[Stoves] Designing for the affluent AND the poor.... this is NOT Re: ocean acidification
Kevin
kchisholm at ca.inter.net
Sat Jul 6 08:41:25 CDT 2013
Dear Paul
This is the STOVES list.
Should it be driven by "Producer Push" or "Customer Pull"?
I would suggest the Stoves List should be driven by "Customer Pull."
The Boy Scout who helps the proverbial "Little Old Lady" across the street
does a good deed only when the Little Old Lady" wanted to go across the
street.
In my opinion, the Stoves List should focus on providing Stove Customers
with what they want.
Just what do "Stove Customers" want?
There are many facets to "Stoves". There is no such thing as "THE perfect
stove", but there are as many "perfect stoves" as there are stoves that
perfectly meet the wants and needs of the Stove Customer.
Some factors that may be of importance to Stove Customers are:
* Initial cost
* Portability
* Appearance
* Cooking capability
* Space heating capability
* Fuel efficiency
* Durability
* Visual access to flame
* Pride of ownership
* Cleanliness
* Safety
* Smoke free living space
* Particulate free living space
* Etc.
There are MANY more factors of importance to the Stove Customer. There are
MANY, MANY combinations of factors that are of importance to Stove
Customers.
Stove Producers produce stoves for many different motivations. Some
motivations or "drivers" include:
* To make money
* To feel good
* To do good
* To create a market for a particular fuel or technology
* To create an economic base for community development
* To address a health concern
* To address an Environmental Concern
* To further another Agenda
* Etc.
To the extent that the interests of the Customer and the Producer overlap,
their mutual interests will be served.
Perhaps there should also be a "Stoves Policy List", where the interests and
agendas of Stove Promoters and Producers were discussed, and perhaps the
"Stoves List" should focus more on the interests of the Stove Customers?
What do you think?
Best wishes,
Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Anderson" <psanders at ilstu.edu>
To: "Discussion of biomass cooking stoves" <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2013 1:54 AM
Subject: [Stoves] Designing for the affluent AND the poor.... this is NOT
Re: ocean acidification
Thank you Richard and Andrew,
I agree with your comments below EXCEPT that you did not change the
Subject line. And therefore List readers who are fed up with the
oceanic acidity discussion are unlikely to have read your comments. By
the way, I did NOT read those messages. But I do read whatever Andrew
and Richard contribute to the Listserv.
Now, about designs for the affluent AND the poor. This relates to
"trickle down technology" that believes that by helping the rich, the
poor will benefit..... EVENTUALLY benefit. Sure. a few years or
decades or lifetimes later.
I am glad that affluent societies financially supported cell/mobile
phone development. A great example of trickle down technology coming
rather quickly. But it reached the poor societies because business
found that it could make money off of the needs of poor people to also
communicate. And microchips etc are really inexpensive. We are
unlikely to see similar benefits relating to cookstoves.
Even as it is today, MUCH of stove work/efforts are targeted to the more
affluent of the poor, those who are in the upper parts of the BASE of
the pyramid (BOP). That makes more sense than trying to get biomass
fuel stoves into typical American and European households. But that
approach (well established and supported by the GACC and the World Bank
ACESS programs) still leaves a massive lack of attention to the needs of
the true base of the BOP. But at least the distance to trickle down
from the upper BOP to the lower BOP is less (and should be faster) than
trickle down from the Top of the Pyramid to be base of the BOP.
If you decide to reply to this Thread of messages, please stick to this
topic. (Or change the Subject line to reflect what you are actually
talking about. After all, the Subject line has at least two
purposes: One is to continue the Thread, and the other is to inform
the reader what is the actual subject being discussed.)
Paul with 4 more days in Uganda, then I bring home over 300 pounds
of stove progress (available baggage allowance for 3 people) to show at
Stove Camps and biochar meetings in late July, early Sept and mid
October in Oregon, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, respectively. I hope
to see many of you as I cross the USA by car from my home base in Illinois.
Paul S. Anderson, PhD aka "Dr TLUD"
Email: psanders at ilstu.edu Skype: paultlud Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website: www.drtlud.com
On 7/5/2013 7:01 PM, Richard Stanley wrote:
> Hi Andrew.
>
> Climate "discussions" aside, I wanted to elaborate on the implications
> of your observation about where" designing" is easier:
> I agree with you that it is easier to design anything "for someone" (
> especially those less equipped to express their opinions and experiences,
> needs and resources)…... than to do it with them in their context…
>
> My own experience tells me that the latter is the sticky part that few
> really want to get into and it's a huge part of determining whether or
> not ones best intentions stick or not. That sticky part makes really
> designing from within a good bit more challenging that simply designing a
> technical object and selling it here….
>
> Richard Stanley
> NW part of the Americas
> ==================
> On Jul 4, 2013, at 12:14 AM, ajheggie at gmail.com wrote:
>
> [Default] On Thu, 4 Jul 2013 05:41:33 +0700,Paul Olivier
> <paul.olivier at esrla.com> wrote:
>
>> It is easy to design stoves for poor people in Third World countries. It
>> is
>> a much bigger challenge to design them for use each day in our own
>> kitchens.
> Stove design and use is on topic for [stoves] but there are other
> forums on which it is better to discuss world changing effects,
> important as they might be.
>
> AJH
>
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