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  • From: "Charles de Matas" <cdematas@hotmail.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] alternative fuels for cooking
  • Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:53:44 +0000

Toby wrote:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
They came back a year later and couldn't
find any of the cookers, and everyone still cooked with wood. Finally
one of the locals, who'd been reluctant to hurt their feelings, pointed
out the shiny jewelry and the bits of mirror embroidered into much of
the clothing. They'd found a more culturally appropriate use for the
reflectors.


Yeah, I've heard stories like this. One lady in our physics dept told us that in India after they tried to introduce solar cookers, the women in villages there found more appropriate uses for the boxes to store jewelry etc.
I looked at the eco-kalan website. Seems like an appropriate device for them. Of all the fuels they mention I think bamboo might be the most suitable. Bamboo grows rapidly and the clumps regrow after cutting. During the dry season bamboo clumps are a major fire risk, they burn with an intense heat. Better to use them as fuel for cooking. (A problem becomes a solution)
To be used as fuel it may be better to split the bamboo so it will dry out and be more easily fed into a stove/burner. Maybe machines can be developed to do this.
Coconut branches also seem like a good idea for a fuel, as I don't think there is a better use for them. They use the fibrous coconut husks, also but it would be much better to shred the husks and use them as a soil conditioner. I use coir (cocopeat) in my gardening to add to my clay soil when transplanting and think it's an excellent use for the husks.
Animal dung should not be burnt either. Better to use it for biogas production, but it may not be possible in many situations in poor countries.

Charles
T&T

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