As of 2020 approximately 2.6billion people still cook food over 3 stones.
Typically pots are balanced on 3 stones above a fire.
This is incredibly thermally inefficient and usually wood is used as a fuel. 20-30% efficiency if protected from wind and this can be as low as 5% if the wood is moist and the fire is outdoors.
This is a known problem space currently being tackled by NGOs.
Some challenges:
Stones are ‘free’, wood is ‘free’ so it’s a tough sell.
Distribution infrastructure is lacking.
Cultural and historical behaviour will need to be modified.
We work with NGOs to provide more insulated and thermally efficient solutions so less wood is burnt in provided stoves for the same amount of heating.
Less wood is burnt. More wood gets left on the ground which can then get back into the natural bio cycle.
It’ll be hard to turn a profit on each stove but based on the carbon savings per stove over its lifetime, we can tie this to carbon credits to help make the business case more palatable to investors.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_poverty_and_cooking
