[Stoves] New Handbook for Biomass Cookstove Research, Design, and Development

[Neeraja Penumetcha]

Biomass cookstove technology and performance have significantly improved over the last decade. Yet entrepreneurs and designers trying to build a better stove can still face a wide range of challenges. Design features that improve performance can come with higher production costs or usability challenges, for example. Enterprises often have limited resources for research and development, but must produce higher performing, usable, affordable technologies to stay competitive. R&D advancements that help balance these requirements are often not translated into practical guidance that is accessible to stove designers.

A new handbook aims to help designers and entrepreneurs by translating recent R&D advances into practical approaches for improving biomass cookstove performance, usability, and affordability. The Handbook for Biomass Cookstove Research, Design, and Development, was developed in partnership with MIT's D-Lab and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, with funding by UK aid from the UK government. Topics including ignition, air, fuel, mixing, and materials are covered through a synthesis of research findings and innovations from several different organizations. These components of the cooking process are all highly interrelated, so the handbook encourages consideration of these components together.

Download the full handbook here: http://cleancookstoves.org/resources/517.html