Cardboard cooker wins global climate change...

A cardboard cooker which uses the sun's energy to boil water has won a global competition for the best innovation to tackle climate change.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/5128004/Cardboard-cooker-wins-global-
climate-change-competition.html

The "Kyoto box" aims to save lives in poor countries by allowing people to boil unclean
water without having to cut down trees or gather sticks for firewood.

The design, which costs five euros to make, also hopes to cut the number of people
suffering from respiratory problems associated with smoke inhalation. Creator Kenyan-based Jon Bohmer believes it could halve the need for firewood, saving two tons of carbon for each family that uses it per year.

He won $75,000 (£51,000) in the FT Climate Change Challenge backed by the FT, HP and Forum for the Future, to develop his idea.

He beat other finalist entries including a feed additive from garlic which cuts the
methane produced by cows, a cover for lorry wheels which reduces drag and fuel consumption and "evaporating tiles" which halve the energy use of air-conditioning systems.

The cardboard cooker consists of two boxes with a transparent acrylic cover to let in the sun's energy, black paint inside and silver foil outside to concentrate the heat, and
straw or newspaper for insulation between the two layers.

Mr Bohmer will use the prize money to run trials of his creation, which takes around
one-and-a-half hours to boil water, in 10 countries including South Africa and India.

He said: "We're saving lives and saving trees. I doubt if there is any other technology
that can make so much impact for so little money."

Comments: 11

Svetlana Goryacheva Apr 13, 2009, 7:13am EDT

Interesting! :-)

Blessings and best wishes - S.

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David K. Apr 13, 2009, 7:17am EDT

A very good option for places where electricity is inconsistent or non-existent.

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Dan E. Apr 13, 2009, 11:35am EDT

Cool..... or rather warm,

There are a lot of organizations promoting solar cookers and more efficient wood stoves here are a couple of them.

Solar cooking
Trees, Water & People

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Bert B. Apr 13, 2009, 2:18pm EDT

I have heard about this elsewhere. It's a good example of how we, the people of the earth need to stop burning things to make energy. Everything that we burn emits unwelcome products of combustion...either toxic or climate-changing. And it depletes the planet of nonrenewable or over-exploited resources. Thomas Edison said it best over a hundred years ago:
Edison on Renewables

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John Knight Apr 14, 2009, 2:49am EDT

The sun is actually quite effective at things like heating water, and more sophisticated versions of this sort of box can be used to good effect in all sorts of ways, particularly in areas with a lot of sun (most areas). During the last "energy crunch", I did quite a bit of research and even some designing of such things, and I believe some assistance to poorer folks for initial costs, which could be slowly paid back, while still reducing monthly bills, is the sort of thing that could provide immediate jobs, and long term benefits in terms of fuel consumption/pollution reduction.

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Bert B. Apr 14, 2009, 2:16pm EDT

John, have you ever worked with Fresnel lenses? They are an inexpensive way to concentrate solar energy. I have often thought about trying to use them somehow for cooking, baking, hobby ceramics or whatever. Edmund Scientific, among others, sell them in panels of various sizes, but they could be mass-produced very cheaply.

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Clarke M. Apr 14, 2009, 4:01pm EDT

For thousands of years the use of solar energy has shaped human settlements
and cities, farming and forestry, architecture and buildings, landscapes and
territories, religious beliefs and cultures, and social relations. There are many new technological discoveries that could prove to provide very cheap power.

Politics and powerful interests have screwed us, but that's nothing new in history:

http://www.insurgent49.com/yanity_solar.html
November 3, 2006
The Power of the Sun
An Introduction to the History, Use and Potential of Solar Energy
by Brian Yanity, insurgent49
"...In 1951, President Harry Truman established a materials policy commission with William S. Paley, then the CEO of CBS Broadcasting, as chairman. The 1952 Paley Commission report recommended large-scale solar energy programs for USA, including the installation of 15 million solar water heaters by 1975. Unfortunately, its recommendations were not heeded, as the Atomic Energy Commission started attracting huge amounts of federal funding with its promises of cheap nuclear energy."

The photo voltaic cell was not invented until 1953 as I recall. Much cheaper versions are already available.

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John Knight Apr 14, 2009, 5:10pm EDT

Bert,

Yes, I have a cheap Freznel lens of about two square feet area, and it can do some amazing things in full sun. It can be focused to a small spot, that is VERY hot, but it can also be focused more broadly, and heat a larger area under good control . . . which I have used to heat plastics prior to reforming, among other things. No doubt one could be sized and fitted in such a way as to heat a water tank to boiling quite easily, or heat a metal box oven, etc. (I can personally verify it can cook flesh in a jiffy ; )

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Bert B. Apr 15, 2009, 3:16pm EDT

You are way ahead of me on this, John. I have thought about buying one of those panels, but have never done it. I thought about the safety issue. Making a product for public use with a solar concentrator would require some careful thought about liability.

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