Pal Solar Cooker Project

Project name:                    Pal Solar Cooker Project
Location:                             Pal village, Maharashtra, central India
Partner organisation:        Satpuda Vikas Mandel (www.svmpal.org)
Dates:                                 In country: 6/01/10 – 24/01/10
Preparation and planning: equivalent 3 days (negotiable)
Follow-up:                           equivalent 5 days (negotiable)

Skills required:
• A passion for the environment and renewable technologies
• General understanding of renewable technologies and solar thermal principles
• Understanding of the needs of a rural community in a developing country
• Willingness to travel within India unaccompanied
• An open mind

Costs: $1000 (food, accommodation, project costs), plus airfares

Contacts: Nia Emmanouil, CERES Global Co-ordinator, nia@ceres.org.au
Trevor Ackland, Project Facilitator, tjackland@yahoo.com

CERES Global

CERES Global was established in 2005 with the intention of working alongside community-based organisations in India and Indonesia, to help reinvigorate traditional knowledge and support the application of appropriate and sustainable practices and technologies. Our approach is one of collaboration, ensuring that that local knowledge is valued and so that there is a two-way sharing of skills and knowledge.
Our partner organisations in India are located in the southern, central and northern states. We maintain contact with these groups during the year and on an annual basis visit each organisation with people from CERES and the broader community. Our trips over to India provide us with the opportunity to work more intensely on projects and build
face-to-face connections with the people whose lives we are hoping to make a positive impact on.
On our past visits to Pal, we have travelled as a group and participated in cultural exchange activities. CERES Global is keen to expand upon these experiences and have a more project-oriented focus whilst in Pal. CERES Global will be present in Pal during your stay and will be able to offer volunteers in-country support by way of facilitation, translation and networking assistance.

Background

Pal is a rural Indian village in the Satpuda Mountain Ranges in northern Maharashtra, close to the Madhya Pradesh border. The population is approximately 7000, consisting predominantly of tribal people from the Bajara, Powarah and Tadavi tribes.

CERES Global’s partner at Pal is Satpuda Vikas Mandel, a centre focused on agricultural science and training. Satpuda Vikas Mandel runs seven schools in the region, the majority of which are boarding schools.

The schools provide daily meals for the school children, with meals cooked on inefficient indoor open flames. A typical school has between 200 and 400 students. Satpuda Vikas Mandel has identified that alternative cooking methods would be beneficial for the daily cooking requirements of the schools, and that parabolic solar cookers may be a viable option for both the schools and the village people.

The majority of homes within Pal and the surrounding villages cook and heat water on an inefficient indoor open fire. The average family uses 80-120 kilograms of firewood per week contributing to extensive deforestation in the region, which has many environmental consequences. The local women walk extremely long distances to collect firewood each day, often carrying heavy loads several kilometres; this is both time consuming and harmful to the women’s bodies. Indoor air pollution from the open fires leads to several health issues such as respiratory illness and eye disease.

For most rural Indians cooking on an open flame is the only available cooking method, due to costs associated with alternative methods. There is no initial cost for an open fire and no ongoing costs, and there is also a perception that cooking with timber creates a better meal and a better chai.

Daily firewood requirements have outstripped annual biomass growth and the forests have been poorly managed by governments and by village people, leading to extensive deforestation in the region.

More efficient and alternative cooking and water heating methods would be extremely beneficial to reduce the impact of deforestation, reduce health issues associated with smoke inhalation and improve the everyday life of women in the region.

Project scope

The Pal Solar Cooker project involves investigating the feasibility of supplying the seven schools run by Satpuda Vikas Mandel with parabolic solar cookers for the preparation of the daily meal requirements. The view would be to supply at least one solar cooker on the next CERES Global trip to Pal in January 2010. Ways in which to do so would need to be identified early on.

The future scope would involve the potential for assembling and/or manufacture of residential or commercial scale solar cookers with Satpuda Vikas Mandel, possibly in association with a partner organisation as a commercial enterprise.

The project is in the initial stages of development. The initial work would predominantly involve scoping potential opportunities and possibilities. It is considered the volunteer would:
• Research and contact solar cooker manufacturers/suppliers within India from Australia
• Visit potential project partners, from the initial research, that could supply and manufacture suitable solar cookers and provide training on the manufacture and operation of parabolic solar cookers
• Install/supply a solar cooker in one or a number of Satpuda Vikas Mandels schools
• Develop instructions for the manufacture and use of solar cookers in association with potential project partners, and provide training,
• Scope the potential of assembly and/or manufacture of residential or commercial scale parabolic solar cookers at Satpuda Vikas Mandel as a commercial enterprise
• Investigate potential funding opportunities.

CERES Global acknowledges that it will take considerable time and resources to action all of the above steps. Hence, the scope of the project brief for any individual volunteer is negotiable. We ideally aim to attract a group of volunteers who can initiate and carry out this project(s).