Stove that can earn you cash and save on fuel

A new stove that uses gases from rotting materials (bio-residues) to burn and which could potentially change the lives of rural people for the better, has been launched.

Given the shortage of conventional fuels such as kerosene and LPG, Anila, the smokeless stove, is expected to be a boon to people up country where agro-waste is available in plenty.

If well managed, this stove can earn a household up to Sh515,000 a year, reduce on the rate of deforestation, improve on soil fertility and mitigate climate change.

The stove which burns coconut frond, coir, baggase, husk, groundnut shells, areca waste, mulberry leaves and similar agro-wastes, has been developed by Shalin, a Finnish networking organisation focused on social, environmental and economic issues in collaboration with Helsinki University of Technology.

Ms Eva Kagiri, one of the researchers, says the Anila stove has shown the potential to improve the efficiency in biomass energy production by almost 60 per cent.

“Unlike normal stoves that use charcoal, it uses raw biomass and produces charcoal as a by-product as opposed to ash. This can be used for cooking or compressed into briquettes or pellets and sold as fuel. The stove can use any agricultural waste as a fuel and requires less of the material to generate the same heat for the same period,” Ms Kagiri says.

“I see tremendous potential and a tiny cottage industry of briquettes being made in each house that will also help create wealth,” says Mr Peter Kuria, director in charge of finance, Shalin, Finland.

Apart from using the heat from this stove to cook, the charcoal produced can be added into the soil as a nutrient.

“High organic carbon in the soil has been shown to improve soil fertility by between 30-300 per cent,” she adds.
Traditional burning of biomass material produces noxious gases, which have serious respiratory health implications. But the Anila stove burns off these gases improving household air quality and mitigating their harmful health effects. Charcoal has between 40-60 per cent carbon depending on the conditions it is produced.

Households can also earn some money from using the stove. According to the researchers, one kilogramme of charcoal is equivalent to 3.5 kilos of carbon dioxide and if a household produces an equivalent of two kilos of carbon every day after burning between five to 10 kilos of biomass, they will have produced approximately 750 kilos of carbon in a year.

This is equal to 2,500 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide. When the carbon in the charcoal is added into the soil, it is said to be a secure carbon capture and storage (a process known as sequestration).

A household can sell their sequestration in the market and depending on the market they choose, they can get up to 5,000 Euros (Sh515,000) per annum through the sequestered carbon.

In Kenya, Shalin’s partner Sustainable Agriculture Community Development Project is developing a strategy of integrating this approach to its ongoing projects with select farmers.

Eventually, the improved carbon sequestration in the soil should also count towards mitigating the impact of green house gases (GHGs) to the environment.

The group intends to implement the project by first selecting households depending on resources and introduce the stoves, train them on how to use and manufacture them and on how to practice bio char agriculture.

Anila consists of two cylinders of different diameters, and the inner cylinder has a conical grate at the bottom. The fuel is placed in the grate. Nearly three kilogrammes of fuel waste can be filled in each charge.

About three-quarters of the inner cylinder is packed with about one kilogramme of hard woody biomass and five to six stones are placed on top as the tar generated during gasification cracks and burns when it strikes the hot stove. This reduces pollution and improves combustion.

Each charge burns for nearly two to three hours and it is possible to add any bio-waste fuel or briquettes into the combustion chamber to keep the flame alive for another 30 minutes if required.

The stove remains hot for an additional 30 minutes after the burning stops and this can be used to keep food warm.