Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Envirofit cook stoves Impact
After successfully scaling the social enterprise, in 10 years Envirofit has transitioned from a small pilot in India with one stove model to an industry leading company with 15 different stove models and 700,000 cookstoves sold in more than 40 countries. Throughout their 5-year lifespan these stove have impacted more than 3.5 million livelihoods, created more than 1,000 jobs and saved more than 11 million tons of CO2. At the household level the stoves have reduced more than $96 million in fuel costs and saved consumers 6.3 million working weeks of firewood collection.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Founders of Fort Collins' Envirofit named top innovators
Envirofit International founders, from left, are Tim Bauer, Colorado State University professor Paul Hudnut, Nathan Lorenz and Bryan Willson. / Courtesy of Colorado State University
T
The Fort Collins developers of cleaner-burning cookstoves have been named Energy and Environment Innovators of the Year by The Economist magazine.
Tim Bauer, Nathan Lorenz and Bryan Willson, founders of Envirofit International, will receive the award during a Dec. 3 ceremony in London. Their 10-year-old spinoff of Colorado State University research develops wood- and coal-burning cookstoves that produce less air pollution than stoves traditionally used in developing nations.
According to a CSU release, Envirofit has sold 700,000 cookstoves in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Nearly 3 billion people — half the world’s population — cook over wood- or dung-burning open fires inside their homes, contributing to 4 million deaths per year, the release states.
“Indoor air pollution is a scourge that affects millions of people, but gets far less attention than other forms of pollution,” The Economist Digital Editor Tom Standage said in a written release. “We are delighted to recognize the achievements of Envirofit’s founders in tackling this problem.”
The magazine’s award recognizes innovative ideas that can lead to meaningful social change. Envirofit plans to sell 5 million of its stoves by 2020, said CEO Ron Bills, who has led the company since 2005.
YOU CAN’T GO BROKE WITH THIS JIKO, Written by ANNIE NJANJA, Nairobi.
Schools, hospitals and prisons will be the main beneficiaries of the latest cooking technology.
Envirofit International, a social enterprise, is about to put its latest innovation, institutional cooking stove, in the market.
The 100-litre stove is a cleaner, greener and cost effective cooking technology said to save up to 90 per cent on fuel costs.
The stove also has the capacity to burn wood completely, decreasing harmful emissions by 90 per cent and making fast the process of cooking.
Emission and soot
The stove has a 10-year warranty and the little maintenance required makes it more affordable than other stoves.
With many institutions, especially schools, spending between 20 and 50 per cent of their food budget on firewood, the technology would bring efficiency and cut costs.
The stove is capable of making a meal for 300 students in three hours with only three big pieces of firewood.
Kenya is the first country in Africa to have the stove and will serve as the continent’s hub as it continues its campaign for the adoption of the environmental-friendly method of cooking.
“We have chosen Kenya as the hub of our eastern Africa operations and we are also proud to select Kenyans as the first recipients of our latest technological breakthrough,” said Envirofit International chief executive, Ron Bills.
Unlike the traditional types of stoves (paraffin or charcoal/wood jikos), this creation releases no emissions thus eliminating soot, poisoning and reducing health risks associated with smoke inhalation.
The stove cuts the use of wood by 70 per cent annually for schools.
Two cigarette packs
“Through working with schools, we can demonstrate the economic and social benefits of adopting clean cooking technology to households.
About 84 per cent of Kenya’s population uses charcoal and wood stoves — with families spending as much as 30 per cent of their annual income on fuel costs.
When you use these traditional types of stoves, 90 per cent of the fuel energy is wasted and the smoke generated is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes each day,” said Mr Bills.
Envirofit plans to make the product available in other African countries before the end of the year and to install 1,000 stoves in institutions in Kenya by 2015.
All parts
Envirofit has sealed a deal with Equity Bank and schools can now get low interest loans to acquire the stove.
On the other hand, an NGO Green Kenya Initiative said it would ensure the stove reached all parts of the country.
Through the institutional cooking stove, Envirofit hopes to get Kenyans to use the household charcoal and wood stove already in the market.
The social enterprise plant on Mombasa Road has a production capacity of 100,000 stoves annually.
CARBON PROGRAMS MANAGER - ENVIROFIT INTERNATIONAL
Country Name: United States of America State/Province: Colorado |
Envirofit International (www.envirofit.org) is a multi-national corporation headquartered in Colorado, USA,
with a mission to develop and disseminate technologies that reduce pollution and enhance energy efficiency in
developing countries. The company develops and distributes well-engineered energy products for low-income
markets that have traditionally been overlooked. The development of products and markets is a rigorous
process that requires design, validation, manufacturing, quality control, supply chain management,
distribution, inventory management and marketing.
Envirofit is the leading manufacturer of Clean Technology Cookstoves and is also launching a premium Solar
System and Lighting product line. Envirofit is continually developing products to meet sector demands and has
a relentless focus on quality, durability and customer service. Envirofit is also developing manufacturing
centers in east, west and South Africa regions.
Envirofit is rapidly expanding into Africa and Latin America with established sales in over two dozen countries
and expansion plans for a dozen more in the coming year. With this rapid growth comes the need for a
Manager of Carbon Programs to help manage and grow this sector of our business.
A significant portion of Envirofit’s business growth is based on the ability to monetize the carbon reduction
seen with Envirofit’s stoves through the realization of carbon credits. Envirofit is partnering with multiple
cookstoves programs that utilize carbon finance to offset stove costs as well as developing our own carbon
assets to allow us to expand our reach outside of existing programs. We currently have a portfolio with
Voluntary, Gold Standard Voluntary and CDM carbon assets. Envirofit is seeking a Carbon Programs Manager
to help manage and grow this sector of our business.
Responsibilities:
- Develop & Manage Envirofit Carbon Programs and carbon assets – strategy, development and implementation through credit issuance and monetization.
- Work with carbon development partners to manage timelines and deliverables for Envirofit owned carbon assets, to ensure on time registration and issuance per projected timelines
- Work with Envirofit carbon partners to manage information flow and tracking of credits from nonEnvirofit carbon assets
- Manage / oversee monitoring efforts for carbon programs – work with partners to develop world class monitoring systems assuring proper training and rollout within Envirofit programs to assure maximization of trackability of stoves.
- Participate in validation site visits by third party carbon validators
- Work with carbon development partners to Liaise with Designated National Authorities (DNA’s) within countries to secure Letter of Authorization Support (LOA)
- Work with national, regional and local government officials to ensure programmatic progress and success of carbon programs
- Gather and analyze trends macro trends within carbon trading markets to help manage risk
- Work with executive team to negotiate Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPA’s) for off take of generated credit
- Communicate project statuses and risks at a high level to the executive team.
Envirofit partners local firm to market clean efficient cookstoves
Envirofit International has started a partnership with Ghana's Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (CEESD) to promote its clean efficient cookstoves on the local market.
The social enterprise project focuses on developing clean technology solutions for economic value creation and health improvement in emerging economies.
The clean cookstoves help save fuel and time whilst reducing toxic emissions from wood and charcoal as cooking fuel, says Ron Bills, CEO and Chairman of Envirofit's Board.
'Whether you are buying wood or collecting wood, you can pay half as much or collect half as much and have more time for family or income generating activities. So there is the cleanliness, the fuel savings and the time to cook, so then it's faster, it's less expensive and cleaner', he said.
The CEESD has taken delivery of some 8,000 clean efficient cookstoves from Envirofit, barely ten months into the partnership.
Director of the Centre, Julius Ahiekpor, says about 5,000 units have so far been distributed and he is enthused at the success in sensitizing the public to appreciate the harmful effects of traditional cookstoves and the need for change, most especially among the country's rural population.
In Ghana, domestic use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been promoted as a cleaner fuel option - consumption has increased from 0.8% to 18% within the past 20 years, with a government committed to increase the penetration to 50% by 2020.
But with the present shortfall and challenges in supply of LPG, firewood and charcoal remain the dominant source of cooking fuel. Such wood-fuel produces indoor pollution, killing about 66,000 Ghanaians annually.
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership led by the UN Foundation, has allocated US$2million to support entrepreneurs in countries like Ghana to contribute meaningfully to the cleaner fuels sector.
According to Ron Bills, Envirofit, which is member of the Alliance, is interested in promoting sustainable alternative to clean cooking.
'Just as I would like to see LPG adoption rate in Ghana climb, but there is still over 70% that don't have LPG and that's what we're trying to address, not as an alternative to LPG but as alternative to clean cooking', he emphasized.
Envirofit's cookstove technology contributes 80% reduction in smoke and toxic emissions, 50% reduced cooking time, 60% reduced fuel requirement, 50% reduction in fuel costs and 40% improvement in cooking efficiency.
The organization has within the past five years distributed more than 450,000 stoves in 55 countries and affecting more than 2.2 million people across the globe.
CEESD's Mr. Ahiekpor said there are discussions to localize production of the cookstoves with the increase in sales volumes.
'If we're able to get large volumes, if we're able to expand sales, we should be able to assemble parts here [in Ghana]', he noted. 'One of our major challenges has to do with import duties, so we believe that if we're able to localize production, if we're able to assemble parts here, we'll have some tax rebates that can help us distribute the stoves at cheaper cost to the end users'.
Envirofit's cookstove technology is robustly engineered and culturally customized to meet local environmental needs.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Schools in Kenya urged to use the new “institutional” cook stove
A new “institutional” cook stove that will radically reduce fuel and air pollution was today launched by Envirofit Company in an effort to conserve the environment and prevent deaths.
Speaking on Friday at the launch held Makini School in Nairobi, the Envirofit Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ron Bills urged all school heads and administrators to embrace the new technology as it reduces fuel costs and air pollution.He said that most schools that use fuel for cooking spend approximately 20 to 50 percent in their annual budget.
“Through working with schools we can demonstrate the economic and social benefit of adopting clean cooking technology to house holds. When you use these traditional types of stoves, 90 percent of the fuels energy is wasted and the smoke generated is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day,” he said.
The National Coordinator of the Green Kenya Initiative Trust (GKIT) Mr Peter Odhengo, said that the government is conducting a research to come up with technologies that will make cooking healthy and not lethal while using the new cook stove.
“GKIT and the Ministry of health are collaborating to see how our women and children are catered for in order to reduce indoor air pollution that leads to diseases and deaths from the emissions of smoke and harmful chemicals,” said Odhengo.
Several head teachers including one Mr Titus Kioko from Ngelani Primary School, testified how their schools have benefited from the cook stove , noting that they have made huge savings as they spend less on purchasing firewood, which he said was more efficient as they use it three times.
“Before embracing the stove, our chef would start cooking at 6am and by 1.00pm lunch will not ready for the children. But now she starts at 10am and all the meals are cooked. With the new institutional stove, we can cook a meal of 300 students with just three pieces of wood,” said Kioko.
Among those who graced the occasion were the Director of the school Dr Mary Okello, CEO of Kaluworks Dr Manu Chandaria and US Ambassador to Kenya Mr Robert Godec.
By Peter Muthomi
“Through working with schools we can demonstrate the economic and social benefit of adopting clean cooking technology to house holds. When you use these traditional types of stoves, 90 percent of the fuels energy is wasted and the smoke generated is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day,” he said.
The National Coordinator of the Green Kenya Initiative Trust (GKIT) Mr Peter Odhengo, said that the government is conducting a research to come up with technologies that will make cooking healthy and not lethal while using the new cook stove.
“GKIT and the Ministry of health are collaborating to see how our women and children are catered for in order to reduce indoor air pollution that leads to diseases and deaths from the emissions of smoke and harmful chemicals,” said Odhengo.
Several head teachers including one Mr Titus Kioko from Ngelani Primary School, testified how their schools have benefited from the cook stove , noting that they have made huge savings as they spend less on purchasing firewood, which he said was more efficient as they use it three times.
“Before embracing the stove, our chef would start cooking at 6am and by 1.00pm lunch will not ready for the children. But now she starts at 10am and all the meals are cooked. With the new institutional stove, we can cook a meal of 300 students with just three pieces of wood,” said Kioko.
Among those who graced the occasion were the Director of the school Dr Mary Okello, CEO of Kaluworks Dr Manu Chandaria and US Ambassador to Kenya Mr Robert Godec.
By Peter Muthomi
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