New technology: The top Score stove … cooking with sound!
The University of Nottingham has developed a bio-mass burning cooking stove which also converts heat into acoustic energy and then into electricity, all in one unit. This low-cost generator has the potential to transform lives in the world’s poorest communities and is currently being tested across the United Kingdom and in Nepal.
Posted by Todd Houstein to Energy, 1st October 2009, 10:08am
Known as the Score project (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity) the life-changing concept has brought together experts from across the world to create a biomass-powered generator. By developing an affordable, versatile domestic appliance Score aims to address the energy needs of rural communities in Africa and Asia, where access to power is limited.
Researchers at The University of Nottingham are working on the generator’s Linear Alternator - the component which turns the sound energy into electricity. The system uses special configurations of magnets to generate electrical energy from sound. Computer simulations of the linear alternator have proved successful and test models are currently being constructed in the University’s workshops.
Nottingham researchers are also working with Dai-ichi, one of Malaysia’s largest loudspeaker manufacturers, to help them reduce production costs. While the Score unit does not physically resemble the average loudspeaker, it is compatible with the Dai-ichi manufacturing process.
At this stage the generator has a cost target of just under $40 per household, based on the production of a million units. It will weigh between 10kg and 20kg and is expected to generate an hour’s use per kilogram of fuel - being wood, dung or any other biomass material.
Practical Action, a charity which promotes the development of sustainable technology to tackle poverty in developing countries, is already leading field trials in Nepal and Kenya. The charity will expand the test sites when more units are made available.
More information on the Score stove is available at: www.score.uk.com
source: Sustinable Development Energy Office, Government of WA
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