Cooking with Cardboard
dwaldron April 22nd, 2009
Happy Earth Day, Wooster!
It seems appropriate to mark the occasion by posting about a technological development of a kind not usually covered by the OIT blog. Jon Bohmer, a Norwegian-born entrepreneur based in Kenya has developed a solar oven. Dubbed the Kyoto Box, the oven consists of two cardboard boxes and an acrylic cover that admits and then traps the sun’s rays. A bit of black paint and silver foil help to concentrate the heat. Without electricity or any power source other than the sun’s rays, Kyoto Box users can boil water and cook many foods. The ability to boil water is critical to fighting waterborne illnesses. In addition, the Kyoto Box could reduce the use for wood and other fossil fuels for cooking in the developing world. The oven is expected to cost approximately $5. More information is available from CNN.