Rocketstove.org

Internships for Summer 2010 - Update!

This summer we have an opportunity for a Potter who would like to make a profound difference in reducing deforestation and poverty in the developing world. Although most of the funded internship openings for improved biomass cookstove projects in Haiti, Kenya, and Congo have been filled, we are still looking for a ceramic intern for our Haiti project....

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Aprovecho Featured in New Yorker Magazine Article

The December 21, 2009 issue of the The New Yorker magazine features a lengthy article by Burkhard Bilger, titled "Hearth Surgery". In the article, Bilger describes our struggle to bring improved cook stoves to the world, with detailed coverage of Aprovecho Research Center, stove camp, Peter Scott and others. You can read a summary here.

Peter Scott's Stove Notes From the Field!

Peter Scott has a new blog, through which he shares his notes from the field. You can read his blog by clicking the menu item above, or you can click here .

Ashden Award for Rocket Stove Mass Production!

Aprovecho Research Center (ARC) and Shengzhou Stove Manufacturer (SSM), a Chinese manufacturer, are jointly the 2009 International Winner of the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy for their mass-production of environmentally friendly rocket cook stoves. The Global Energy Champions won £40,000 for their work.

Click the image to the left to view a video prepared by the Ashden Foundation about this award.

Buy a Factory-made Rocket Stove!

Household rocket stoves designed by Aprovecho Research Center and manufactured in China are now available for sale. Aprovecho has established a subsidiary, StoveTec, to distribute the stoves. Peter Scott is working with StoveTec to provide the stoves to international projects.

Institutional Rocket Stove Projects

Peter Scott/Aprovecho and GTZ/ProBEC were Ashden finalists in 2006 for their work in promoting institutional rocket stoves in Malawi. The Ashden Foundation produced a video as part of the 2006 awards process.

Click the image to the left to view the video.

Rocketstove.org is currently collaborating with GTZ/HERA , GTZ/EAP Uganda and GTZ/Sun-Energy Ethiopia to develop and disseminate Institutional Rocket Stoves throughout Africa and the world.

Institutional Rocket Stove Plans

A number of plans are currently available for constructing institutional rocket stoves:

1. Click here to run an institutional stove design tool that allows users to create a custom set of plans for either a brick or metal institutional stove without chimney (50-300 L capacity) 

2. Click here to view a series of 8 videos from Aprovecho Research Center showing how to construct an institutional rocket stove from a 200-liter (55 gallon) barrel, making a stove that can accommodate a 60L pot).

3. Click here to download and view plans for constructing a brick institutional stove with chimney, courtesy of GTZ/EAP Uganda. 

4. We will soon have a new design tool, similar to the one described in #1 above, on which we are working with GTZ/EAP Uganda, Prakti Design , and GTZ/HERA , that will allow users to create plans for constructing a metal institutional stove with a chimney. This design tool should be available by before the end of 2009. Internship Opportunity! We are also interested in producing an instructional video to coincide with the design tool. Please contact us if you're interested in assisting in this project.

Institutional Injera Stoves

Working with GTZ/Sun-Energy Ethiopia, we are disseminating institutional rocket stoves and household stoves. We are also collaborating with GTZ and Dale Andreatta (Ohio State University) to develop an improved institutional Injera cooker that will replace the inefficient ceramic cooking plate with a metal plate that is optimized for maximum heat transfer. 

The production of injera has huge economic and environmental costs for Ethiopia. For example, Timret is a women's collective that employs 62 women. 48 are directly involved in the production of Injera. The entire group bakes 12-13,000 Injera per day on 20 stoves and sells each Injera for USD .17. They spend ETB 30,000 (roughly USD 3,000) per month for wood fuel. Research Opportunity! Please let us know if you are interested in assisting in the development of this stove.

EARTH Refugee Stove

Working in collaboration with Mercy Corps and Carbon Clear (UK), we have disseminated over 14,000 Earth refugee stoves in refugee camps around Goma DRC. Preliminary results suggest a greater than 50% savings as compared to the open fire. (Click here to view a summary of the test results.) 

This stove is ideal for users that require an efficient stove with very little investment (approximately USD 4). Partnership Opportunity! Please let us know if you are interested in building, testing, or disseminating this stove. 

Earlier this autumn, a Financial Times journalist travelled to DRC and spent time with Elisha Moore-Delate, Mercy Corps’ project manager for the cook stoves carbon offset project near Goma.  You can read the final article here.

And more recently, the December 21st issue of The Newyorker magazine has an entertaining article about our quest for the perfect stove for the developing world. 

Rocket Tobacco Curing Barn

Although many people are not aware of the scope of the problem, tobacco production and curing is devastating the native forests of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi. It is estimated that over 110,000ha of forest is lost each year.

Since 2005, we have been developing an improved tobacco curing system for small holder farmers in southern Africa. In 2007 field research conducted by GTZ/ProBEC showed that the rocket barn reduced fuel consumption by 50% and increase farmer income by approximately USD 1300/p.a. This year in Malawi, Hestian Innovation will partner with Alliance One and Limbe Leaf to build approximately 1500 barns in the next 6 months.

Working with BAT and GTZ/EAP Uganda we are also prototyping a new and unique barn for Uganda. Internship Opportunity! We are interested in placing interns in Malawi to help support the dissemination effort. If you are interested, let us know by clicking here. Research Opportunity! If you are interested in helping in developing collaborative research projects with universities to study and improve the design of the rocket barn, let us know by clicking here.

Contact us for user guides and step-by-step plans for constructing rocket barns, available on a case-by-case basis. 

Ugastove

Ugastove is a stove producer in Uganda that produces charcoal stoves, household rocket stoves, and institutional rocket stoves.

They are the first stove project in the world to meet the gold standard for the voluntary carbon market .

CEIHD (Center for Entrepreneurial Initiatives in Development and Health) is supporting Ugastove’s stove dissemination effort. Employment Opportunity! CEIDH is currently searching for a technical director for Ugastove. Click here to request more information about this position.

Rocket Mass Heaters: Superefficient WoodStoves You Can Build

Are you looking for a rocket stove heater you can build and snuggle up to? If you are, the book about how to build one, and the site about the book, can be found at www.rocketstoves.com.

We need your stories!

Do you have a rocket stove project? Please let us know about it so we can tell others about it here!

   Tell us about your project..

We need your support!

Rocketstove.org is a collaborative effort of many people who have an interest in rocket stoves, their construction, their use, and their benefit to the planet.

Keeping this site going requires some specialized skills that we simply have to buy. Editing new submissions, updating the web site, and developing and supporting our design tools require a modest but necessary flow of funds.

If you can contribute to this flow, please do. Rocket stove users all over the world will benefit.

   Contribute...

Thanks to the Ashden Trust