The Government of Kenya launches large-scale program to deploy energy efficient stoves. The project, named Promotion of Private Sector Development in Agriculture (PSDA), is designed to disseminate energy saving technologies, geared to improve rural livelihoods.
Technology
So, you wanna deploy cookstoves to every corner of the world? McKinsey & Co. has one word for you: networks
In a meeting this week with the folks from Acumen Fund, we were asked what was holding up the large-scale deployment of improved cookstove worldwide?
The truth is there is no simple answer. Take your pick: low levels of capital investments, tariff barriers, lack of incentive policies, fluctuation price of oil, poor social marketing, instability in the carbon credit market, absence of standards, etc.
Looking for solutions, the folks at McKinsey and Co. think stakeholders would do well to focus on networking and sharing resources.
Listen to the Harvard Business Review and they’ll tell you the US needs to spend more time investing in social entrepreneurs in the developing world and less playing the role of incubator.
A Great Stove with A Killer App
If only we could figure out a way to combine the allure of sexy technology with the utilitarian nature of energy-efficient cookstoves. (And did I also mention reducing emissions and fuel consumption?)
Well, guess what, folks, this may have finally happened!
To achieve cookstove scale we need standards
What’s more important: reducing fuel consumption or reducing emissions of black carbon and other toxic gases?
The answer is, of course, both, but designing a stove that meets the highest current ratings in emissions reduction and energy consumption at a reasonable cost has so far proven elusive.
Coming up with the right standards will be critical to getting cookstove projects to scale, especially since carbon-credit financing will be vital for some projects to make financial sense, says Dean Still of the Aprovecho Research Center.
The Darfur Stoves Project: A Market Solution to Poverty
Today, three billion people—nearly half the world’s population—burn coal, wood, dung, or compost to heat their homes and cook their food. In addition to the deforestation associated with open fire cooking, especially in regions of conflict, the need for fuel often leaves searchers vulnerable, exposing them to risk of attack.