Inventor turns cardboard boxes into eco-friendly oven

[Sequoia]

When Jon Bohmer sat down with his two little girls for a simple project they could work on together, he didn't realize they'd hit upon a solution to one of the world's biggest problems for just $5: A solar-powered oven.

The ingeniously simple design uses two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, and an acrylic cover that lets in the sun's rays and traps them.

Black paint on the inner box, and silver foil on the outer one, help concentrate the heat. The trapped rays make the inside hot enough to cook casseroles, bake bread and boil water.

What the box also does is eliminate the need in developing countries for rural residents to cut down trees for firewood. About 3 billion people around the world do so, adding to deforestation and, in turn, global warming.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/09/solar.oven.global.warming/index.html

[peace13]

1. Very cool!

Thanks!

[mikeytherat]

2. Everything old is new again.

We used to make solar ovens and solar stills (for capturing condensation) back in the 1970s.

mikey_the_rat

[wartrace]

4. Thats the first thing I thought, what did he invent?

If he is being credited with inventing the solar oven those who selected him are idiots.

[mikeytherat]

7. Just 4-5 years ago on "Bill Nye the Science Guy" Bill and some kids made a solar oven.

If I recall correctly, they cooked a fruit-based dessert.

mikey_the_rat

[wartrace]

3. Solar ovens are nothing new, he didn't "invent" anything.

http://solarcooking.org/plans/

They have been around probably longer than Mr. Bohmer has been alive. I wonder why he was credited with an invention?

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. I wonder that too.

:shrug:

[Richard D]

6. That is weird

They've certainly been around a long time.

[imdjh]

8. It was the author who used "invention", probably should have said "design"

But inventing isn't worth squat if you don't get it into the hands of people who will use it. Somewhere in a barn in Russia a man may have invented the first car, but it didn't do anyone any good, so Carl Benz and Armand Peugeot get the credit.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. I think his invention is creating a low cost solar oven achievable with existing infrastructure and

available materials. The article notes that a box factory in Kenya is ready to gear up for production.

It's certainly not a new idea to use solar ovens for cooking.

[wartrace]

11. I appluad his bringing this old technology to the people in need.

It is a great thing for the poor in Kenya, I hope they are able to produce millions of the ovens and get them to people who need them.

[KittyWampus]

13. As I mention below- Earthwatch has been helping Kenyans and Indonesians do this very thing

for years now.

However, it's a wonderful thing that will help many people and we could ALL use solar cooking :)

[Gormy Cuss]

14. The news link doesn't really get into what the innovation is, and frankly it sounds like many DIY

versions floating around the web. That's why I think it's demonstrating that standard cardboard boxes are sufficient frames, rather than metal or wood.I do think it's great that this contest may get solar ovens into the hands of many more people.

I've been toying with building one myself because I'm cheap -- er, ecologically minded. :-)

[Sequoia]

16. Kinda like Columbus "discovering" America.

[4_TN_TITANS]

18. For the same reason my kids are loving AC/DC & Sting

These things have been in the attic long enough that a new generation is discovering them. I'm sure there's many reporters out there who would think that a solar oven was something new.

[elocs]

10. Here is my sun oven:

The panels all fold in and a strap fastens them to the box and it has a handle like a suitcase to carry it. No, it is not a cardboard box, but it is very sturdy and will last for years (no moving parts). It will bake nearly anything that can be baked in a conventional oven other than something like pizza which requires a temperature of over 400 degrees and my solar oven can only get up to about 350 degrees.

The company (Sun Oven) that makes it has made huge solar ovens for villages to bake all of their bread. In some countries women spend hours a day searching for firewood to cook and this alleviates that problem. It can also be used to boil water to make it safer to drink. And the energy source is free and clean.

[KittyWampus]

12. Earthwatch has been helping people make Solar Ovens for quite a while now. Kenya & Indonesia

Volunteering Your Vacation - volunteering for Earthwatch, an environmental organization

Next Time Don't Just Watch the Whales, Study Them

Last year, Muriel Horacek spent two weeks camping in a cave in China as she monitored an endangered species of monkey. She has also radio-tracked cheetahs by airplane over Namibia, taken water samples from a rowboat in a German lake, and in St. Croix caught the eggs of nesting sea turtles in her bare hands. This was all after she turned 70.

The 20 expeditions Horacek has been on over the last six years have been as diverse as the habitats she's visited, but the common thread is Earthwatch, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to joining scientists and ordinary people in building a sustainable future.

Since its inception in 1972, Earthwatch has sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 118 countries and 38 states. The research contributed by its over 50,000 volunteers has resulted in 12 new national parks and reserves, over 2,000 new species discovered, dozens of endangered species rescued from extinction, and health services and sustainable agriculture brought to remote villages in more than 20 countries. The belief that fuels this success, according to Earthwatch President Roger Bergen, is that "almost every problem can be solved with the right blend of expertise and caring, knowledgeable individuals."

Chipping away at global environmental problems from different disciplines, Earthwatch investigators develop projects in seven research areas: World Oceans, World Forests, Biodiversity, Cultural Diversity, Learning from the Past, Monitoring Global Change, and World Health. Researchers are teamed with people like Horacek, who donate their vacation dollars to work side-by-side with distinguished field scientists. The tax-deductible cost of the one- to four-week expeditions, which range from $695 to nearly $3,000, goes directly to funding the research.

Sheila Chmuhalek, whose research at the University of Manitoba has led to a patent on natural dye extraction and production, previously had the aid of only one graduate student at $8 an hour. Her concern is that "eventually the petroleum industry will be gone and the textile and apparel industries have been very slow to recognize this." Chmuhalek's project, recently approved for the next field season, will use six teams staggered over the summer to find an ecologically sustainable, non-petroleum based method of coloring clothes.


http://www.earthwatch.org/newsandevents/pressreleases/2002_press_releases/06_19_2002_indonesian_scientist.html

http://www.earthwatch.org/australia/our_work/field_research/more_res_achieve

http://solarcooking.org/kammen93.htm

http://www.hedon.info/ReducingGreenhouseGasEmissionsAndImprovingEnvironmentalDegradation

[elocs]

15. Sun Oven around the world:

http://www.sunoven.com/international/global-sun-oven.php
There is a video which shows how it works. The first model shown is the exact one which I have. What I like about my model is that it not only works well in even this northern climate, but that it is also well built and will last for years.

The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® has been devised to meet up to 70% of the needs of a family of 6 to 8 people in a developing country, entirely with the power of the sun. Even though it is called an oven, food can be boiled, steamed, roasted or baked at cooking temperatures of 360° F / 182° C, making it ideal for cooking the majority of foods in the developing world. This ruggedly built solar appliance weighs only 21 pounds / 9.5 kg and will last more than 20 years.

Over 2 billion people cook with wood, charcoal or dung as their primary cooking fuel and the social, economic and environmental impacts are significant. The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® has been carefully engineered to provide an alternative to using wood and dung. These fuels are becoming increasingly scarce and costly. The use of these appliances can be very beneficial to women all over the world by reducing the cost of fuel and/or lightening the everyday burdens of life.


Head teacher at the Palangeny Primary School in Tanzania uses a GLOBAL SUN OVEN® to cook for her students.

GLOBAL SUN OVENS® are not the same as other solar cooking devices. They have a number of unique qualities and features that are not in other solar cooking devices. They are often compared with box cookers that are made out of aluminum foil and cardboard or homemade boxes of various sizes and shapes. While the energy conversion principles are the same, the materials utilized in manufacturing a GLOBAL SUN OVEN® have been carefully researched to include the most efficient materials available. In order to capture the maximum amount of energy, achieve the highest possible temperature, and retain the greatest amount of heat possible, while minimizing the weight, the materials utilized have been selected based on efficiency and quality. Other than cleaning, no other ongoing maintenance is required.

NGO's that have worked with SUN OVEN® have found that they have had an easier time getting people to use them because the ovens work so well and maintain cooking temperatures that are significantly higher than other types of solar devices.

Due to their long life, their ability to be used when there is less sun and the fact that food can be cooked faster, the GLOBAL SUN OVEN® are less expensive on a cost per meal basis than any other solar cooking device. The high quality materials that are required to make a GLOBAL SUN OVEN® make its initial cost higher but its overall cost lower than any other solar cooking device. In areas where people can not afford to purchase an oven outright micro-finance programs are utilized to allow ovens to be paid in small installments using money that would have otherwise been spent purchasing charcoal.

The price of GLOBAL SUN OVEN® can be reduced by assembling them in the countries in which they will be used. SUN OVENS International has developed a local assembly plant system, enabling GLOBAL SUN OVEN® to be made in the area they will be used, dramatically reducing the cost of the ovens and shipping. This complete assembly system includes the training, tools, instructional materials and follow-up support necessary.
The Cultural Challenge

Careful research and experience has proven that the challenges of introducing solar cooking in the developing world are far more cultural than they are technical. The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® has been carefully designed to overcome many of the cultural barriers that have limited the success of solar cooking in the past. While there are a number of cultural challenges that are unique to each people group that must be accounted for the two major obstacles that have limited the success of the wide spread introduction of solar cooking have successfully been over come:

1. In most countries people work while the sun is out and eat their main meal of the day after the sun has set. Food that is cooked in most solar cooking devices must be consumed immediately or it will become cold. GLOBAL SUN OVEN® are very well insulated which allows food that is cooked in the afternoon sun to stay warm until it is ready to be consumed later in the evening.

2. In many countries a woman is working from very early in the morning until well after sundown. Many solar cooking devices do not get hot enough requiring the food to be cooked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. Women are often far too busy to devote additional time to solar cooking. The time required to cook in a GLOBAL SUN OVEN® is comparable to cooking with a wood or charcoal fire, which makes it easier to gain the acceptance of the women who use it.

Social, Economic and Environmental Impact

Fuel scarcity is one of the most serious problems plaguing the developing world. Unless this pattern can be reversed, the quality of life of the poor will continue to decline. The widespread introduction of GLOBAL SUN OVEN® in countries that are blessed with an abundance of sunshine offers an alternative that can improve the lives of millions of people.

Social
As forests disappear the burden of finding cooking fuel falls upon poor women and girls in both urban and rural settings. In rural areas women must spend several hours each day gathering wood and standing over a fire stirring food. In urban areas up to 55% of household income is spent to purchase cooking fuels. Urban women and children are most often required to earn additional income to purchase cooking fuel. The introduction of GLOBAL SUN OVEN® would allow time currently spent on these kinds of activities to be more productively utilized.

In addition, the health effects of domestic use of biomass fuels (wood, dung, agricultural residues) and coal are suffered largely by women. Using GLOBAL SUN OVEN® can reduce the incidence of respiratory and ocular diseases associated with exposure to smoke. Solar cooked foods contain greater nutritional value than food cooked with biomass fuels.

Economic
The world has entered an era of increasingly higher energy costs. For most of history the impact of energy needs was cushioned by large reserves of "free" wood and other biomass fuels. But the distinction between "free" traditional fuels and modern more costly fuels is lessening as environmental degradation reduces supplies and increases costs. In many urban areas, woodfuel may be as expensive as kerosene or gas, and in rural areas the costs of free collection in terms of women's time, energy and wellbeing are excessive. In addition, many of women's key income-generating activities are fuel-intensive and difficulties in obtaining adequate supplies of fuel threaten this income.

Environmental
The demands of massive population growth and the inefficient conversion of wood to charcoal have outstripped much of world's forests ability to regenerate. For example, the annual wood consumption for cooking throughout developing countries is 1,000 pounds of wood per person. A family of six using a GLOBAL SUN OVEN® for 80% of their cooking needs would save 4,800 pounds of wood per year. A GLOBAL SUN OVEN® has a useful life of at least 20 years; the wood saved by each oven would be 96,000 pounds. This translates into more than 88 tons of CO2 emissions that will not be released into the earth's frail atmosphere.




Deforestation and the resulting soil erosion are a growing environmental threat and have had a severe impact on plants, animals, soil and water resources. If deforestation is not reversed, there is little hope that negative environmental and economic trends that have plagued many developing countries can be reversed. Land degradation often leads to food insecurity and famine. Loss of water resources through runoff and the decrease in ground water levels are the other development problems attributable to environmental degradation, particularly deforestation. On the whole, every aspect of development in the developing world is tightly bound with the environment.

Using the sun to provide an alternative fuel source to cooking with wood or charcoal must occur immediately. The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® has been designed to be the alternative. It is the most logical option that exists in the world today.

[datasuspect]

17. now they just need silver and black paint and acrylic and cardboard boxes