In its effort to find a market-based solution to the problem of indoor air pollution caused by smoky biomass stoves, the Shell Foundation has joined hands with Selco, a social enterprise which provides sustainable energy solutions and services to under-served households and businesses.
Under the Breathing Space programme of Shell Foundation which it runs in Africa, Brazil, India and China, the foundation has tied up with SELCO to supply biomass cooking stove in a few districts of Karnataka. In the initial phase the stoves were launched in the districts of Udupi, Dharwad, Chitradurga and Belgaum where bio-mass is very commonly being used in kitchens.
WHO studies claim that indoor air pollution kills about 1.6 million people per annum globally. In India alone, according to some estimates, toxic fumes from cooking claim close to 500, 000 lives per year. Shell foundation has helped design and manufacture the stove. The foundation, under its Breathing Space programme, is providing the capital and organisational support for the project while SELCO is involved in product portfolio development, sales, marketing and distribution of the stoves.
With a model aimed at selling at the base of the pyramid, Anuradha Bhavnani, country head - Shell Foundation, told Business Standard that the main objective is to keep the costs down and “as we reach large volumes, we will be able to drive costs down. The stoves, right now, are not meant for the absolutely poor. But, is targeted more at the middle class in the rural areas and the better off slum dwellers,” she added.
The cooking stove, designed by Selco’s technology partner Prakriti Design, is 40 per cent more fuel efficient, emits 70-80 per cent less smoke and helps reduce cooking cycle by almost 50 per cent. The stoves have been priced at Rs 1,300 per unit to make them affordable to the rural poor. SELCO plans to sell at least 40,000 efficient cooking stoves by end of 2010.
Apart from this, SELCO will also continue selling the charcoal based Sarai cooker designed by Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI), Pune. The non-pressurised steam cooker can cook meal for 4-5 in 45 minutes using 100 gm of charcoal.