Everyone knows black carbon is bad for human health and the planet’s too. And developing world is where black carbon is generated most. But two scientists have come up with an idea to turn this adversity into a boon. The Third World may well win the race to reduce emissions!
Burning of biomass is how more than a half of the population of Asia meet their energy demands. Indoor air pollution kills about 1.6 million women and children every year, according to WHO.
The smoky cooking fires could be replaced with low-cost stoves which convert rice husks or other biomass to a clean gas. A cheap and simple stove to do this job is ready. Fuelled by unwanted waste – the 150 million tonnes of husks discarded in rice-growing regions each year – the stove turns this free, low-energy fuel into a greenhouse-neutral gas that burns with a clear blue flame.
However, a key to the efficiency of the stove is a small electric fan that drives a stream of air through the smouldering rice husks. This produces the gas mixture which the stove then burns, just like a normal gas cooker. To drive the fan you need electricity, and where does on get that in villages that still are outside the grid?
An idea tested before in fridges but working in reverse was put to test. Turn the heat from the stove into sound waves that could in turn be used to produce enough electricity to run the fan. The stove became the electrical power source! This also means the stove can be used to light up these homes!
Read more about the amazing scientists here.
All the world needs is a few such simple, brilliant ideas and climate change and energy paucity could be things of the past, right? So, what's your big idea?
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