News about Solar, Wind and alternative green power technologies

In the Climate challenge launched November 13 2008, the “Kyoto cooker” was declared the winner. The $5 Kyoto cooker took the $75, 000 winning prize that Financial Times, HP and Forum for the Future had awarded for as first prize of the competition.

The solution developed by Jon Bohmer is outstandingly simple but it represents a contributive solution to one of the hugest complications, climate change, and it is a solar power oven.

The creative solution uses two cardboard boxes. One box is placed in one another then acrylic cover is laid on the boxes to trap the sunrays inside. To maximize the capacity, the inner box must be painted black and on the outer layer, silver foil should be wrapped. The sunrays that are trapped inside the box are sufficient to boil water and even bake bread.

Environmental Contribution of the ‘Kyoto cooker

The solar power oven does also tackle deforestation in developing countries. An approximate of 3 billion people, living in rural areas cuts timber to cook food. This factor for global warming can be reduced with the use of the Kyoto cooker.

Moreover, millions of children die from consuming unhygienic water every year. The solar power oven allows water to be boiled and can thus save millions of lives.

Bohmer’s Voice

Bohmer went for a simple solution to tackle climate change. Yet, he was not the first one to propose the solar cooker. Sherry Cole and Barbara Kerr, two American women had developed the box in the 70s. Later on, they teamed together with other people to create a non-profit organization called Solar Cookers International.

Patrick Widner, the executive director said that original designs for the solar box cooker was present in a book called “Peace Corps” that was published in the 60s. Mr. Bohmer has been promoting the solar cooker in Kenya for 10 years and represents a significant contribution to the Solar Cookers Worldwide Network.

Bohmer is a Norwegian entrepreneur living in Kenya. He also had been indulged in finding a too complex solution while a simple solution was already feasible the Kyoto cooker.

Competition
The invention surpassed more than 300 other alternatives. This includes wheel covers that improve the fuel efficiency of trucks as well as apparatus able to convert organic materials as well as wood into charcoal.

The box is already in production in a factory, located in Nairobi, Kenya and around 2.5 million boxes can actually be produced per month. Moreover, an improved solution has been architectured by Bohmer, using recycled plastic making it as cheap and more durable the cardboard box.

As the solution is spreading through rural Africa, old women condemned to carry heavy loads of firewood can now relax. The cooking problem is hard to imagine in the West as everyone has access to electricity. Yet, facts are showing that half of the world’s population is still in precarious conditions, cooking food on fire.

Source:
1. CNN
2. Financial Times