SHE promotes solar cooking at Annual American Scientific Affiliation conference
On July 30, 2021, Paul Arveson, SHE Research Director and Board member, and American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) Fellow, gave a presentation entitled “Progress in Meeting Energy Needs of the World’s Poor” at the 2021 Annual ASA conference, held virtually due to COVID restrictions. The ASA is a scholarly and professional society. They are an international community and fellowship of Christians engaged in the interface of vital faith-science questions.
Paul’s talk reviewed the progress made in a pilot solar-cooking project and the work done in the development of an international standard for cookstoves, which helps countries to select appropriate low-cost products. Ongoing challenges in implementing solar cooking projects were described and new directions were suggested. The video of the presentation is on the ASA YouTube channel.
A personal note from Paul:
“We are all called to a mission. We are not all called to be missionaries. But we are all called to do something with our gifts, whatever they are. We are challenged to examine ourselves with sober judgement and decide how to use our gifts to serve people and the planet. After I retired from a career in physics and engineering, I thought about what I should do in my remaining time. I wanted to focus on some humanitarian or environmental cause, but I didn’t want to do something that a lot of other people were already doing. There are 85 million people living in refugee camps around the world. Most of these refugees are women and children who are escaping wars. In refugee camps, they must depend on UNHCR or USAID or other agencies to provide them with food. In many cases, they also must provide them with fuel for cooking. But for large numbers of refugees in Africa, there is ample sunlight. The sun produces 1000 Watts of power per square meter. This is more than enough to cook food. All you need is to concentrate it somewhat, using a black pot and a reflector. This makes a solar cooker. No need for expensive PV panels or technology. Solar Household Energy (SHE) strives to unleash the potential of solar cooking to improve social, economic and environmental conditions in sun-rich areas around the world. Do something! Join us!”
“We are all called to a mission. We are not all called to be missionaries. But we are all called to do something with our gifts, whatever they are. We are challenged to examine ourselves with sober judgement and decide how to use our gifts to serve people and the planet. After I retired from a career in physics and engineering, I thought about what I should do in my remaining time. I wanted to focus on some humanitarian or environmental cause, but I didn’t want to do something that a lot of other people were already doing. There are 85 million people living in refugee camps around the world. Most of these refugees are women and children who are escaping wars. In refugee camps, they must depend on UNHCR or USAID or other agencies to provide them with food. In many cases, they also must provide them with fuel for cooking. But for large numbers of refugees in Africa, there is ample sunlight. The sun produces 1000 Watts of power per square meter. This is more than enough to cook food. All you need is to concentrate it somewhat, using a black pot and a reflector. This makes a solar cooker. No need for expensive PV panels or technology. Solar Household Energy (SHE) strives to unleash the potential of solar cooking to improve social, economic and environmental conditions in sun-rich areas around the world. Do something! Join us!”
