Engineers Aim To Make Cleaner-Burning Cookstoves For Developing World 147
vinces99 writes in with news about a new cookstove design for developing countries. "About 3 billion people, or 42 percent of the world's population, rely on burning materials such as wood, animal dung or coal in stoves for cooking and heating their homes. Often these stoves are crudely designed, and poor ventilation and damp wood can create a smoky, hazardous indoor environment day after day. A recent study in The Lancet estimates that 3.5 million people die each year as a result of indoor air pollution from open fires or rudimentary stoves in their homes. More than 900,000 people die from pneumonia alone, which has been linked to indoor air pollution. University of Washington engineers hope to make a dent in these numbers by designing a cookstove that meets a stringent set of emission and efficiency standards while still being affordable and attractive to families who cook over a flame each day. The team has received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to design a better cookstove, which researchers say will use half as much fuel and cut emissions by 90 percent."
Re:Simpsons already did it... (Score:5, Insightful)
Didnt Philips do this 5 to 10 years ago????/
Didn't Ben Franklin do this 250 years ago?
"The Franklin stove is a metal-lined fireplace named after its inventor, Benjamin Franklin. It was invented in 1741. It had a hollow baffle near the rear (to transfer more heat from the fire to a room's air) and relied on an "inverted siphon" to draw the fire's hot fumes around the baffle. It was intended to produce more heat and less smoke than an ordinary open fireplace."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stove [wikipedia.org]
Re:We already hae better stoves (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's a picture of the new stove they are considering. [washington.edu]
The new one does look more efficient, but it looks like it costs 10 times more. Are people really going to buy it?
Re:We already hae better stoves (Score:2, Insightful)
Here's a picture of the traditional stove. [washington.edu] Truly inefficient, you can see plenty of wasted energy leaving out the sides. ok.
Here's a picture of the new stove they are considering. [washington.edu]
The new one does look more efficient, but it looks like it costs 10 times more. Are people really going to buy it?
Ten times more? The first one looks free. Honestly this looks like yet another ivory tower project complete with a budget, interns, and computer aided engineering all to 'invent' something that has been around for ages.
This time it is the free-from-trash Hobo stove. [wikipedia.org] I'll research the idea for half price, only 450k. Hell, I'll even send the Department of Energy a few samples, just let me find my old coffee cans....