[Stoves] Cookstoves in acute emergency response (Re: Anil Rajvanshi, Anand Karve)

[Traveller]

I have only seen the Lanstove once in Anil's lab (about five years ago). I
had walked in a skeptic as usual, having read his description in advance.

But I did walk away very impressed.

I think Indian oil companies should be marketing Lanstoves along with solar
lanterns; let's see what wins. They should do it as part of their CSR
mandates (in India, CSR is the new tax, like sustainability accountants).

Both are needed nationwide because of power outages, and for off-grid
population. (I did some numbers four years ago - only about 10% of Indian
households had what you call "24x7" grid electricity throughout the year,
with minor disruptions. The remaining 90% were in the dark permanently or
occasionally.)

The key issue again is the quality of combustion of organic fuels.

Some 20 years ago, a young boy had challenged me on my solar lantern
fantasies, asking me to look into "better" (more complete combustion)
kerosene lanterns. I discovered he was correct and that an Indian oil
company (Bharat, I think) was testing cleaner, more efficient kerosene
lanterns.

WHO types have a gripe against kerosene as well (as with diesel and all
solid fuels). This fuel fetishism is not science. Solid or liquid fuels can
be burned any way one thinks fit and has the skills to operate safely and
ventilate as needed.

Anil's Lanstove solves the cooking and lighting problem; it also
meets Amelia's criteria "portability, ease-of-use, low-cost and fuel
efficiency".

Too bad it's not off-the-shelf product yet.

There are some regions of the world that have very little biomass. I think
"hybrid pico-grids" of diesel and PV ought to be available in the 10 kW
range; expensive, but not in relation to the overall cost of emergency
response or IDP camp management. (There's always the professional staff to
provide cooking and lighting to. In Afghanistan, US army used $100+ a
gallon diesel for air-conditioning and information systems, including
iPads.)

Where dry wood is available, the "three stone" fire is still a great
choice. (I cooked porridge for refugee children from East Pakistan 45 years
ago. Large areas of the world have not changed all that much, SDG 7 dreams
notwithstanding.)

Making and using charcoal - if the feedstock is available - as Dr Karve
suggests - is also quite appropriate, though the relief agencies need to be
ready with procurement packages for equipment and training. The whole
business of charcoal making and use can use significant amounts of
technical assistance and capital investments profitably if certain
large-scale methods are banned and alternatives such as Dr Karve proposes
are given investment credits.

Nikhil

PS: There were some claims about sexual violence linked to fuel collection
by refugees in southern Sudan and how "improved stoves" prevented - or had
the potential to lower probabilities of, I don't remember - such violence.
I saw some rebuttals by Samer Abdelnour at If Stoves Could Kill - Political
advocacy, humanitarian intervention, and the “manageable problem.”
<https://ssir.org/articles/entry/if_stoves_could_kill> (2012) and
Technologizing
Humanitarian Space: Darfur Advocacy and the Rape‐Stove Panacea
<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Samer_Abdelnour/publication/223513505_Fuel-efficient_stoves_for_Darfur_The_social_construction_of_subsistence_marketplaces_in_post-conflict_settings/links/00b49525eecda2c181000000.pdf>
(2010,
with Oana Branzei), very careful attempts to critically examine the
technological and sociological narratives (and implicit biases in the
charity world). I first became aware of the sexual violence - or favor -
risk while wandering around Addis and being told why only young girls,
chaperoned by even younger brothers, were sent to collect twigs. On the
other hand, it is as ludicrous to claim more efficient stoves would reduce
sexual violence risk for particular individuals as that they would reduce
the risk of premature mortalities. Let ISO IWA design a stove app for
performance standards in terms of sexual violence risk.




> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 16
> Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 13:51:41 +0530
> From: nari phaltan <nariphaltan at gmail.com>
> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
>    <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] Cookstoves in acute emergency response
> Message-ID:
>    <CAGeG2tC_cZeby=J0o882AAFTJaubMAZvUDYC_bo0Kw_BhV=2Zg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Amelia,
>
> You might think of this stove as a possible solution for providing both
> light and cooking energy. However somebody has to manufacture it.
>
> www.nariphaltan.org/kerolanstove.pdf
>
> All the best.
>
> Anil
>
> Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI)
> Tambmal, Phaltan-Lonand Road
> P.O.Box 44
> Phaltan-415523, Maharashtra, India
> Ph:91-2166-220945/222842
> e-mail:nariphaltan at gmail.com
>           nariphaltan at nariphaltan.org
>
> http://www.nariphaltan.org
>
> On Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 11:11 AM, Amelia Young <
> a.young11 at student.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm conducting some research in partnership with the UNHCR and EWB
looking
>> at cookstoves for acute crisis/emergency response scenarios.
>> My research seeks to develop design criteria for an emergency cooking
>> solution for rapid deployment in crisis situations i.e. use by refugees
in
>> transition.
>> The problems it seeks to address are short-term fuel scarcity, food
>> security and human security (e.g. gender based violence) issues for
>> displaced populations when fleeing their homes.
>> Looking to this community for important performance
metrics/considerations
>> (technical, social and cultural) of stoves in this particular context.
The
>> idea is that a selection tool could be used in pre-disaster assessment
>> and emergency preparedness or post-disaster assessment to determine the
>> most appropriate cookstoves for dissemination in crisis. The main
>> objectives for a solution in this context are portability, ease-of-use,
>> low-cost and fuel efficiency an appropriate stove would then presumably
>> differ by region based on local cooking practices and other cultural
>> indicators.
>>
>>
>> Any help would be greatly appreciated,
>>
>>
>> Amelia Young
>> Masters of Environmental Engineering student
>> Melbourne School of Engineering
>> University of Melbourne, 3010
>> AUSTRALIA
>>
>> Phone 0061 499 826 293
>> Email aayoung at student.unimelb.edu.au
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 17
> Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:57:11 +0800
> From: Joshua Guinto <jed.building.bridges at gmail.com>
> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
>    <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: Re: [Stoves] Cookstoves in acute emergency response
> Message-ID:
>    <CABxLnO3oqKmGeB1xekpsUs8BKH-Kjt-JtoqNoPOrc0UJY016yg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Dear Amelia
>
> You just found a very rich and active community of stove designers and
> producers. I am certain that you will  receive a lot of brilliant ideas
> from this network.
>
> On my part, i am working mostly on terra cotta stove, those that can be
> produced by local artisans, hopefully the artisans who are in the same
> areas of crisis.
>
> I focused on clay stoves because
> (1) they can be manufactured locally using clay and with basic clay
> working skills and materials and without electricity (2)  They can outlive
> the usable life of the equivalent stoves built in metal (3) clay is highly
> insulating thus the heat is preserved inside the fire chamber (5) safe to
> use and does not get too hot to touch thus reduce the risks of accidental
> burns while cooking. (6) They can also look more beautiful by integrating
> local cultural concepts as sculpture into the clay
>
> The downside is that they can break due to handling and they are much
> heavier than their metal counterparts. They also take time to be built,
> that is waiting for the clay to dry and require kilns for baking and thus
> difficult to rapidly replicated in mass.
>
> For some references to my work please follow the following links.
>
> http://www.drtlud.com/2015/11/23/anatomy-of-the-papabrick-stove/
>
> https://briquettestoves.com/
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UdqXOFQ9Cc
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-x8omZFO1Q
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB0AdxlXyNg
>
> All the best
>
> Jed
>
>
> *Joshua B. Guinto*Specialist, Appropriate Technology
> MSc Management of AgroEcological Knowledge and Social Change (MAKS)
> Wageningen University, The Netherlands 2006 to 2008
> Recipient, International Fellowships Programme  Award (IFP) 2005
> Ford Foundation

---------Message: 2
Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2016 10:05:34 +0530
From: Anand Karve <adkarve at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
        <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Cookstoves in acute emergency response
Message-ID:
        <CACPy7ScDLu5ESjiGd8M9mdxAhCiozy5hNYz+zoBUzKSkxHEakQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Dear Amelia,
Charcoal made from leaf litter or agricultural waste is an ideal low cost /
 low technology fuel. Being solid, it can be easily packed and transported.
The charcoal made from such material is powdery, but it can be shaped into
balls or briquettes with just bare hands or with the help of a low cost
briquette extruder. These briquettes can be given to the refugees along
with grain, flour or any other form of food.  Making charcoal stoves from
mild steel sheets is relatively simple. Charcoal burns almost as cleanly as
any gaseous fuel. You can look up a video of of the charring and
briquetting process in our web site www.samuchit.com
Yours
A.D.Karve

***
Dr. A.D. Karve

Chairman, Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd (www.samuchit.com)

Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI)
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