[Stoves] The Akha TLUD - Biochar Project in Bangladesh.

[Julien Winter]

Thanks to Paul for the suggestions;

They are wise.

We can't use more wood or bamboo, because it doesn't exist.  The last
number I saw was that the forest cover in Bangladesh is 15-17%.  Most of
the forest is not were the people live, but in the coastal areas,
especially the protected Sunderbans, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the
S.E.   The Government of Bangladesh has been putting a big effort into
reforestation for decades, but fights an uphill battle with the demand for
wood for building and fuel.  Interestingly, the most productive forests are
in peoples homesteads and farms.

We are exploring the possibility of commercial pelleted fuel.  Although
commercial fuels like LPG are expensive, nobody has made biochar from LPG.
The benefits from biochar will make a big difference to the affordability
of commercial fuel pellets.  Where pellets are economically viable, they
will make a huge difference to women's lives, by removing most of the
drudgery from cooking, and exposure to smoke.  Women will have much more
free time.  LPG is not Planet-friendly.

Thanks for the suggestion for donations.  That would be helpful, if an
account could be set up in Bangladesh to cover the cost of experimental
materials.  At the initial stages of the Akha TLUD Biochar Project, funding
for research on TLUD and fuels would be very helpful.  The project has
funding for an exploratory deployment of Akha stoves, but there is no
funding for exploratory research into other options.  What might work well
is to identify an innovation that should be investigated, then see if some
donations can be found to buy the necessary materials.

Does anyone have experience with bitcoins?  There is a problem of getting
money into the hands of people in distant countries without banks and
governments taking a cut.  Usually it is about 20% of the transferred
cash.  The last time I transferred $CND to Taka, the money had to be
converted to $USD first, and was handled by three different banks, all
taking a slice of the pie.  In addition, authorities in Bangladesh had to
be convinced that the money was not being used to fund terrorism (a handful
of religious extremists are causing some misery for a few atheists bloggers
and secular academics).

The Akha TLUD - Biochar Project has three years funding from
ICCO-Netherlands given to the Christian Commission for Development in
Bangladesh (Dhaka) for exploratory deployment of the Akha and biochar.
This may get as many as 200 Akhas into homes.  We are gathering data on
user acceptance of the technologies.  This data will be crucial evidence to
justify the expansion of the project.  If we observe and document an
enthusiastic reception of biochar, we can make a case for carbon-credit
financing.  Also, we must not forget that the scientists and policy makers
in the Government of Bangladesh must be convinced that TLUDs and biochar
are beneficial and not harmful.

At the moment, I am writing applications to the Canadian Government to fund
research.  In the past I have been unsuccessful, but in the last year, we
have changed from a Conservative to a Liberal government, and the attitude
towards international development is now more favorable.  We are also in a
stronger position now that the Akha is beginning to demonstrate its
viability.

If I am successful at getting funding from the Canadian Government, then
private donations would be better sent to other needy cookstove development
programs.  I have argued before on "Stoves" that there should be an
investment in building up the capability of regional stove developers
around the World.  Give them training on the fundamentals of combustion,
some basic measurement tools, and funding for supplies.  Adapting
technology to local conditions will help to maintain regional
self-sufficiency in the basic human activity of cooking.  That would be a
really good investment.

Where we could use volunteer effort for stove programs in setting-up and
managing crowd-source funding.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

========
Just a side note:  Listening to CBC Radio this morning, I heard that local
involvement vs. corporate imposition of technology makes a big difference
to public acceptance.  Windmills to generate electricity are unpopular in
Ontario where they are owned by large companies, but in Nova Scotia,
windmills are popular because the local population has the opportunity to
become share-holders.  More information can be found hear:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/nova-scotia-ontario-wind-farms-1.4010653
http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/news/2017/public_opinion_wind_energy_project.html

In my neighborhood we have a community solar power corporation that
installs solar panels on local buildings.

The Akha TLUD - Biochar Project has similarities, in trying to develop a
stove that maximizes local livelihoods. The closer one can get to having a
stove made by a householder the better; then it would become a new
'traditional stove'.   However, a village stove-maker would be good enough.


Cheers,
Julien.


-- 
Julien Winter
Cobourg, ON, CANADA
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