For decades, boosters of Big Energy have promised that coal plants, nuclear plants, breeder reactors, or some other such high tech, high cost solution will bring the Frigidaire Kitchen of Tomorrow to the third world.
Maybe that’s not the best, quickest, simplest, and cheapest way to go.
Uganda is set to start manufacturing solar-powered cookers, to be marketed across East Africa, as the country seeks to boost its energy capacity and reduce over reliance on timber and charcoal.
The $180 ultra sun cooker could be the biggest let-off yet that governments and environmentalists have been seeking to arrest the trend of diminishing forests.
US-based Ugandan businessman Ronald Mutebi has set up a manufacturing plant that will make and distribute the solar ovens across East Africa from next month.
Initial pilots in four rural districts showed that the gadget has the potential for business as well as conservation.
In a recent interview with The EastAfrican Mr Mutebi revealed that he has more than 1,000 prospective buyers for his product.
“The odds are on my side, because where we are headed, I am going to be more and more relevant. The ultra sun cooker is designed to meet up to 70 per cent of the cooking needs of a typical family, entirely using the power of the sun,” he says.
How delightfully simple and elegant.
Very cool! Although we don’t have to collect wood to cook, we’re already looking at products after viewing the video.