Fuel efficient cook stoves on the way
Fuel efficient cook stoves on the way
Lao stove manufacturers hope their products will be able to compete with neighbouring countries' cookers in the Asean Economic Community after a standards workshop in Vientiane on Tuesday.
Non-profit Association for Rural Mobilisation and Improvement (NORMAI) held the workshops this week as part of its aim to create more fuel-efficient stoves to reduce the amount of natural forest being cut down for charcoal.
NORMAI Programme Manager, Mrs Sengkeo Thongvanna, said her colleagues were training more than 10 producers in Vientiane to improve the quality of their stoves.
“We want to select 10 cook stove producers to become members of NORMAI as standard stove manufacturers in Vientiane,” she said.
Mrs Sengkeo admitted the organisation may struggle to find 10 member companies, as some trainees at the workshop came from very small businesses.
While small producers would be able to build stoves to the appropriate standard after the course, they may struggle with the financial investment required to produce the better quality products.
NORMAI is on the hunt for producers in Vientiane, Champassak, Savannakhet and Khammuan provinces as well as Vientiane to build 100,000 high-standard cook stoves from 2013 to 2016.
Stoves produced by NORMAI members will be given the organisation's logo to display.
Production on the more efficient stoves has begun in Savannakhet, but the products have not proven popular with local residents because of their higher price.
Mrs Sengkeo said producers need to spend about 30,000 kip on a high-standard stove; about double the cost of a less efficient model.
However, she said cook stoves currently being used by people last only about six months, while the stoves being produced by those taught by her staff can last for up to two years, without daily use.
Most Lao families use charcoal for their stoves and meals are normally cooked on a ceramic and sheet metal bucket-shaped stove.
However NORMAI testing showed such designs, often produced in local workshops, are inefficient with their fuel consumption.
A big stove producer in Donnoun village, Xaythany district told Vientiane Times he could sell almost 700 stoves in the local markets each month.
Prices start from 17,000 to 30,000 kip depending on the of the stove, and most last for about one and a half months, he said.
“I'm interested in the new technical skills from NORMAI for improving my production in 2015 after the Asean Economic Community (is introduced), but it's up to me whether I will use its design for my production or not,” he said.
vientiane times
