[Stoves] Guatemala meeting about tests and standards

Paul Anderson psanders at ilstu.edu
Sun Nov 23 15:16:07 CST 2014


Crispin and all,

Thank you for your comments.   I EXPECT that others who attended, 
especially those in leadership roles, will also make comments.   I make 
three short comments:

1.  No tears for no tiers!!!!   I am not against measurements and making 
comparison (which should continue), but the rigor of what was implied in 
the Tiers structure seemed overbearing.

2.  The possible (actual?) demise of the WBT (as a strictly defined 
methodology) should result in some improvements.   We will continue to 
boil water (thank goodness at least water is rather standardized around 
the world), but without the precise regulations imposed over the past 
years.   There will be tests with boiling of water, but not a specific 
Water Boiling Test (note the capital letters in the name of some 
specific test).   How does this impact the use of prior results and 
change what we will do in the future?

3.  And most important:   Why is it that only now near the end of 
November is there any of this information becoming available?   I am 
thankfully NOT on any of the testing protocol committees, so I do not 
have first hand information.   But I AM extremely interested in what is 
happening because it impacts my work and the work of so many other Stovers.

I am sure that Crispin is not making up what he wrote about the results 
from the Guatemala meeting.   It just seems that BIG news travels very 
slowly.

I assume that the issues of tests and standards will be important topics 
on this Listserv, and that gatherings at ETHOS and at any workshops at 
the Regional Testing Centers will focus on such changes / variations.

Paul

Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
Website:  www.drtlud.com

On 11/22/2014 3:19 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott wrote:
> Dear Paul
>
> I asked SABS (South African Bureau of Standards) staff (who I represent) if
> we are allowed to make documents like the new work item proposals and
> minutes available to non-members, meaning people outside the national
> committees. They said generally no, those are documents accessible to the
> national standards bodies only (and their committee members).
>
> On the other hand there is a lot of interest on what is happening. I can
> report personally that several discussions were held on what 'shape' the
> future standard should have (tiers or not, for example) and the decision
> came down on the side of 'no tiers'. With respect to the WBT (the GACC is
> presently the custodian of it) this was also turned down. The preference is
> for a testing framework - first proposed in Nairobi and discussed in some
> detail in Guatemala. The reasoning is that there are so many different
> environments in which stoves are used, it is not possible to imagine a
> single, rigid test that will helpful rate performance in all nations. What
> needed, it was agreed, is a testing framework with valid sub-tests which can
> be used if appropriate for the fuel, device or circumstances.
>
> This is already widely done in other industries. Building energy efficiency
> is one example, and all the social sciences. The same applies in the EU
> where a single omnibus standard applies to a huge range of cooking
> appliances. So it is a matter of keeping up, not reinventing the wheel.
>
> In terms of attendance, a lot of people had trouble getting visas to
> Guatemala. The total was about 65. That was for 4 Working Groups. Only two
> met at a time and all were invited to attend anything of interest. As a
> percentage, there were more people with some standards background than in
> Nairobi. We saw some new faces.
>
> Regard
> Crispin
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of
> Paul Anderson
> Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 7:29 PM
> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
> Subject: [Stoves] Guatemala meeting about tests and standards
>
> Dear Stovers,
>
> There was a meeting about tests and standards of stoves in Guatemala a
> month or so ago.   Is there any summary report?  Or could those who were
> there make some comments, please.
>
> I assume there is a list somewhere of who are on the ISO / WBT / IWA /
> XYZ committee.   And how many showed up?
>
> Nothing was said about this at the GACC 2 day meeting just concluded, so I
> thought I would ask.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Paul
>
> --
> Doc  /  Dr TLUD  /  Prof. Paul S. Anderson, PhD
> Email:  psanders at ilstu.edu
> Skype: paultlud      Phone: +1-309-452-7072
> Website:  www.drtlud.com
>
>
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> Stoves mailing list
>





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