Developing countries
Why use the Suntaste?
Aiding people while saving the planet.
> The issue
Solar cooking is an answer to many of the serious challenges affecting many countries, like forced migrations, deforestation, health problems due to indoor pollution or, more broadly, any situation where severe cooking fuel inadequacies or shortages, harm people. However, despite abundant sunshine in many regions, solar cookers fail to generate adoption by the users.
> Our solution
The Suntaste is the ideal product to overcome cultural obstacles and definitely establish solar cooking as a long-term enhancer of both the populations’ well-being and the environment.
It’s a user-oriented product that might be used in any setting, thanks to high-quality materials and appropriate technologies such as it's state-of-the-art optics operating within a sturdy and practical case.
> Social impact
FACT:
Most countries suffering from the generalized use of inappropriate cooking technologies have clear skies 75% of the time.
OUR SOLUTION:
> Clear sky and direct sunshine are the only requirements to make the Sun Cook work.
> In most developing countries the Sun Cook might be used every 3 days out of 4.> Accordingly, most indicators associated with wood and fossil fuel consumption for cooking might be reduced by more than 75%.
> Equality and education
FACT: “... gender equity in education cannot be achieved as long as girls are withdrawn from school to collect ever-scarcer fuels for family subsistence." (Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator)
OUR SOLUTION:
> The Suntaste doesn’t require wood in order to cook.
> No supervision is required while cooking takes place, so women and children can perform other chores
> By having no operating costs, the oven might be used as an income generator, even for elderly women, by cooking 4 or 5 times a day and selling the resulting food.
> Health
FACT: “Globally, 4.3 million deaths were attributable to household air pollution in 2012.” (WHO - World Health Organization)
OUR SOLUTION:
> Smoke-induced lung and eye diseases are avoided.
> Water might be easily pasteurized.
(1.5l in 45 min with 28ºC / 82ºF external temperature).
> Surgical instruments may be sterilized in solar boiled water.
> Cooking at lower temperatures and with less water makes the food tastier and more nutritive.
> Desertification
FACT: “Drought and desertification threaten the livelihood of over 1 billion people in more than 110 countries around the world.“ (Kofi Annan)
OUR SOLUTION:
> Solar cooking might reduce the use of wood by more than 75%.
> If less wood is needed, human induced deforestation decreases.
> Significant reduction of pollutant agents and CO2 emissions.
> Flat external mirrors avoid the dangers of causing fires in the surroundings, which is another cause of desertification.
> Economy
FACT: Several Sun Cooks were distributed to restaurants in the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, beginning of 2010. The pilot project was funded and managed by EDP, a Portuguese electrical utility, supervised by the UNHCR and monitored by the NCCK - National Council of Churches from Kenya.
OUR SOLUTION:
> Overcoming cultural resistance
The Sun Cook proved attractive enough for people to start using it on a daily basis, overcoming the cultural resistance that makes users balk away from solar cooking.
> Paying itself in less than 1 year
The preliminary results show that due to its efficiency the number of daily meals that can be cooked allows for annual savings that far exceed the Sun Cook’s cost.
> Sustainable development
VISION: “A world, where the communities currently without reliable energy supply can rely on renewable energy as the base for their economic and social development” (IRENA Vision)
OUR SOLUTION:
> Communities where the oven is used strengthen their commitment to the principles of good environmental management and sustainability.
> It's versatility allows the Suntaste to address most of the cooking habits in subtropical regions.
> Cooking and selling every-day food (peanuts, fried bananas, etc.) at marketplaces constitutes a sustainable and healthy source of income for its users.
