New and Renewable Energy Systems for Cooking in MDM

Priyadarshini KarveSamuchit Enviro Tech

Email: pkarve@samuchit.com

How Much Energy do we actually need?

• Fuel wood requirement for a mid-day meal comprising of rice, sambhar, and boiled potota/egg is cooked on a three stone fire:

160 g per child per day (Ref: data collected from schools by TIDE, Bangalore)

• Total number of children fed across India under MDM: 111 million• Total quantity of fuel wood potentially required: 17,600 ton/day• Equivalent quantity of LPG required if the same food is cooked on a

commercial LPG stove: 979 ton/day (51,462 commercial cylinders/day)

Current Status

• Common practice in many states: – Cooking is done on three stone fires in the school premises– Flat bottom aluminum cooking vessels available in the market are used– Cooks are local women or teachers themselves

• Adverse consequences: – Adverse impact on health of the cooks due to smoke and soot inhalation– School children and staff also get exposed to smoke and soot emission– Potential fire hazard– Environmental impact in case of unsustainable harvesting of firewood

• Improved wood burning cook stoves can reduce the fuel wood requirement by about 50%

• LPG is the ideal option, but not always affordable or available

Energy Flow in the cooking system

Chemical energy ‘locked’ in the

fuelHeat in the ‘fire’ Heat in the

‘cooking pot’

Heat from ignition and air

Heat loss to atmosphere

Unburnt / partially burnt fuel leading

to ‘loss’

The factors that directly impact the energy flow are: •The fuel + stove combination•The cooking utensils•The menu and quantity of food to be cooked•The cooking practices

The indirectly important factors for the cooking energy system are: •Kitchen architecture•Process in place for organic waste disposal (to explore the possibility of biogas)

Holistic Approach in MDM

• MDM cooking is a unique and specialised cooking energy service – a holistic service-focused approach is possible.

• In household cooking, the performance criteria focus on heat source alone, as everything else is variable.

• In commercial or institutional cooking, the performance criteria can focus on fuel + stove+ a limited number of cooking utensils, but other things are variable.

• In MDM cooking, – menu and quantity of food are specified,– kitchen architecture can be specified,– cooks can be trained.

Possibilities Emerging from Holistic Approach

• Use of more efficient cooking energy devices (improved cook stove, LPG, solar, etc.) will reduce energy requirement by at least 50%.

• Cooks trained on energy efficient cooking practices will reduce energy consumption by a further 5-10%.

• Use of cooking utensils designed for maximum heat transfer efficiency and for specific food items and quantities can further improve fuel use efficiency by about 10-15%.

• Uniquely designed systems comprising of fuel + stove + utensils best suited to the needs of a school, operated by properly trained cooks can collectively reduce energy requirement by about 75% from the current status.

ASHDEN AWARD FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY,

2002

Steam cooker consisting of a charcoal brazier, cooker pot, a set of three utensils, and a tailor made pot skirt.

Available in four sizes to suit different food quantity requirements.

70% more efficient than cooking the same quantity of food on a traditional charcoal brazier.

We promote ‘renewable’ charcoal made from locally available biomass waste through local livelihood generation.

Example of Holistic Approach: Samuchit Sarai System

Efficient Options suited for MDM

• Improved stove (different designs) + firewood• Improved stove (different designs) + biomass briquettes• LPG stove + LPG• Biogas stove + biogas produced from cowdung and/or kitchen and

market waste• Solar cooking (different designs)• Combinations of all or several of the above

• Combining any of these with specially designed cooking utensils

Advantages of Proposed Approach• A menu of energy options suited to the MDM programme in each

state can be developed through collaboration of experts, local R&D establishments, and local manufacturers and fuel suppliers.

• A school can use a simple decision making tool to select the best option from the menu to meet its unique needs.

• High performance as well as safety and hygiene standards can be achieved through totally tailor made solutions, backed by suitable training.

• Reduction in energy requirement Reduction in energy cost + Reduction in occupational health and environmental impact

National Level Policy Enabling Local Solutions

• A basic set of performance guidelines can be developed, and decision making tool can be designed that will allow any school anywhere in the country to make the best choice for its MDM requirement.

• The solutions that fit in the performance criteria may vary from state to state.

• Essential step in this process:– Field level data collection– R&D– Linkage with local manufacturers and fuel suppliers– Piloting in different agro-climatic and socio-economic zones of the country

Suggested Performance Guidelines

Example of Decision Making Approach• Energy required for boiling water = 72 kcal/kg• Service required: Boiling 100 lit of water• Running cost for a fuel + stove system under consideration

= [(72 kcal x 100 kg x 100/efficiency in percentage)/calorific value in kcal/kg] x price of fuel in Rs./kg

Fuel + Stove Capital Cost Running Cost Pay back period

LPG + LPG Stove Rs.5,000 Rs.87 --

Biomass briquettes + forced draft gasifier stove

Rs.20,000 Rs.45 Approx 2 academic years

Solar parabolic concentrator

Rs.30,000 Zero Approx 1.5 academic years

Example of Decision Making Approach

Fuel + Stove Positive Negative

LPG + LPG Stove Cleanest and most user friendly combination

Escalating fuel cost, Supply chain bottlenecks for fuel, safety concerns

Biomass briquettes + forced draft gasifier stove

performance and user friendliness close to that of LPG, Fuel supply is more locally governed than LPG

Dependence on electricity for the forced draft, Fuel price may go up in future, service and maintenance support essential

Solar parabolic concentrator

Fuel cost is zero.No fire or other safety hazards.

Specific architectural requirements, Some back up is essential as sunshine cannot be controlled.

• Innovative hybrid approaches may also be considered: • Ordinary solar water heater (capital cost about Rs.10,000) to first heat the

water to about 50 deg C, and then use any stove for further heating. • Use an insulated utensil specially designed as water boiler, with any of the

fuel + stove combinations, to further reduce fuel consumption and therefore running cost.

• Any other….?

• Final decision will be based on both financial considerations and analysis of relative pros and cons.

Example of Decision Making Approach

Example of Possible Redesigning: Green and Clean Kitchen

Estimated 50-60 kg kitchen waste Estimated 20-25 kg biogas from

two large biogas plants

Estimated 8-10 kg LPG eq/day2 commercial stoves run for 4-5 hrs each per day = Rs.600-800 saved/day

Commercial cylinder as back up

Example:1000 meals/day consisting of roti, vegetable, dal, rice, sweet are cooked in the community kitchen.Original energy usage: 1.5 commercial cylinder/day

60 kg biomass briquettes @ Rs.10/kg = Rs.600

Daily 6 hr use of two Sushmanth Stoves

20 kg LPG equivalent/day = Rs.1000 saved/day

Kitchen energy system can be redesigned to reduce dependence on commercial LPG for any community or commercial kitchen.

Institutional/Commercial Biogas Plant

Capacity: 10 m3 Digester (plastic or masonry tank ) 7.5 m3 gas holder (plastic tank)

Unit Cost: Approx Rs.300,000Pay back period: 3-4 years, for commercial LPG

replacement

Operating cost: Electricity for Food Pulper, 1 hp Labour 2 hr/day (at actual)

Gas production: 3-5 kg LPG eq/day

Requirements: Area open to sunlight throughout the day 3 m x 3 mWater ~ 100 lit/day (spent slurry can be recycled)Feedstock: Food waste, any green plant matter, pulped,

up to 30 kg

Sushmanth Biomass Stove

• Clean and smokeless burning of biomass

• Reducing toxic emissions• For bulk cooking in establishment

like Mess, Canteen, Restaurant, Caterers, Dining halls, Roadside eateries

• Fuels used: firewood, biomass briquettes, coconut shells, etc.

• Fuel cost saving: 60-85%

• Electric blower achieves forced draft gasification.

• Nonelectric forced draft option also available.

Funds for Energy System?

• Funding from the Ministry will be required initially for data collection, and development of performance criteria and decision making tool at national level, and a ‘menu’ of possible solutions for each state.

• Potential donors and funders for the actual equipment: Petroleum companies, local business houses (under CSR activity), local government bodies, etc.

• Seed finance for purchase of equipment/creation of required infrastructure: Local banks, SHG federations, etc.

• Carbon/Climate finance: Monetisation of the carbon emission reduction accrued through reducing use of unsustainably harvested firewood and substitution of LPG.

Summing Up…• The most optimum cooking energy system, based on local,

renewable fuels/energy sources can be tailor made to suit the requirement of each school.

• This approach will involve initial cost to put the systems in place, but is justified in terms of health, environmental and economic gains in the long run.

• The approach provides a long lasting solution to the energy aspect of the MDM programme, minimising the running cost as well as hassle related to the energy aspect of the MDM kitchen at the school level.

• There are various possibilities to obtain sponsorship for the actual equipment or infrastructure.

Thank You!

Priyadarshini Karve

Samuchit Enviro Techpkarve@samuchit.com

Please visit: www.samuchit.com