Wood Burning Cookstove

Clean cook stoves promote sustainability of local resources

20 July 2011 [MediaGlobal]: Clean cook stoves are helping to decrease the use of fuel wood and promote the sustainability of local resources. These stoves use 50 to 70 percent less fuel, usually in the form of wood or charcoal, the primary sources of energy for many impoverished people in the world.

With almost half of all deforestation caused by subsistence agriculture, the portion dedicated to wood fuel collection—5 percent—seems negligible in comparison. But, using wood for cooking or heating in an area with a lack of trees exacerbates local resources, and hampers the sustainability of these local environments.

Cook stove projects are implemented throughout the developing world, primarily to assuage the health perils of indoor air pollution, which leads to 1.6 million deaths annually. Cooking on an open fire inside the home, using traditional methods such as the three stone stove, causes indoor air pollution. In this system, a pot is balanced on three stones of similar height while a fire burns underneath. The smoke given off is trapped within the home, triggering health problems for a household. And, because heat escapes into the open air, this form of cooking requires more fuel.

“Many people believe that wood energy is a main driver for deforestation, though deforestation and forest degradation at a global level is rather a consequence of conversion of the forests for agricultural purposes such as large scale productions for pasture, oil palms, soy beans, or for subsistence production,” Florian Steierer, forestry officer of wood energy at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, told MediaGlobal News .

Steierer explained, “Clean cook stoves are part of a solution towards sustainable use of the natural resources for domestic heating and cooking.”

Sustainable harvesting allowed for 3.4 billion cubic meters of wood removals in 2005 alone, 40 percent of which was wood fuel removals. When properly sourced, there is little danger of forest degradation because foresters harvest less than or as much as regrows over the same period of time.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fuel wood represents 91.5 percent of energy consumption. That, along with agriculture, is the biggest cause of deforestation and forest degradation in the households. Meanwhile, the Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves, introduced by Hilary Clinton and led in part by the United Nations Foundation in September 2010, aims to have 100 million homes adopt clean cook stoves by 2020.

How it's made - Wood burning stoves Video

A wood-burning stove is a heating appliance capable of burning wood fuel and wood-derived biomass fuel. Generally the appliance consists of a solid metal (usually cast iron or steel) closed fire chamber, a grate and an adjustable air control. The appliance will be connected to a suitable chimney or flue which will fill with hot combustion gases once the fuel is ignited. It is critical that the chimney or flue gases be hotter than the outside temperature as this will result in combustion gases being drawn out of the fire chamber and up the Fuel and operational considerations Wood-burning stove heating a grocery, Detroit, 1922. [edit] Fuel type: Hardwood or softwood Both hardwood and softwood have the same energy content (by mass) and will provide similar energy outputs. However, the essential difference will be in the rate at which the fuel burns. Hardwoods derived from slow-growing broadleaf trees will burn at a slower rate for sustained output. Softwoods are derived from evergreen trees such as conifers, which are fast growing. They burn at a far greater rate. [edit] Moisture content One of the most critical factors in wood burning is the moisture content of the wood, as any water in firewood has to be boiled off during the burning process. Freshly cut wood (known as green wood) can have a moisture content greater than 35%.[1]Green wood should never be used for firewood. Apart from producing very low heat outputs, creosote will be formed as part of the combustion, which ... Morso Wood-Burning Stoves

One of the best-known names in the wood-burning stoves market is Morso which has a history going back decades and an experience which few other stove manufacturers can compete with. Morso wood-burning stoves are now prominent worldwide and indeed many people believe the company itself played a major part in the reinvention and reinvigoration of the wood-burning stove market....

We all have seen photographs of establish women cooking over an open flame in a wood stove. This wood stove is usually in a central location of the home. From this we know that, our ancestors have been using wood stoves to heat their home. This custom has sustained until the present day. The wood stove continued pretty much the same until Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove...

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