Stove by BSH (protos)

BSH, protos the plantoilstove

The University Hohenheim (Germany), in cooperation with Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, developed protos the plantoilcooker http://www.plantoilcooker.com. The basic idea was to develop a cooker that uses a clean burning renewable liquid fuel that can be produced locally. Since the end of 2004, protos has been undergoing field testing in the Philippines together with Leyte State University (now renamed Visayas State University). And from April 2006, protos has been introduced to the broader public with commercial market availability on the islands of Leyte and Samar in the Philippines. Mid 2008 the local manufacturer had the capacity to deliver up to 1500 units per year to these islands. BSH is working to expand availability with pilot projects in planning, underway or concluded in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya,  and in Tanzania where it is supported by GTZ. A recently developed ‘second generation’ of protos plantoilstove technology is said to increase efficiency, reducing noise, cleaning time and the cost of production. The stove was laboratory tested by the independent Aprovecho Research Center in Oregon USA for safety, efficiency and emissions. As a result of the testing the protos was generally labelled as clean-burning, efficient and one of the safest cooking stoves available.

Whether this project will develop into a commercial success remains to be seen. The continuous supply of cheap plant oil and the user acceptance is one of the major challenges.