The development of sustainable tools that utilize renewable energy is critical as we advance into the 21st century. We still need to meet the challenges of providing clean energy. Read the following story from Cranfield University about a solar stove developed by COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad.
A solar cooker able to harness the sun’s energy to cook food and purify water has been developed by Cranfield University and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad. The cooker will significantly improve the quality of life for rural communities in the developing world.
Many thousands of people are at risk of illness every day because of their inability to heat food or purify drinking water effectively.
The cooker uses a system of mirrored strips tilted at different angles to concentrate sunlight onto an ‘absorber’ which converts the sun’s energy into useable heat. The process is known as ‘concentrating solar power’ (CSP) and is an area in which Cranfield is regarded as the number one research team in the UK.
Cranfield’s Dr Chris Sansom, the UK’s leading expert on ‘concentrating solar power’, commented: “This is a very exciting project as there are many areas of the world where solar cookers and water purifiers could impact significantly on people’s quality of life.”
As well as heating food, the cooker is able to store heat and could generate electrical power for essential mobile communications or air conditioning.
The solar cooker was developed by COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, with expertise from Cranfield University. It was funded by the Government of Pakistan, who recognised the need to improve the lives of those living in the remote regions of Pakistan.
Source: Cranfield University
[source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-greenbuildingelements/~3/acrBpVn6Q6Y/]
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