Solar Cooking
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Last edited: 11 June 2020      
Bolivia-Inti blue box cookers cropped
Inti reports a decade of success - Inti reports they have distributed more than 20,000 ecological appliances since 2000. From these 20,000, 14,000 have been solar cookers, mainly distributed in the South American countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Additionally, 5,000 Rocket Stoves were distributed in the African countries of Benin, Chad, and Guinea, as well as to the South American countries. Besides solar cookers and stoves, they have also provided Heat-retention cookers, solar food dryers and solar showers.

Events[]

Featured international events[]

COP29 logo, 9-20-24
  • 11-22 November 2024 (Baku, Azerbaijan): COP29 - The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, will be the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference to be held at Baku Stadium. More information...
SEforAll logo, 7-25-24
  • 12-14 March 2025 (Bridgetown, Barbados): Sustainable Energy for All Global Forum - Building on Prime Minister Mottley’s Bridgetown Initiative for the reform of development finance, the Forum will address the challenge of how we can mobilize sufficient finance on the right terms to meet global goals, especially for the most underserved communities, countries and regions – such as Small Island Developing States. The event wil be co-hosted by Sustainable Energy for All and the Government of Barbados, led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley. Project site visits will take place Friday, 14 March. More information...

Requests for proposal[]

CONSOLFOOD 2025 logo, 4-28-24
  • The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 15th December 2024 - Advances in Solar Thermal Food Processing (CONSOLFOOD2025) is being planned for the 5th, 6th and 7th of May, 2025 in Marseille, France. The gathering expects to attract, once again, top experts from all over the world to present and discuss topics related to advances in solar food processing and solar cooking. An exhibition of solar cookers will be available for viewing during the conference at the nearby the solar restaurant Le Présage. The solar restaurant, along with the demonstration cookers, will produce a solar lunch. The whole conference program will be delivered in hybrid format, so those who register, but are not present at Marseille, will be able to participate online. Your abstracts should be sent via email to Celestino Ruivo at cruivo@ualg.pt in .doc, .docx, or pdf format. You should limit your abstract to 400 words, and follow these guidelines. All abstracts will be reviewed and assessed by members of the scientific committee. The organizing committee will inform each author whether their submitted abstract has been accepted. The committee encourages all authors to write an optional full length paper for inclusion in our conference proceedings. Successful authors should pre-record their presentations, using Powerpoint, or similar software. They will be invited to submit either a) a short presentation, of about 7 minutes duration, or b) a longer presentation, of about 25 minutes to cruivo@ualg.pt by 30th March 2025. The expected conference fee is 200 euros before 1st April 2025. Interested people facing financial difficulties should contact the organizing committee.
See also: Global Calendar of Events and past events in Bolivia

News[]

  • April 2016: 
    Inti Illimani April 2016
BISS adding photovoltaic to solar cooker - August 2015
  • September 2015: Bolivia Inti-Sud Soleil (BISS), in association with Engineers without Borders, has started a new project called Plug in Peru (PIP), implemented by three engineering students from École Centrale de Nantes. Photovoltaic (PV) panels were added to the solar stoves, which were distributed in the Andes. While the solar cooker is in position for cooking, these PV panels will store energy to charge cell phones, radios, and batteries – a need that was identified in the local villages. The students’ project was based in La Paz, on the premises of Inti Illimani (BISS’ partner in Bolivia), which enabled the team to obtain the necessary materials and build the kits before the workshop which was organized in the community of Ch'uxña Quta, 250 km north of La Paz. Despite some initial technical difficulties, this project raised interest from the local population, and the team left one of the kits behind so that the villagers could use it as needed. Follow-up visits will be made by local teams to evaluate the use of the kits.


See older news...

History[]

David and Ruth Whitfield

A very active promoting team, David Whitfield and his wife Ruth Whitfield, established what is most likely the largest program on this continent. It is organized in conventional manner, with workshops held in various villages in which people are taught how to build their own wooden box cookers. Ruth is a Bolivian, and David an American expat. The couple taught thousands of people to make and use their own solar cookers. Fuel shortages are a substantial problem in this part of the mountainous region of South America, and the purchase of gas, sometimes a necessity, is very costly.

For a number of years, Ruth and David struggled along with minimum resources of dollars but endless enthusiasm and faith in themselves and the potential of solar cooking. Eventually, they were privileged to receive financial and technical assistance from the French organization INTI. The pilot program, required prior to application for a larger grant, was begun in 2003, when Wilfred Pimentel visited Bolivia for that purpose. Thus far, while more or less a hand to mouth operation, they have assisted households in dozens of villages to make and build their own cookers. They have also attempted to evaluate the usage of new cooks. When calculating the carbon emissions that did not enter the atmosphere because of the solar cookers, the figures are quite impressive.

The Whitfields actively sought to educate themselves about the entire range of solar devices and, indeed, about improved combustion stovess and fireless cookers, in the interest of assisting people to develop a complete and integrated cooking system for the household.

They promoted parabolics with the cooperation of EG-Solar, a German group, which states that 200 such parabolic cookers have been distributed in South America, at a cost of around USD 90. The usual means of doing that is shipment of components, with local assembly, making shipping costs less and thus the device cheaper to the purchaser.

Archived articles

Climate and culture[]

Resources[]

Possible funding[]

See Raising funds through grants and donations.

Facebook groups[]

Reports[]

Project evaluations[]

Articles in the media[]

Audio and video[]

Cuisson_solaire_à_La_Paz

Cuisson solaire à La Paz

  • September 2010:
A_New_Tradition_Solar_Cookers

A New Tradition Solar Cookers

  • March 2013:
CEDESOL_-_Changing_Lives_In_Rural_Bolivia

CEDESOL - Changing Lives In Rural Bolivia

David Whitfield explains the challenges and successes CEDESOL has faced in the past, and their methods of educating the rural population about the integrated cooking approach in 2013.

  • August 2010: A short film by Julia Kumari Drapkin. She speaks with Ruth Saveeda, A native Bolivian, who has worked to improve the lives of women and children in poor communities by introducing solar cooking. Like many areas, These communities are experiencing deforestation, and the smoke from traditional wood stoves has damaged the health of residents, beyond those directly involved with cooking. She helped found Sobre la Roca, which makes high quality solar box cookers from recycled materials as part of their efforts to spread her message.

Proyecto TAMBO (I) - Cocinas solares parabólicas en Bolivia - José Garrido

  • October 2014
Proyecto_cocinas_solares_en_Bolivia

Proyecto cocinas solares en Bolivia

  • December 2010
Promueven_uso_de_cocinas_solares_en_Bolivia

Promueven uso de cocinas solares en Bolivia

External links[]

Contacts[]

The entities listed below are either based in Bolivia, or have initiated solar cooking projects there:

SCI Associates[]

NGOs[]

Manufacturers and vendors[]

Individuals[]

Government agencies[]

Educational institutions[]