Core77

The BioLite Stove

By David Seliger - June 24, 2011

in Sustainable Design

The BioLite Stove was founded by Jonathan Ceder and Alexander Drummond. Most recently, BioLite won the 2011 St. Andrews Prize for the Environment in May. We had a chance to speak with Clay Burns, who is the product development lead for the company.

Core77: First off, could you please describe a bit about your background and how you got involved with the BioLite Stove.

Clay Burns: I've always liked making things and trying to solve creative problems. I studied engineering and art at Dartmouth College and what was then called "human factors" in graduate school. For about ten years I was a partner at Smart Design. The co-founders of the BioLite technology, Jonathan Cedar and Alec Drummond, also worked there. In addition to typical big client projects, one of my adopted roles was to foster internal, pro-bono, and sustainable design projects. Jonathan and Alec's biomass stove idea was one of those internal projects and over time the two inventors left Smart to take a shot at being entrepreneurs. We all kept in touch and I went to work on my own a few years ago. In early 2011, when two product markets were clearly defined and funding was secured to really make a go of it, I joined BioLite as a product development lead.

What is the BioLite stove?

The main benefit of BioLite is to reduce emissions from people cooking on wood stoves (which is 1/3rd of the world). All the incomplete combustion contributes CO, CO2, and black carbon. This is inhaled by a family's lungs. Smoke inhalation is the second biggest killer in the world after malnutrition.

The technology uses the heat of a biomass (e.g. wood) fire to generate its own electricity and run a small fan that adds air in a specific manner to improve combustion, saving fuel and dramatically reducing emissions in the process. And because the energy generated by the fire is more than is needed to power the fan, we are exploring other features, such as charging a cell phone or powering a small LED lamp.

What need is it serving?

There are two products, the HomeStove for developing world, where roughly 2 billion people still cook with wood or other biomass, and the CampStove for the outdoor markets of primarily developed countries. The HomeStove serves the needs of reducing fuel use, which saves scarce money and time collecting wood, and improves indoor air quality, reducing one of the leading causes of diseases associated with indoor smoke inhalation. The world has been working on this problem for years, and has recently consolidated initiatives through the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

The CampStove serves the needs of hikers and outdoor enthusiasts who prefer a lightweight, efficient, biomass cooking alternative to petrol fuels. Many people like the idea that they can always use the stove as long as there is biomass around—no worrying whether you packed enough propane canisters.

The biggest push ever is happening right now [to solve smoke inhalation death], in India, China, Africa, and the US. We would love to make the BioLite Stove last for generations, but cost is prohibitive. We could make it durable, but no one would be able to afford it. It will most likely have a 3-5 year lifetime, which we could extend with refurbishing. A local seller could clean it out and replace some electronics.

The HomeStove

The CampStove

How exactly does it work?

We use a Thermo-electric Generator (TEG) to convert heat to electricity. This is a known, available, solid-state component. We're applying it in slightly improved ways to maximize energy generated. At the same time, we are controlling the air added to the fire in a way that burns up more smoke and particulates.

Design for third-world problems is a current hot trend; why is the BioLite Stove THE problem-solving product?

Lab testing has shown that the BioLite stove can reduce harmful emissions better than current clean cookstoves. At the same time, turning the cookstove into a small energy hub by using waste heat to provide some lighting or charging is a potential game-changer for rural, unelectrified areas.

Who is the team behind BioLite? What experience do they bring to the table in terms of actual contact with the end users?

Most of us come from the product design world (Smart Design) and bring a consumer-driven design approach to our work. We've been to India, Africa, and Central America to test our prototypes with rural villagers and will continue to do so as we refine the final products. We are also connected with several research and academic organizations, both on the health side and economic empowerment side. These programs help bring new stoves to users.

How will the products be released?

The CampStove will come out first. This is our way of subsidizing our developing world products—customers with more money will subsidize customers with less money. That will give us a boost to continue with development of the HomeStove. We'll then roll out the HomeStove through pilot programs with research institutions.

The BioLite Team

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Hasta pandit

11 years ago

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This can be good in the context of Nepal too and can be widely distibuted
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Dahneenoo

11 years ago

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I think the communist agenda of the program needs to be addressed. There is a middle ground approach of which I would personally have no problem. Each purchase contributes a small amount toward the future copayment to help a needy person. So, let's say the unit costs $320 - a small part of the purchase price (say 2.5%) goes into an account to make the purchase somewhat more affordable to others. That's doable. It is important to help others, but it is also important to remember that nobody should have to be held hostage to contribute to those in need.
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Luna Nott

12 years ago

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@Tom MC...wow really...there is always one like you in every batch of comments no matter what the subject matter is. Evil begets evil, hate begets hate, etc...but doing good also begets good.

I'm not going to get churchy on anyone because I'm a spiritual person not a religious one, but if you give (or subsidize) someone a chance to improve their lives whether it's financial aid or food aid. Then there might be a chance in the future for that person to pay it forward. Selfless thinking and actions is how we improve our world for all mankind.

I would totally buy a homestove for BBQ but it doesn't appear to be for sale on the website. I for one am going to order two camp stoves, living in Texas we often have imposed fire restrictions and it makes camping (a luxury) difficult. Can't imagine living like that? .

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Chibinium

13 years ago

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The third world can't buy our stuff if they're too sick to earn money for it. Since our economy currently has a demand issue, not a supply issue, it makes economic sense for us to enrich them. Capitalism is just enlightened altruism. The difference, then, is how many degrees of separation you'll tolerate.

Tom Mc only wants one. But I'm feeling brave, so let's go for all six.
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Nick Brawne

13 years ago

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I always thought that it was standard operating procedure to churn a percentage of profits into R&D. Without an investment in R&D a company has no future as its products become outdated, or otherwise irrelevant. Its up to the company to decide what that percentage is, and how much 'profit' they want to have left over for bonuses etc. If they decide to use all the profit from a product on R&D how is that a bad thing?
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LL

13 years ago

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Tom Mc is right.
"the achievement of basic health and relative comfort in wealthy nations is not strongly correlated to individual differences in work ethic or intelligence."

Obviously it is correlated. What was Singapure 50 years ago? What was Israel 50 years ago? almost nothing, now they are
"rich".

Faking the cost, which is what they are doing will only
risk building a bubble of bad decisions.
The credit bubble we are in, made precisely the same.
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jim

13 years ago

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Imagine poor people cooking! What incentive will they have to work at Tom Mc's sweat shop? First world people have looted the third world for hundreds of years. Ever hear the word "Imperialism"? At least we can help out with a healthier method of cooking food!!!!! Jeeze!!
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Designobot

13 years ago

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Nothing negative about this.
The work, the effort, the research is very inspired.

Even the product design looks kind of futuristic.

Question (if anyone who is reading this is in the know). The size and shape of the biomass deposit hole, were you already able to determine that this size will fit the many kinds and sizes of materials that people use in these countries or is that still part of the work your conducting?
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Jim

13 years ago

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@Tom MC

Your income is a factor of where you were born, far more than it is a factor of the effort you expended to obtain it.

In your country, with viable systems of law, transportation, sanitation, water, electricity, etc... the effort required to obtain a sufficient income is minimal. Compared to the developing world, you had to expend practically zero effort to achieve a healthy comfortable life.

You may have more than your neighbors, of your own volition, but the achievement of basic health and relative comfort in wealthy nations is not strongly correlated to individual differences in work ethic or intelligence. I'm sorry to tell you this, but you inherited massive wealth (access to infrastructure) that you did not earn and the things you have achieved with your individual effort are largely fringe benefits.

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This company is using the proceeds from a less-capital intensive project to fund a more capital-intensive project; companies do this all the time. Why not use the proceeds from a boring but highly profitable project to fund a satisfying and professionally-challenging but less-profitable project. If the company gets the balance right, it will survive. If a company isn't willing to make any compromises to work on satisfying projects, why would you work for it? Simply to pay the bills? In a rich nation, couldn't we do better?

Businesses do not have to exist solely to maximize profit, in the same way that people don't exist simply to pay the cost of their survival.

Sustainability is the key, evaluating the generation of wealth beyond the costs of survival against the enjoyment derived from the enterprise...

Given your attitude, I would guess that you do not put the enjoyment of your life on par with earning money or this balancing act would be an intuitive part of it...
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tatodangelo

13 years ago

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I find this product possitively good.
It can improve many people lives and also reduce risk of CO inhalation.
I understand that some people can be upset becuase they need the input of "rich" buyers, but in my opinion is the most real way they have to give continuity to the bussines.
I believe that in the "3rd world" -where I live-, there are also other uses in the middle between "poor" and "rich" populations.
The real place where this product fits, will be finally defined by the users after some time, and I am sure it will come in variety of solutions that were not completely foresought in the beggining of the project.
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Day

13 years ago

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@Tom Mc

You must hate welfare folks then, or those on unemployment. And get it right, it a damn essential not a luxury, your not giving them a car or an xbox, your helping them with a cook stove, an everyday essential, it's not rewarding them, it's ensuring that that have the maximum potential for a healthy existence, which is already challenging considering they live in a 3rd world country, btw the cost of the thing is in 100s not 1000s

but then i guess your more of a me me me me me me person
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Jomy

13 years ago

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Awesome work! I'm so happy to see this coming to market.
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powers

13 years ago

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Awesome. Move over OLPC.
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Tom Mc

13 years ago

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Everything here jibes except for this part that's infuriating: "This is our way of subsidizing our developing world products - customers with more money will subsidize customers with less money."

You run your business in any way you see fit, but generally when for-profit businesses run like charities they don't last long.

If I spent $80,000 on a car but knew someone was getting a similar car for $30,000 and they paid that amount just because they were of poorer economic status, I'd take my business elsewhere out of principle. In doing this you are artificially supporting and lessening the drive for poor people to work by rewarding them with the fruits of others' labor.

No thanks.
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