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Last edited: 5 August 2022
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Events[]
Featured international events[]
- NEW: 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...
- 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[]
- 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 Guatemala
News[]
- April 2007: Solar Household Energy, Inc.'s partners in El Salvador and Guatemala are currently implementing HotPot solar cooking pilot programs. One partner organization was so excited about the project that they initiated a technology exchange between local communities to spread the word about solar cooking! Read more here
- Fall 2006: Currently, arrangements for shipment of HotPots to Guatemala are in the final stages. In early 2007, SHE’s formal training and follow-up programs will begin in four communities throughout rural areas in Guatemala. After the initial trainings, the in-country NGOs will continue training sessions and begin HotPot solar oven use monitoring. The initial pilot phase will last one year and will include 300 women.
History[]
The Central American Solar Energy Project (CASEP) includes projects in five Central American countries. The model is explained in more detail here, as Guatemala was one of the first projects; others have developed in similar manner, with minor differences for specific cultural, economic or ecological reasons. The model is based on a number of assumptions, including the need to shift from fuelwood due to the health problems which can be attributed to indoor air pollution, and that innovations introduced by foreigners, who leave after the initial dissemination of information and do not identify champions to continue the work, are less likely to be sustained by local people. The process therefore carefully assesses suitability in a lengthy trial period, designed to assess the technology, the climate, and, most importantly, local interest in the potential offered by solar cooking devices. Public demonstrations of solar cooking are performed and ovens are loaned to families for trial periods, in order to be certain of suitability and interest.
Only when these steps have been carried out for a period of up to six months does the workshop, the heart of the effort, take place. In the workshops, teams of women (based on the assumption that since they are the cooks, they should be the students) are taught how to make their own ovens. They work collaboratively and continue until ovens have been completed for all team members. The costs to construct the ovens was roughly 100 USD at the time (materials are purchased locally to be certain that the project can easily be duplicated in other parts of the country).
An extended period of follow up occurs after the workshops, with experienced cooks visiting each new user to encourage and help solve any problems with the new method of food preparation. This period can last for a year or more. Each recipient of a stove signs an agreement that they will return the stove if they do not find it useful, or if they move to a different locale. Each also agrees from the beginning that she will work cooperatively with others in the making of ovens until all participants are equipped with an oven for their family. In a larger sense, the introduction of solar ovens is conceptualized as only one part of a much larger community and national development effort, in which individuals and families are both personally empowered by the experience and materially aided, while families and their collective environs are protected.
Beyond the activity described, each of the projects was assisted until the time when it became self-sustaining, i.e., finding the necessary local funding to continue the work and create a local non-profit governing group. Each NGO is legally and fiscally independent, with its own board and procedures, but with CASEP (U.S.-based) acting as backup and advisor when called upon. From the national organizations, new community projects have followed in many parts of each country. Each of the national projects is slightly different; linkages exist largely for exchange of information and encouragement to one another rather than to insure uniformity or to conform to group regulations.
This large and well-organized project drew considerable attention to solar cooking in the Central American region. A number of overseas volunteers worked for short or long periods, as technical and communication advisors. However, one of the greatest elements of CASEP is the degree to which the affiliates exercise true ownership of their project, adapting it to the specific needs of their own country, and administering activities in manner appropriate to their particular circumstances. Between 1986 and 2002, more than 1500 solar ovens had been introduced by these separate, but linked, organizations when the work of CASEP began in Guatemala (Varese, p. 97).
Another project of note in Guatemala was one sponsored by the New Forests Project, a program of The International Center, an NGO based in Washington, D.C.. The project occurred in the early 1990s on the south coast of Guatemala, working collaboratively with the National Association of Peasant Farmers for Land (ANACAMPRO). Two women trainers from Honduras, members of the organization for the Entrepreneurial Development of Women (ODEF) in that country, participated in the training of representatives of Guatemalan NGOs. They estimated that around 850 people participated in over 60 demonstrations held in six communities in the area. Solar cooking training was provided to 180 people at a New Forest Project (NFP) training center.
The NFP method utilized leaders from community organizations, preferably women, as trainers. They held demonstrations widely, and then offered specific and detailed training to those who were interested. Following the training, an intensive period of follow-up was employed.
NFP also made a careful examination of obstacles. They found the following to be barriers which required careful thought to overcome: cultural resistance to change, cost of the cookers (around 46 USD); and climatic-factors such as humidity (affecting the cardboard cooker they used). Subsequent programs made attempts to overcome the obstacles by hiring community promoters/extension workers to educate users, the use of partial subsidies of the cookers, and testing other materials for the cooker (See Costa Rica).
- Main article: History of solar cooking
Archived articles
Climate and culture[]
See also
- The climate of Guatemala - Wikipedia
- Guatemala Energy Situation - Energypedia
- Solar cooker dissemination and cultural variables
Resources[]
Possible funding[]
Reports[]
- July 2003: Thermal Efficiency and Fuel Use of Cookstoves - Yu Kuwabara
Articles in the media[]
- November 2011: Saving Lives with Clean Cookstoves in Guatemala - Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Audio and video[]
External links[]
Contacts[]
The entities listed below are either based in Guatemala, or have initiated solar cooking projects there:
SCI Associates[]
- Main article: Solar Cookers International Association