80% of African women cook on open fires, which causes lung diseases and deforestation, and it’s costly, too. Many aid organisations have developed energy-saving stoves, but adoption rates have generally been low. Our idea is different. The inventor of the Noah stove, an Ethiopian-trained clay expert, had a very simple insight: wouldn’t it be great if poor women could earn money while cooking? The resulting product is a gasifier that doesn’t burn wood to ash during the cooking process, but gasifies it to charcoal. This can be reused for fire or it can be turned into biochar, an organic fertiliser that improves soil fertility long-term. A Noah Stove saves 1,8t CO2 compared to standard cooking processes. Our gasifier is made of clay, straw and water, and the burning chamber consists of used oil cans. The Noah stove can be produced locally, and thus create local jobs.
Noah Stove
The Noah stove is the invention of the German Pro Lehm GmbH. The innovator is married to an Ethiopian woman and has lived and worked in Ethiopia for several years. He invented a gasifier cooking stove made from soil and recycling materials that is highly energy-efficient, comfortable and nearly smokeless, saves people’s money by reducing wood consumption and makes them even earn money by charcoal (biochar) production. The Noah Stove was technically tested by the ClimEtSan project (Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany and Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, Ethiopia), who testes the stove under laboratory and real life conditions in a big household study. They also used the stove to produce certified biochar as an amendment for thermophilic composting and the production of biochar-compost as a cost effective fertilizer and soil amendment for smallholder farmers.
The Challenge
80% of Ethiopians rely on wood for cooking fuel. Only 11% of the local residents are using fuel saving stoves. The extensive use of fuel wood leads to severe deforestation and thereby to environmental degradation, soil erosion and a loss of soil fertility. In Ethiopia, per household about 2-3 kg fuel wood are burnt every day, or 32 million kg of wood and charcoal for the country as a whole. Forest areas of the country have reduced from 40% a century ago to an estimated less than 3% today. The current rate of deforestation is about 1,400 km² per year.
The Solution
The Noah stove is a pyrolysis furnace with reduced complexity that can be easily manufactured, maintained and repaired at village level using local materials and labor. The Noah Stove enables the direct and efficient use of the thermal energy generated by wood gasification. The cooking stove was developed taking into account the needs and the cooking culture of the local population in Ethiopia. Some of the advantages of the Noah Stove are: almost smokeless, efficient, safe, portable, durable, cheap. The materials used for the stoves are good heat insulators so that the outside does not get to a temperature above 30 °C, which renders it safe to use in households where children live.
The Joint Venture
Impacc gGmbH and clay building company Pro Lehm have agreed to build the joint venture “Impacc Stove Limited” with the objective to scale-up production and sales of Noah Stoves to rural Ethiopian households. The innovative partnership brings together the strength of both partners: Pro Lehm will contribute the Noah Stove technology and the first production facility in Doyogena. Impacc will contribute its competence in business modeling (positioning, branding, pricing, marketing, sales pitch, etc.), growth planning and fundraising for private and public donors.
The Social Business Model
The business model is a franchise model where franchisees receive training, an up-front grant to start a workshop, and ongoing support for return of a license fee. One oven can be sold at 200-300 Birr (6-8€) to local households, who in return save up to 60% on firewood. At production costs of 2-3€/oven, the business has the potential to generate a gross margin of ca. 60% to pay for expansion of the model. The household saves about 60% of its daily wood consumption for hot meals and coffee and can additionally benefit from the sale of charcoal (which can be used as biochar). One workshop (catering to ca. 5,000 households by producing ca. 150 stoves/month) needs 10k€ in up-front investment as a grant, after which it can operate independently. Target is to build a network of franchise units country-wide.
The Challenge
80% of Ethiopians rely on wood for cooking fuel. Only 11% of the local residents are using fuel saving stoves. The extensive use of fuel wood leads to severe deforestation and thereby to environmental degradation, soil erosion and a loss of soil fertility. In Ethiopia, per household about 2-3 kg fuel wood are burnt every day, or 32 million kg of wood and charcoal for the country as a whole. Forest areas of the country have reduced from 40% a century ago to an estimated less than 3% today. The current rate of deforestation is about 1,400 km² per year.
The Solution
The Noah stove is a pyrolysis furnace with reduced complexity that can be easily manufactured, maintained and repaired at village level using local materials and labor. The Noah Stove enables the direct and efficient use of the thermal energy generated by wood gasification. The cooking stove was developed taking into account the needs and the cooking culture of the local population in Ethiopia. Some of the advantages of the Noah Stove are: almost smokeless, efficient, safe, portable, durable, cheap. The materials used for the stoves are good heat insulators so that the outside does not get to a temperature above 30 °C, which renders it safe to use in households where children live.
The Joint Venture
Impacc gGmbH and clay building company Pro Lehm have agreed to build the joint venture “Impacc Stove Limited” with the objective to scale-up production and sales of Noah Stoves to rural Ethiopian households. The innovative partnership brings together the strength of both partners: Pro Lehm will contribute the Noah Stove technology and the first production facility in Doyogena. Impacc will contribute its competence in business modeling (positioning, branding, pricing, marketing, sales pitch, etc.), growth planning and fundraising for private and public donors.
The Social Business Model
The business model is a franchise model where franchisees receive training, an up-front grant to start a workshop, and ongoing support for return of a license fee. One oven can be sold at 200-300 Birr (6-8€) to local households, who in return save up to 60% on firewood. At production costs of 2-3€/oven, the business has the potential to generate a gross margin of ca. 60% to pay for expansion of the model. The household saves about 60% of its daily wood consumption for hot meals and coffee and can additionally benefit from the sale of charcoal (which can be used as biochar). One workshop (catering to ca. 5,000 households by producing ca. 150 stoves/month) needs 10k€ in up-front investment as a grant, after which it can operate independently. Target is to build a network of franchise units country-wide.