BP Designs Biofuel-LPG Flex Fuel Cook Stove

BP Designs Biofuel-LPG Flex Fuel Cook Stove Distribution Scheme for Rural India

October 19, 2005 07:30 AM - John Laumer, Philadelphia

This announcement by the BP Group embodies both a technology and a "service product" which will reduce indoor smoke exposure and overall CO2 emissions associated with cooking. Users can respond to time demands, price fluctuations, and fuel availability as well as follow traditional recipes that benefit from a wood heat. Because cooking and fuel gathering are often "women's work" in developing countries, the time saved from fuel gathering hopefully frees some time for education or the running of small businesses. From the Hundu Business Line comes the report from which the following excerpts are provided.

STRESSING the need for clean and affordable energy sources for cooking, the BP Group Chief Executive, Lord John Browne, said BP has developed a hybrid appliance integrating liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and a biomass burner to reduce indoor air pollution. Addressing the captains of the Indian industry, Lord Browne said, "We have developed a hybrid appliance that allows people to choose which fuel they use."..."The offer includes home delivery of the appliance, LPG cylinder and micro finance options for the initial capital cost," he said.
To support the business, the company has developed a mechanism of getting the products into the market involving innovative distribution models, Lord Browne said. The business model will also help provide income-generating opportunities to people by giving them a chance to run a small business as entrepreneurs and dealers.

"We are starting to develop this business but our aspiration is to make it quite substantial so that it could reach perhaps 20 million households across rural India by 2020."

Footnotes:
1.) At the time of this posting, no photograph of the hybrid fuel stove was available.
2.) The image shown is of a woman cooking at night with a pump kerosene stove...a generic reminder that the often praised solar cooker is of little help for the evening meal.