How Can We Use the Sun's Energy to Cook and Save Money?

As the world grows and moves forward technology, the basic human needs remain. One of these is the need to cook food. According to a sustainable development charity, Forum for the Future, more than two billion people worldwide rely on firewood as the primary fuel for cooking, the vast majority of those who have little or no alternative fuel source.

In addition to the environmental impact of burning wood on a massive scale, below are several humanitarian problems associated with the collection and use of firewood as fuel:

Burning fuel produces carbon black soot. It's not healthy to breathe. International development agencies estimate that more than 1.5 million people die each year from young people to avoid respiratory diseases associated with cooking.
Collecting firewood can take a significant amount of time, in many cases this work has been done by children, whose time could be better spent in school getting the education.
There are safety concerns for young women leaving the village in search of firewood, he explained in an excerpt from the article taken from the forced migration


In the hundreds of refugees ... settings throughout the world, women and girls are vulnerable to sexual violence, because almost every day to leave the camps in search of firewood. More can and must be done to reduce this risk. Women and girls trek for hours in the day hoping to find a few branches or roots to burn. To avoid the midday sun, many leave in the dark. How to reduce competition, they travel alone or in small groups. To find all scarce combustible material, they May have to walk several kilometers from the camp. In doing so, they become targets for the Janjaweed militias, local authorities or police forces and other people who work in an atmosphere of almost total impunity. Source: FM Review, 2009

impacts are not limited to humans. Dead standing and fallen timber provides crucial habitat for many species of animals and birds. It is believed that the removal of firewood contributes to a significant loss of wildlife. Dead wood plays an important role in the maintenance of forests and forest nutrient cycle. Scientists believe that the dead wood is at least as important as living trees, fallen leaves and soil for the maintenance of ecological processes maintaining biodiversity. Source: Driscoll, DA, Mikovits, G., and Freudenberger, D. (2000) The impact and use of firewood in Australia. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems report to Environment Australia.

As the population in Africa and Asia, the rise (as they were widely predicted to do so), it is more likely to use firewood as fuel source will be difficult to sustain. Alternatives should be developed, produced and implemented in everyday life billions currently using firewood as fuel.

FT Climate Change Challenge, a competition to find the best innovations in the fight against climate change, has recently announced that its $ 75,000 first Kyoto Prize goes to the box, cheap cardboard solar cooker.

According to the designer, Kyoto Energy Ltd., Kenya, simple design can be in the existing factories, cardboard, flat-packed and easy to distribute. This could halve fuel use, thereby saving trees and preventing the emission of carbon dioxide.

Each box costs about 5 euros in order to theoretically can boil 10 liters of water in two hours. It is a simple design, which consists of two cardboard boxes and acrylic cover.

Having lived in the Caribbean for more than two years, I've come to realize the potential of the sun to create energy, and how little we take advantage of this potential. My house has solar panels that produce all of my hot water, however, this system is limited. There is certainly room for technological improvements in both the collection efficiency of the sunlight and keep the heat / power generated.