Solar Parabolic Cookers

When Sandra Wijnveldt sent out numerous emails in her search to do the world a favor -- she didn’t know what the favor would be, but she knew she wanted her family to do some volunteer work over their Christmas vacation -- she was curiously directed by three separate sources to seek out the work of Sanu Kaji Shrestha in Nepal. It turned out that Sanu is the founder of a Kathmandu-based Nepali non-governmental, non-profit organization called FoST -- Foundation for Sustainable Technologies -- whose aim is to provide low cost, low tech yet highly applicable and locally built sustainable technologies to the people of Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.

After retiring from the World Bank, Shrestha decided to put his extensive solar knowledge to good use and to share all he was learning and creating related to alternatives to fossil fuels. Missing three days of work to stand in line for fuel is the impetus for his interest in solar power and fuel alternatives. So after much research and tinkering with methods, materials and various incarnations of inventions for about 7 years, he began FoST with the help of family and friends in 2002, and now, in 2008, this endeavor to help the people of Nepal has grown to include specialists in various capacities from all over the world.

Solar Box Cooker

FoST uses a myriad of tools and workshops to help fight poverty, deforestation and water and airborne diseases. Based on the documentary (see bottom of post) made by Sandra and her family, only 29% of the forest remains due to land clearing and the high demand for timber and fuel. Not only does this deforestation contribute to global warming and decreased biodiversity, but also more directly to landslides and avalanches among other maladies.

The poor waste management of the Kathmandu Valley has ruined the air and water quality (slaughterhouse waste dumped directly in what they refer to as the “Holy River” in a residential area!), requiring the people to boil drinking water on a daily basis. This means that not only do they not have access to clean drinking water, they’re spending 20% of their daily expenses (which total about $2.00) on fuel.

So, Shrestha invented briquettes made from acceptable household, forest and industry waste. Because the briquettes are so dry, they burn very clean, get super hot and are virtually smokeless. He’s introduced solar cookers and ovens -- pollution- and fuel-free cooking tools that can be made of recycled materials and rely on heat and light from the sun to cook food.

A non-solar alternative to solar cooking is heat retaining boxes in which one places a stove heated pot inside the box, where cooking is completed by retaining the already generated stove heat, using about 1/3 of the energy.

Solar Water Pasteurizer Pasteurizes 14-16 liters of water in a day and keeps hot for 10-12 hours after sunset

In addition, they provide solar dryers, solar water pasteurizers, water purification systems and compost bins, and most of these are multi-purpose, doubling the buyer’s investment.

To address the rampant poverty, saving money on fuel is only part of the solution. FoST provides a myriad of workshops like Small Business Development and Technical Training and Awareness of Natural Resources, so women can learn such things as how to make a briquette and how to turn that knowledge into a successful business. They provide the kind of information that not only arms the community but also inspires changes, ideas and action. In order to increase the value of the workshops, they do charge a small fee (much in the same way a bookshelf with a “Free” sign on it dumped on the street corner can remain for days, but slap a "For Sale" sign on it and it will likely get stolen tout de suite).

These tools can benefit everyone, regardless of locale. Solar technology is growing and becoming more available all the time -- start with the Solar Oven Society (who knew?) then explore the Solar Product Shop. You may be very surprised to find out what’s out there. So turn off the stove and get cooking!