Miracle Stove Production And Promotion Project

Kiangure Springs Environment Initiative started the Miracle stove project in May 2018   following the Introduction by Mr. Kevin of Sun 24 and the Donation of $200 dollars for piloting the production and distribution of the stove. As a result, the project has been adopted as a project under the renewable energy programme.

Project Title: Miracle Stove Production and Promotion Project

Goal: To mitigate climate change by reducing carbon emissions and the degradation of natural resources from the use of dirty cooking and lighting fuels including firewood and kerosene through the promotion of Miracle Stoves.

Objective: To accelerate access to clean energy for poor and rural communities by enhancing clean cooking through the promotion of the miracle stove while promoting entrepreneurship development and support.

Expected Results

– 10,000 households with access to clean cooking

– 200 women and youth entrepreneurs integrated into the energy value chain

– Over 200 jobs were created by the beneficiary women entrepreneurs

– Sale of clean cooking products increased by 50%

Implementation Plan

The main focus of this program will be on the development, production and distribution of . This will be through business management and technology capacity development and extended mentoring tailored to the specific needs of each client, including market development support.

The program will be implemented in the Upper Tana catchment region covering the Mt.Kenya and Aberdare Ecosystems Covering Nine Counties namely :

Nyeri, Muranga, Kiambu, Nyandarua,Laikipia,Kirinyaga,Embu Meru and Tharaka Nithi

 In order to avail ourselves of the experience and resources of our ongoing in- county projects, we will strive to work with our existing clients, with a view to expanding their product range.

Background

About 85-90% of the population in Central Kenya lives in the rural parts of the country. This segment of the population is totally dependent on the use of biomass consisting of firewood, charcoal, twigs, straw, crop residues, and cow dung to meet its energy demands for cooking and other domestic needs. It is estimated that the domestic biomass consumption for fuel is as high as 72% with very little use of modern sources of energy such as electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The use of biomass as fuel has serious ill effects such as degradation of the environment due to deforestation, loss of soil fertility due to diversion of animal manure which acts as a fertilizer and various health hazards particularly associated with rural women and children. It is estimated that in the past 50 years the land covered by forest has dropped from approximately 50% to less than3%. Some experts attribute this mostly to forest clearing for cultivation and cutting trees for fuel, activities highly exasperated by population growth.

 The current rate of deforestation is estimated to cover 200,000 hectares of land per year. Unless the rate of deforestation is arrested, Kenya could lose all its natural forests in 20 years. Biomass combustion in households using traditional three-stone fireplace that lacks any provision for smoke exhaust exposes particularly women and children to smoke containing harmful products. Prolonged exposure to smoke is responsible for coughing, wheezing, acute respiratory infection, chronic obstructive lung disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes and lung cancer. Deforestation has made firewood scarce a result of which women and their young ones are forced to spend more time fetching firewood. In addition to being a heavy burden, firewood fetching, in conjunction with other factors, is taking so much of the time of children that it may be said to be adversely affecting the literacy rate due to the non-availability of time for education.

% of HH distribution by main cooking fuel
firewood	72.2
paraffin	7.2
electricity	0.9
gas	3.8
charcoal	14.9
biomass residue	0.4
others	0.6
% of HH distribution by main lighting fuel
paraffin	82.5
electricity	13.2
solar	4.1
other	0.2
Facility distribution of household by primary types of cooking appliance
traditional stone fire	62.8
improved traditional stone fire	10.7
ordinary jikos	9.2
improved jikos	5.8
Kerosene stove	7.2
Gas cooker	2.8
Electric cooker	0.9
Others	0.6

KEY: HH-Household

The upper Tana catchment region has a population of over 2 million with over 200,000 Households.

SUN 24 has provided funds to purchase materials to produce 50 stoves for piloting the project. Materials include:

1)      Moulds

2)      Clay

3)      Metal bars for making pot rest and wood elevators

STOVE DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS

Stove design and dimensions were provided by SUN 24 to guide the implementation of the project.

 Our stove is 25x25x24

However we are experimenting various sizes to suit the needs of our community.

PROCESS

The process stated with material collection and preparation.

We excavated clay and soaked it in water to remove impurities and prepare it for molding.

The clay was mixed with vermiculite to improve the texture and increase its  non-conductivity of heat

The mould is 25x25x12 and made of wood with fixed handles.

The Bricks are made using the moulds and prepared accordingly.

The Pot is fixed with a pot rest. We joined the three metal bars by soldering them together to form a strong triangular structure that is fixed on top of the stove. It will be fixed once the stove is fired. It leaves a 4cm space for air circulation.

Once the two bricks are joined, they will form a stove of 25x25x24 cm

WOOD ELEVATOR

The wood elevator is made of three small metal bars of 18cm by 6cm in length and then joined together with solder to form a strong triangular structure. We realized that most of the households have cemented kitchens and wood elevators cannot be fixed on the ground. However in those not cemented, we are using the bar with 11cm length so that it can be firmly fixed on the ground.

TESTING WOOD ELEVATORS AND STOVES

We have tested the wood elevators and they are working fine. We have also donated five elevators to five households and they have observed the following:

i)                     The space beneath the wood is facilitating easier lighting of the fire

ii)                  The Wood  elevators ensure that the ash doe not  interfere with the burning wood

iii)                There is more air circulation hence the wood burns easily and efficiently\

iv)                 They observed that the wood elevator has contributed to the elimination of smoke in the kitchen.

v)                  The Elevators have facilitated easier refuelling of the fire since the burning fire remains intact.

vi) In cases where the wood is not fully dry, the elevator keeps the wood suspended enabling the wood to be dried by the heat from the fire and burn at the same time.

TESTING THE MIRACLE STOVE

We have produced 60 stoves so far and 20 have been donated to rural households for testing. So far  the stoves are working well with the following observations from the households

i)                    The Miracle stove is an efficient and hot burning stove using small pieces of wood fuel hence suitable for rural households where wood fuel is becoming scarce .

ii)                   Fuel is burned in a simple combustion chamber containing an insulated vertical chimney, which ensures complete combustion before to the flames reach the cooking surface.

iii)                In field tests in the project area,100% (20 households issued with the stove) have observed that the miracle stove is reducing wood consumption to over 50%

iv)                60%  who were previously using the simple traditional open three-stone fire have permanently switched to using the miracle stove .

v)                  All the beneficiaries have testified that the stove has greatly reduced smoke pollution in the kitchen hence healthier.

vi)                All  the beneficiaries have agreed that the stove cooks faster and efficiently compared to the traditional ones.

vii)              We have observed that the stove works well with dry wood.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1)      There in need to develop the stove further to ensure it holds more weight to stop cracking hence durability.

FUTURE PLANS

We continue with the tests and more production. The project area has more potential since there is an energy crisis following the government policy to ban local forest exploitation for six months starting August 2018.this was due to massive destruction of the forests.

The result of the burn is reduced supply of wood and increased prices of wood fuel hence burden to the poor household.The Miracle stove is indeed a miracle to many since  it will greatly enable households adjust to the existing problem.

We  Have an energy centre where we plan to build a bigger Kiln for firing stoves.

Energy resource centre under construction