http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7991654.stm The Kyoto Box is made from cardboard and can be used for sterilising water or boiling or baking food. Solar-powered cardboard cooker http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/966a21fa-13ae-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html Kyoto Energy Ltd., Kenya Published: March 18 2009 11:55 | Last updated: March 18 2009 11:55 Kyoto Box is a cheap, solar-powered cardboard cooker for use in rural Africa, estimated to prevent two tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per family per year. The $5 cooker uses the greenhouse effect to boil and bake. It consists of two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, with an acrylic cover that lets the sun’s power in and stops it escaping and doubles as a ‘hob top’. A layer of straw or newspaper between the boxes provides insulation, while black paint on the interior and the foil on the exterior concentrate the heat still further. The design is so simple that the Kyoto Box can be produced in existing cardboard factories. It has just gone into production in a Nairobi factory that can produce 2.5 million boxes a month. A more durable model is being made from recycled plastic. This fuel-less stove aims to address health problems in rural villages as well as avoiding carbon dioxide emissions: it provides a source of clean boiled water, cuts down on indoor smoke inhalation and reduces the need to gather firewood. “As well as reducing carbon emissions and deforestation, this cheap and simple idea could save people in developing countries time and money” “This is the simplest idea I could find,” says Jon Bøhmer, inventor of Kyoto Box. “That is the philosophy behind it.” The Norwegian had already spent five years developing a more high-tech solar concentrator, but explains: “I wanted people to look more closely at this very straightforward solution which was ‘discovered’ 240 years ago.”
Good project to try out around here, if the damn sun ever comes back. (It will, I'm sure.) Might try it with fiberglass insulation, just happens I have part of a roll.