I was stunned to learn that about 1.5 million people die each year from indoor cooking related disease, according to WHO statistics. Never realized the severe consequences of cooking a meal at home. How else are urbaners supposed to do it? Anyways, MIT students have a solution for healthy and green (read eco-friendly) cooking with an affordable solar cooker. Originally intended for rural Himalayan villages, this solar cooker is made out of yak-wool canvas panels stretched over bamboo ribs and faced with reflective Mylar. Hence it helps to cut down on the use of open fires fed with yak dung or wood, which generate particulate-filled smoke. Considerably light weighted, this unit is estimated to cost just $17 and additional $26 for a metal coil attachment that can be added for home heating. Wining accolades at MIT IDEAS competition, this solar cooker also intends to see day light as it has succeeded to garner interest from local manufacturers. May be city dwellers can relocate their kitchen to patio or backyard to accommodate such a solar powered cooking gadget!
Affordable solar cooker for green alfresco cooking
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Deepa, your statement that millions of people get killed every year by indoor cooking related disease surprised me too and I googled it. My god, this is something that we have never heard of but its so true. Poor people in most villages of poor countries cook using fossil fuels and they are all at risk, espl kids... :(
Nevertheless, a very good and informative article this is... thanks!
Even I was taken aback at this fact. Sad and alarming but not much done about it :(
You are right. Read that death due to cooking smoke is next only to the water related deaths, and thats very alarming. And like most problems related to poverty, this one is also of such huge magnitude, it will be very difficult to get a solution in short period.
I want to build one. With gas prices so high we all need to start saving a bit of money. I think this is the same project as One Earth Designs is doing. Anyone tried this yet?
I’m going to try building one. With gas prices so expensive we need to start saving money. If only we had more options to do these kinds of things without economic pressures forcing us. This looks to be the same project that One Earth Designs is working on with SolSource? Anyone tried to make it yet?
Yes Lester, with cooking gas cost going up, there’s a need to try to cut cost where ever possible. Will keep an eye on any info I get on solar cookers for you.
You can build the Fun-Panel solar cooker in less than an hour from half of a cardboard box and a few feet of aluminum foil.
The Fun-Panel seems to borrow most of its design and technology from the CookIt, though perhaps a different assembly system and material list. On the other hand, it looks like this solar cooker is meant for different specifications, including areas where cardboard and wind cause a lot of problems. Maybe there isn’t cardboard in the mountains, as well?