa, in India and beyond.
 
Again, apologies for my tardy reply, and a warm welcome to anyone seeking more information on our stove and its unusually powerful fuel.
 
Jonathan Otto (not to be confused with the famous stovelist Otto), Co-Director, Pamoja Inc
 
P.S. As to our question about locations where Jatropha has naturalized, I have heard of some areas in Mozambique but have not seen this myself. In my experience this plant rarely spreads without human assistance, or does so only in very favorable conditions.  Since many millions of farmers in over 100 countries already grow Jatropha as a living fence to protect and demarcate fields and homesteads, we already have an enormous untapped supply, right on-farm, that is free for the picking. How sad is it that so many women and girls walk right passed unpicked Jatropha hedges on their tedious and sometimes dangerous searches, traveling ever farther for scarce firewood. We want to change that.



From: rj.lockard at frontier.com
To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2012 07:04:00 -0700
Subject: [Stoves] Jatropha fruit as fuel?





I am interested in finding free fuel for the poorest of women and would like to know where jatropha is growing wild. According to a website, the Portuguese spread it around the world.
Does anyone know whether jatropha fruit can be safely burned as fuel in three stone or other stoves inside houses, ie does burning destroy the toxic phorbol esthers or are the emissions toxic? 
Has anyone added a simple grate to a three stove so that jatropha fruit can be burned?
Is there a manufactured stove that is designed to burn jatropha fruit?
Joyce
 
 
Joyce M Lockard
Coordinator, Books for the World Project
Beaverton Rotary Club
rj.lockard at frontier.com
503-533-4190 Home
503-201-9548 Cell
503-533-4209 Fax
 
 
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