Bosch and Siemens Testing Carbon-Neutral Biofuel Cooking Stove
19 May 2007
By Jack Rosebro
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| Protos cooking stove. |
Following successful tests of their multi-biofuel Protos cooking stove in about a hundred Philippine households over the past year, Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances Group (BSHG) is planning to expand the project to at least ten thousand more homes. BSHG has described the rollout as a “small-scale carbon project”, and is emphasizing the ability of the stove to be carbon-neutral, depending on fuel used.
Protos was designed to work with a wide range of plant oil fuels, including used oils from frying, refined oils, and plant oil esters, as well as kerosene. Trials have been held in the Philippines and in Tanzania, with further projects planned in India, China, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka.
The stove was developed and tested with support from the University of Hohenheim, the German Environmental Foundation, Leyte State University in the Philippines, and the European Environmental Heritage Fund, among others.
Vaporization and combustion of plant oils in a simple stove involve more than 10,000 different chemical reactions, which vary for each plant oil, depending on its origin, quality, and means of extraction. The Protos burner utilizes a combustion temperature of up to 1,400°C (2,550ºF) to ensure vaporization and low-emission combustion regardless of feedstock. With plant oil carbon residues forming at more than 100 times the rate of kerosene, the stove’s burner had to be designed to maintain a temperature profile which would minimize soot formation.
According to BSHG, Protos has an adjustable power range of 1.6 to 3.8 kW, an efficiency range of 40% to 50%, and emissions levels as low as one-tenth the emissions of high-grade kerosene. BSHG intends to introduce the stove in areas that can sustainably harvest the fuel it requires. It can also help cut down the use of wood in deforested areas; studies show that a typical family uses up to two tons of wood per year.
Protos is estimated to require about 100 liters of plant oils annually. BSHG project leader Dr.-Ing. Elmar Stumpf noted “the plant oil stove is easy to operate and offers a very safe cooking environment since plant oils can neither burn nor explode.”
Almost half of the world’s population use coal, wood, charcoal, dung, or kerosene as indoor cooking fuel. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about four thousand people, predominantly children, die every day as a result of such emissions.
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It would be nice if this very worthwhile project were to receive some significant government or private money to speed up it's deployment.
Posted by: rhapsodyinglue | 19 May 2007 at 02:37 PM
This is a perfect example of the marriage of beauty, simplicity and functionality. The website says they are getting lots of inquiries from Europe and North America, and I'm not surprised. I'll take a set of four of these for my new eco-chic kitchen update, please :-) (Really, why not?)
The company, however, says they are dedicated to local supply and manufacturing where feasible, beginning with deforested areas where the good would be greatest, so it looks like I've got a couple of billion people on the list ahead of me...
Posted by: Jeff R | 20 May 2007 at 09:36 PM
We see great potential for DME as a clean alternative fuel . The present diesel oil is a major source of air pollution from diesel engine of trucks and busses in large city like Tokyo. The potential market of diesel oil substitute is larger than LPG. DME is one of ideal fuel for diesel engine. DME vehicles were demonstratively manufactured in Japan, China and Korea and their driving test already started. Practical durability fleet test of a DME truck is under going in Japan.
We are pleased to organise a conference on China taking the lead in the DME market in production from coal and Japan and Korea activities.
If you would like to know more on COAL to Syngas to DME developments, join us at upcoming North Asia DME / Methanol conference in Beijing, 27-28 June 2007, St Regis Hotel. The conference covers key areas which include:
DME productivity can be much higher especially if
country energy policies makes an effort comparable to
that invested in increasing supply.
By:
National Development Reform Commission NDRC
Ministry of Energy for Mongolia
Production of DME/ Methanol through biomass
gasification could potentially be commercialized
By:
Shandong University completed Pilot plant in Jinan and
will be sharing their experience.
Advances in conversion technologies are readily
available and offer exciting potential of DME as a
chemical feedstock
By: Kogas, Lurgi and Haldor Topsoe
Available project finance supports the investments
that DME/ Methanol can play a large energy supply role
By: International Finance Corporation
For more information: www.iceorganiser.com
Posted by: Cheryl Ho | 22 May 2007 at 09:25 PM
The first question most cooks ask themselves when choosing a new stove is "electric or gas"? There are points in favor of each choice. Gas is obviously a fossil fuel, which is a limited resource, but until we switch over to renewable energy sources to generate electricity, most electrical power is generated in coal-burning power plants.Prep Station
Posted by: Account Deleted | 13 April 2012 at 03:16 AM