[Stoves] Sun Buckets: off topic news, introduction

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear David S

Welcome to the land of hot food.

I enjoyed you post and enthusiasm.

I would like to credit Garth Whitworth-Williams-Foxcroft with creating the idea behind this stove. It never came to market but he had such a good idea. He described it to me as a flat slab somewhat like the thing you sit on in a wheelchair if you have to be there all the time. It was charged by flipping it upside down and sitting it in the sun. It was ‘ignited’ by flipping it over and the chemicals inside started to mix and generate heat.

The sun separated the chemicals which drifted apart because of their different densities.

Garth is gone now. He invented a lot if things including the first air-to-air missile, a practical zinc-air battery for vehicles and photo-setting polymers now used in about 100% of printing presses.

Solar-chemical or Solar-thermal storage (like the peanut oil cooker made by Mercedes) get around the problem of having to cook when the sun is out.

Thanks
Crispin




From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of David Stein
Sent: 3-Jan-17 14:51
To: stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org
Subject: [Stoves] Sun Buckets: off topic news, introduction

Dear All,

I am a newcomer to the Stoves list but I’ve spent some time in the household energy sector in developing Vanuatu which is where I met Nikhil.

I am fascinated by solar cooking these days.  There are many potential socio-economic and environmental benefits of solar cooking and they are all very seductive.  Just thinking about fuel-free and emission-free cooking is intoxicating.

However, it seems that it is difficult to achieve the potential benefits of solar cooking (especially in the developing world) largely because those that dwell in hot climates (which is where much of the developing world seems to be located) have developed lifestyles that minimize exposure to the sun whereas most methods of solar cooking require the cook to be out in the sun, often at times of the day that aren’t typical cooking times.  These facts make the difficult task of changing the cooking habits of cooks even more challenging.

But it appears as though the Sun Bucket http://www.sunbuckets.com/  “cracks all of these nuts.”  This amazing innovation is “charged” with the heat of sunshine and the heat is stored in a “sun bucket” (phase change “”battery”) where it can be used when (like in the evening or early morning) and where (like inside a kitchen) it is needed.  It cooks as hot as cooking on fire and existing cooking pots and pans can be used so there is minimal need for changes in cooking behavior.  It also seems very affordable.  I guess it’s what they call transformational.

It looks as though a Sun Bucket should be a part of every integrated coking scheme (solar cooking when it's sunny, using an Improved Cook Stove when it's not, and maybe using a retained heat cooker with both) everywhere the sun shines in the developing world.  I can hardly wait for the Sun Bucket to be unleashed to the world-wide market of cooks that could really use them.

Best wishes for the coming year.
David Stein
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