Solar Cookers International (SCI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to improve human and environmental health by supporting the expansion of effective carbon-free solar cooking in world regions of greatest need. SCI leads through advocacy, research, and strengthening the capacity of the global solar cooking movement. SCI has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and was founded in 1987.
[Solar Cookers International]
". ''Business Entity Search''. California Secretary of State. Accessed on February 1, 2016.
Recognition
Solar Cookers International won an
Ashden Award
Ashden is a London-based charity that works in the field of sustainable energy and development. Its work includes the annual Ashden Awards, advocacy and research in the field of sustainable energy, and mentoring and practical support for award w ...
in 2002 for their work with solar cookers in
Kenya
)
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. In August 2006, SCI was the winner of the World Renewable Energy Award. SCI was named as a winner in the Keeling Curve Prize for sustainable planet solutions in August 2021. SCI won for its work “improving human and environmental health by supporting the expansion of effective carbon-free solar cooking in world regions of greatest need” in the Social and Cultural Pathways category. SCI has also been honored by entities such as the California State Legislature and the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution.
History
Solar Cookers International was founded in 1987 as Solar Box Cookers International. Barbara Kerr and Sherry Cole partnered with other supporters to form this organization.
SCI produced and distributed manuals describing the construction and use of solar box-style cookers. They became advocates of how solar cooking could be incorporated into development and relief agency programs. SCI's role evolved into networking with other solar cooking organizations worldwide. They hosted forums for dialog including co-sponsoring three international solar cooking conferences with the
University of the Pacific, US, in 1992, the
National University of Costa Rica
The National University of Costa Rica (in Spanish, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, abbreviated UNA) is one of five public universities in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. The main campus is located in the city of Heredia. Acc ...
in 1994 and the
deemed university, Coimbatore, India in 1997.
SCI also administered a series of solar cooking field projects. Since 1995, SCI has managed or co-managed solar cooking projects in the
Nyakach district,
Kenya
)
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; in the
Kakuma refugee camp
Kakuma is a town in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR refugee camp, established in 1992. The population of Kakuma town was 60,000 in 2014, having grown from around 8,000 in 1990. In 1991, the camp was established to hos ...
, Kenya; in the Aisha refugee camp,
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
; in various communities,
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
; and in
Dadaab
Dadaab ( so, Dhadhaab) is a semi-arid town in Garissa County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR base hosting 223,420 registered refugees and asylum seekers in three camps (Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo) as of 13 May 2019, making it the third-largest ...
refugee camp, Kenya.
SCI supported the development of the CooKit, a mass-producible, foldable solar cooker in the 1990s.
Programs and projects
In efforts to promote solar cooking worldwide, SCI leads through advocacy, research, and building capacity of the solar cooking movement. SCI releases multiple publications a year, disseminating news in the solar cooking sector. To help build capacity for solar cooking, SCI offers a wide range of free online educational resources on its website.
SCI has hosted regional and international solar cooking conferences including the 6th SCI World Conference 2017 in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, and the SCI Regional Convention 2015 in Sacramento, California, USA. SCI also attends and presents at high-level events such as
2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...
(COP26),
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...
(UNCSW), and the CONSOLFOOD conference to promote and advocate for solar cooking.
SCI also runs the Solar Cookers International Association, a group of academics, decision-makers, designers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, innovators, advocates, humanitarians, environmentalists, and NGOs working to promote solar thermal cooking worldwide.
To demonstrate the impacts of solar cooking, SCI gathers and analyzes solar cooking data. The creation of country-specific economic-impact summaries and a map of the global distribution of solar cookers help deliver evidence-based results about the advantages of solar cooking. SCI estimates there are more than 4 million solar cookers in use worldwide.
Performance Evaluation Process
Solar Cookers International spearheads the solar cooker Performance Evaluation Process (PEP). The PEP testing program is an objective, scientific process to evaluate solar cooker performance. Evaluation of the performance, user experience, and quality of solar cookers was identified as a high priority by the attendees of the 5th SCI World Conference in Sacramento, California, USA, 2014. The process and instrumentation were presented and demonstrated at the 6th SCI World Conference in Gujarat, India, January 2017.
The SCI PEP testing program is intended for increasing the use of high-quality solar cookers worldwide. PEP test stations automate a protocol that harmonizes with guidelines published by the
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
(ISO). The program is based on the ASAE S580.1 protocol for Testing and Reporting Solar Cooker Performance. SCI currently has testing centers in the USA, Kenya, and Nepal.
Solar Cooking Wiki
SCI sponsors and maintains a solar cooking wiki which includes over 1700 solar cooking articles categorized by country, NGO, manufacturer, and solar cooker designs. This wiki operates as a virtual community collaborating to improve and disseminate solar thermal technology for its positive impact on health and environmental degradation. Also included is information regarding related technologies such as heat-retention cooking, water
pasteurization
Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than , to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life.
The ...
, solar
food processing
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
, solar
food drying
Food drying is a method of food preservation in which food is dried (dehydrated or desiccated). Drying inhibits the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and mold through the removal of water. Dehydration has been used widely for this purpose since anci ...
, solar
autoclaving
An autoclave is a machine used to carry out industrial and scientific processes requiring elevated temperature and pressure in relation to ambient pressure and/or temperature. Autoclaves are used before surgical procedures to perform sterilizat ...
, and solar
canning
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...
.
CooKit
SCI developed the ''CooKit'' as an adaptation of a cooker designed by Dr. Roger Bernard in France. The cooker consists of a foil-lined cardboard reflector with a dark pot inside a plastic bag. This simple mechanism converts hundreds of watts of sunlight into heat and can cook one or two pots of food at a time.
Cardboard, aluminium foil, and plastic bags for well over 10,000 solar cookers have been donated to the Iridimi Refugee Camp and Touloum Refugee Camps in
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
by the combined efforts of the
Jewish World Watch
Jewish World Watch (JWW) is a non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to helping survivors of genocide and mass atrocities around the world.
Mission
JWW is primarily focused on the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, My ...
, the Dutch foundation
KoZon, and SCI. The refugees construct the cookers themselves, using the donated supplies and locally purchased
Arabic gum
Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the ''Acacia'' tree, ''Senegalia sene ...
,
and use them for midday and evening meals. The goal of this project was to reduce the
Darfur
Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...
i women's need to leave the relative safety of the camp to gather firewood, which exposed them to a high risk of being beaten, raped, kidnapped, or murdered.
Tugend, Tom. ''Jewish World Watch Eyes National Stage''. Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. June 16, 2006, accessed May 29, 2007.
/ref> It has also significantly reduced the amount of time women spend tending open fires each day, with the results that they are healthier and they have more time to grow vegetables for their families and make handicrafts for export.
See also
* Solar Cooker
A solar cooker is a device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize drink and other food materials. Many solar cookers currently in use are relatively inexpensive, low-tech devices, although some are as powerful or as ...
* Energy poverty and cooking
One aspect of energy poverty is lack of access to clean, modern fuels and technologies for cooking. As of 2020, more than 2.6 billion people in developing countries routinely cook with fuels such as wood, animal dung, coal, or kerosene. Burning t ...
* Household air pollution
Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass fuel, in the form of wood, charcoal, ...
* UN-Energy UN-Energy is an interagency mechanism within the system of the United Nations related to energy. It was created after the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, and its purpose is to create a coherent approach towards a sustai ...
References
External links
*
SCI hosts the Solar Cookers International Network wiki
Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance report
Charity Navigator rating
{{authority control
Climate change organizations based in the United States
Nature conservation organizations based in the United States
Environmental organisations based in Kenya
Food science institutes
Non-profit organizations based in California
Renewable energy organizations based in the United States
Solar thermal energy
Sustainability organizations
Food technology organizations
501(c)(3) organizations
Organizations established in 1987