Aiming High for Standards: Innovation Nominations are Open
“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – attributed to Michelangelo
People may debate whether this quote can really be attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist, still the spirit of the quote rings true for the clean cooking sector. In many ways, our goal to improve health, environment, and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people is even more challenging than Michaelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel, especially to achieve the combination of technology performance, usability, and affordability that will lead to significant impacts at scale. So we must aim high as we establish standards for cookstoves and fuels, which then push us to innovate and improve.
The structure provided by standards can drive innovation. Vehicle standards have improved fuel efficiency and have led to innovations in materials and design. Food safety standards have driven innovations in detection and disinfection methods, as well as with storage and processing. Standards encourage innovators to aim high, produce better and safer products for consumers, while also saving them money. More and more clean cooking organizations are using standards to influence design and to select technologies and fuels for distribution and investment, which will increase the pace of innovation in clean cooking solutions.
To celebrate the innovations that will define the future of the clean cooking sector as we mark the transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2, the Alliance is looking for your stories about innovations in the sector that we can share with our partners. Do you have a good story about innovation in the clean cookstoves or fuels sectors? Please share stories of organizations, governments, investors, or entrepreneurs who are undertaking cutting edge work in clean cooking research, product or fuel development, or making advances in manufacturing, processing or distribution.