[Stoves] SPAM: ***SPAM*** RE: ***SPAM*** Question about Kenyan stove maker Mukuru that won the million dollar Earth Shot Prize

[tmiles at trmiles.com]

Crispin, 

 

This is very helpful. 

 

We have found that sometimes the reviewers for some of these carbon “prizes” are not well qualified. In a couple of cases I would call them “armchair experts”. Our comedian Will Rogers famously quipped, “all I know is what I read in the papers , and that's an alibi for my ignorance.”, these days it’s “all I know is what I read on the internet”.

 

Tom

 

From: Stoves <stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org> On Behalf Of Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2022 3:38 PM
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: SPAM: [Stoves] ***SPAM*** RE: ***SPAM*** Question about Kenyan stove maker Mukuru that won the million dollar Earth Shot Prize

 

Dear Pat

 

https://mukurustoves.org/ 

 

This seems to be a conventional charcoal stove with a cylindrical combustion chamber, instead of a tapered one as per IKJ. 

 

It apparently burns charcoal dust “pellets”, if that is indicated by the photos. 

 

I think it is unlikely that is has a “clean cooking” carbon-monoxide rating because there is nothing unusual about the design.  If Peter Scott said it is 20 years old, I accept that evaluation. 

 

It seems to have a smaller diameter chamber than a Jiko (IKJ) and it is a bit deeper.  This can have advantages over a standard Jiko if there was a set of secondary air holes, but I don’t see that. It is just s cylinder.  That said, there is no set of photos which I can find showing the air flow path. 

 

Any lined Jiko is ISO Tier 3 or 4, and almost all are Tier 3 or 4 for PM.  The problem remains the CO which is usually awful: Tier 0 or 1, with a small number reaching Tier 2.  Having recently reviewed a couple of dozen charcoal stoves for the ESMAP project in Rwanda, none were Tier 3 for CO.   In other words, the Mukuru stove would not be supported by the project unless there is something very, very unusual about it which is not obvious from the photos. 

 

I congratulate them on getting funding from multiple sources.  I expect that the advisors contribute a lot to getting recognition.  That is usually how it works. When it comes to funding stoves that do not perform well on one or more metrics, nothing surprises me.  Have a look at the stoves promoted by CDM of Gold Standard or VERRA.  

 

I hope they don’t sell below cost in neighbouring countries.  Because of carbon funding, there is a lot of that happening…

 

Regards

Crispin

 

 

From: Stoves <stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org <mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org> > On Behalf Of Patricia Mcardle
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2022 10:47
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org <mailto:stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org> >
Subject: [Stoves] ***SPAM*** Question about Kenyan stove maker Mukuru that won the million dollar Earth Shot Prize

 

This week on CNN I watched the Prince William Earth Shot awards. One of the winners (receiving one million UK pounds) was a company in Kenya that I've never heard of. It's called Mukuru clean cookstoves of Kenya.  It was founded in 2017 by Charlot Magayiand, who was 25 years old at the time.  It's main donor has been billionaire Nigerian oil producer Tony Elumelu. Mukuru has also received a grant from Ikea.  I have tried to find information about the design and manufacture of the stove and any testing/certification that has been done, but there is nothing on the internet--just that Mukuru  manufacturers and sells a 'clean cookstove', which costs $10 and which burns pellets. 

This is from their website:  Rather than burning dangerous solid fuels, Mukuru Clean Stoves use processed biomass made from charcoal, wood and sugarcane. This burns cleaner, creating 90 percent less pollution than an open fire and 70 percent less than a traditional cookstove. They are cheaper too, costing just $10 and halving ongoing fuel costs.

I have asked Dean Still but he’s never heard of it.  I also checked in with Peter Scott, He said they’re marketing a 20 year old stove design.

Does anyone on this list serve know anything more about this very well-funded company?

Thanks,

Pat McArdle

 

 

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