BIOFUEL STOVES INNOVATED

Notwithstanding that the world needs to radically cut down greenhouse gas emissions, achieving the Millennium Development Goals requires increased access for billions of people to energy services which are affordable, healthy, more reliable and more sustainable.

1.6 billion people still lack access to modern energy sources and 2 billion people depend on traditional biomass for their daily energy needs. When they have access to modern energy, poor people pay disproportionately higher prices for it. Women and children suffer physical hardship as they are often responsible for gathering fuel. Their health also suffers through indoor air pollution from cooking on inefficient stoves.

Providing decentralized energy systems to rural communities, such as wind or solar or plant – oil based technologies, can go along way improving the livelihoods. “But such projects must take into account local social and environmental conditions and should not undermine critical ecosystem services which people rely on,” says the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is concerned with energy, ecosystem and livelihoods.

This is where the Community Training Research and Development (CTRD), Kikuyu district, innovation of a jatropha stoves comes to focus during this year National Council of Science and Technology (NCST) exhibition at KICC. This cookers are viable in fuel cost, says Jesse Gichini, chairman of CTRD, Kikuyu district, adding that the oil is organic thus it does not produce carbon dioxide while burning.

Gichini says that the Jatropha stove is risk free, “it is not flammable,” that is, “it does not burn while in liquid form.” The oil must be heated to above 100 degree Celsius in order to produce its burning gas.

“CTRD is researching on cheap bio-diesel chickos which can be used by people in rural areas and slums,” says Simion Mwanza the project coordinator of CTRD, Kikuyu district. One little of Jatropha goes for Ksh 250. For an average domestic users it can last for two weeks.

Mwanza is encouraging many Kenyans to plant Jatropha as the oil is imported from Tanzania at the moment. “Jatropha does well in arid and semi-arid areas.”

The coordinator says that there are sixteen spies of Jatropha that can be grown in different part of the country. It take between 4 months to 2 years to mature – for its seed harvesting - to extract oil.

Apart from its rich oil content, jatropha is a cash crop that an acre of land can produce 3.5 tonnes giving a farmer an income of Kshs 100,000 in a year.

Harnessing Jatropha, elaborates Mwanza comes with a package deal: it will increase the forest cover, use of tree fuel (firewood) will reduce, air pollution will be contained, and will save foreign currency as its oil can be used to run standard diesel; engines of matatus, lorries, and generators.