Solar Cardboard Oven Wins Inventor $75,000
Jon Bohmer, from Kenya, won the Financial Times Climate Challenge for the most innovative solution to finding a solution to reducing climate change. The prize was $75,000 for his clever Kyoto Box, a solar cardboard oven, that cost approximately $5 to make.
The Kyoto Box has a simple design of two cardboard boxes, acrylic cover, black paint, newspaper and some foil. That’s it. One cardboard box is put into another and an acrylic top to keeps heat inside of the box. The inside box is painted with black paint and the outside box covered with the foil. Both help concentrate the energy on the center of the box and the newspaper for insulation.
What makes this design so successful is more of the feasibility of the idea. These boxes can be produced at a rapid pace of 2.5 million a month and can made exclusively from recycled materials. It can also be made from existing cardboard factories and can begin production immediately.
These stoves are aimed specifically for developing countries that currently use firewood to cook their food. By boiling water that can have dangerous germs, this box can help eliminate tons of deaths unnecessarily caused each year. Also, instead of cutting down additional forest and making the climate change problem worse, why not use box instead.
On top of all these great points already mentioned, is the fact that this product can actually make a profit for the owner. The name of the box comes from the Kyoto Protocol and will hopefully bring in carbon credits for the users of it. It is estimated that a profit of $25 – $40 could be made every year on the box just through carbon credits.
After seeing the other 5 finalists for this contest, on first thought I was a little confused as to why it actually won the contest. After reading more information about it, it makes complete sense. This is a product that can be used by anybody and does not get excluded by being expensive or used mainly in industrial use. This product can really have a huge impact that will be felt by people immediately. It will make people’s lives so much easier while allow them to have a smaller impact on the environment.
4 other finalist were chosen that could have just as much of an impact as the Kyoto Box and all important inventions:
- Black Phanton - Turns organic materials into charcoal that can be used as fuel.
- Mootral -Cow feed supplement to reduce methane gas emissions by 15%.
- Hollow Ceiling Tiles - Works with air conditioning system to pull warm air out of a room.
- Deflektors – Cover holes in wheels to reduce drag and reduce fuel consumption by 2%.
