Partner Spotlight: InStove, An Innovative Approach to Clean Cookstoves: Why Limit a Stove to Cooking?
The founders of InStove (Institutional Stove Solutions) experimented with stove prototypes, production methodologies, and organizational structures for five years, before incorporating as a 501(c)(3) in July of 2012. During this time, InStove developed a 60 liter, institutional stove with an innovative metal combustion chamber, and the ability to be produced anywhere using hand tools and semi-skilled labor.
The 60 Liter Stove proved popular with several multilateral development organizations, and was installed with UN support in dozens of refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan, and with GIZ backing, in Senegal and Nigeria. InStove now has stoves with partners in 25 countries, including 15 in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2013, InStove added a new line: a larger, more efficient 100 Liter Stove. In 2013, both stoves were tested at Aprovecho Research Center in the United States, and found to be Tier 4 in 9 out of 11 ISO/IWA indicators for clean cookstoves, results that have since been confirmed by further third-party testing.
“It was always our vision to explore the possibilities that a super-efficient stoves allow,” said Founder and Executive Director Fred Colgan. “We’ve developed additional applications that include clean water and clean medical supplies.”
These two innovations allow one stove to serve double-duty as either an autoclave, for sterilizing surgical supplies or medical waste, or for use as a high-capacity water pasteurizer, capable of producing 800 liters per hour of safe, potable water.
“Our next step is to bring mass production to Africa,” said Colgan. “We are in talks with partners and investors to open a factory in Nairobi in 2015. By manufacturing our stoves close to end-users, we plan to build more stoves, generate good jobs, and create new markets while scaling our impact through cleaner air, safer kitchens, and healthier ecosystems.”
InStove is an early partner and enthusiastic supporter of the Global Alliance. “We are delighted to see the establishment of many regional stove testing centers around the world and the development of ISO standards for cookstoves. Both of these important, game-changing events only happened with the support and encouragement of the Alliance, and will inform the current trend to finding market-based solutions to the difficult problems we all seek to address.” said InStove Executive Director Fred Colgan.