Projects: Haiti - 05 • Mali - 08 - 09 • Bolivia - 07 - 09

Kyoto Twist Project in Bolivia, 2007

Coachaca Grande, Bolivia Project with Center for Development with Solar Energy Foundation (CEDESOL)

In an effort to efficiently deliver solar cookers, the Kyoto Twist partnered with CEDESOL (The Center for Development with Solar Energy Foundation), which was established as a non-profit in 2003 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

David Whitfield and Ruth Saavedra and their team are the organizers there and have many years experience supporting the use of solar cookers and efficient wood cook stoves called rocket stoves. CEDESOL has distributed over 3,000 solar cookers in Bolivia. They have put together a great training and delivery plan using funds from generous donors to Kyoto Twist. In July 2007, 30 families in Coachaca Grande, Bolivia were chosen through the KTSCS selection interview process to participate in building their own box-type (Ulog) solar cookers, and learning how to most effectively use them.

The village has 120 families and fewer and fewer wood resources. 95% of the community is agricultural. The area averages 290 sunny days per year. Firewood and gas are the primary cooking fuels used there. Health problems are reported caused by smoke from cooking fires: coughs and eye cataracts. Water is taken from the river for drinking and the people there suffer health problems due to non-sanitized water which can be easily pasteurized in a solar cooker.

In the past, the area was covered with fruit trees and now the area is nearly barren with only eucalyptus trees standing. The reports are that the lack of firewood has caused much tension and strife for the villagers competing for a dwindling resource. All wood for cooking is cut or collected and none is purchased. When trying to find wood, people usually go to the river to try and find driftwood or people cut down eucalyptus trees. In this area it is common for people to steal wood from neighbors which causes arguments and resentment. They are left with very little choice when they have no other means of cooking food to live. The mayor of the village felt that using solar cookers would help bring peace to his community and enthusiastically assisted the project by promoting the idea to his neighbors.

Families were chosen who had adequate sun exposure at their homes, willingness to be interviewed and share information, overall understanding of the project and procedures, eagerness to gain understanding of alternatives to traditional cooking fuel, the confidence to be a successful solar cook, openness to try a new technology, and a secure location to use and store the cooker. The project is designed to collect data on cooker usage and fuel savings.

Follow-up data for this project was collected over a three-month period using daily cooking record sheets filled out by the 30 project participants. The data indicates a high usage rate for the three months studied (78% of meals cooked used the solar cookers wholly or in part). Accurate emission data was not possible under this monitoring regime, because of the common use of mixed fuels, i.e. firewood and propane gas. Our estimates are based on the average reported mixtures of those fuels in the baseline study and during this three-month survey.

Our thanks go to David Whitfield of CEDESOL for collecting the data for this report and to Ruth Saavedra, for all of her work interviewing and training participants and organizing this project.

This project funding was made possible by donor support and volunteer efforts.

Thanks to you one and all!

	30	Number of family households in this project
	5.1	Average number of people per household
	78%	Percentage of meals per day which utilized the solar cookers
	30%	Minimum expected fuel savings for each family per year
	$5390.78 CAD	Total funds for project from Kyoto Twist donors
	$179.66 CAD	Total project cost per family ($5390.78 divided by 30 participants)
	$10.56 CAD	Project cost per year per family (based on the 17-year expected lifespan of these single-reflector, box-type solar ovens)
	1-2 tonnes	Estimated GHG emission savings per family per year
	$5-$10 CAD	Estimated cost for each tonne of emissions saved over 17 years
	510-1020 tonnes	Estimated tonnes of CO2e removed from the global atmosphere by this project over 17 years

Quoting the CEDESOL group:

“We believe that there is hope for the many disenfranchised of this world. Our goal is to enrich humanity by equipping people with social and technological tools that permit them to direct their own destinies. All our activities center around three key concepts: Alternative Education, Renewable Energy, and Social Justice.”

Read more about CEDESOL’s work in Bolivia on their website at www.cedesol.org.

Save a tonne, Save a life.