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• 2015:

  

  How Solar Cookers Save Lives

  The simple CooKit solar panel cooker has made a difference for the women living in Darfur refugee camps. - Jewish World Watch

• January 2015: Uzbekistan, still rich with gas and oil, has begun to adopt solar power, now being viewed as an underutilized resource. Micro solar projects providing electricity for lighting, heating, pumping water and solar cooking are now beginning to percolate into the countryside. Read more: Uzbekistan Looks to Solar Power - Silk Road Reporters

• January 2015: Assessing lasting impacts of HotPot projects - Solar Household Energy is revitalizing relationships with previous partner the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, or FMCN) to assess long-term project outcomes. FMCN has distributed over 25,000 HotPots in Mexico. Quantifying the lasting impacts of these projects will prove HotPot long-term adoption and durability, demonstrating that the HotPot is a viable clean cooking solution. Read more: Assessing lasting impacts of HotPot projects in Mexico - SHE

• January 2015: More HotPot solar cookers for the Gaga refugee camp in Chad - The Lutheran World Foundation, now in charge of environmental activities in Gaga refugee camp, wishes to partner with Solar Household Energy to expand the HotPot project with 2,500 more HotPots--enough to cover 80% of households. Based on the success of the earlier HotPot project in Gaga refugee camp, SHE is also exploring options to introduce solar cookers in Burkina Faso refugee camps.

• January 2015: Read 2014 SHE project summaries, with plans for 2015. - SHE

• January 2015: Irene Perbal has explained how she used her experience promoting solar cooking in Sudan and Brazil to help out back in her home state of California, USA. She has been encouraging the use of solar cooking at local food banks. She began doing talks and seminars to train locals on how to build and use the cookers, including the underserved frequenting the food banks. Often her presentation includes sharing a lunch of solar cooked lasagne. Thinking Globally and Acting Locally - Huffington Post

• January 2015: Kyrgyzstan’s BIOM ecological movement has provided the Bishkek Center for Rehabilitation of Homeless Children with alternative energy equipment as the state-run social facilities remain underfinanced in the country. In 2010, BIOM provided the Center with solar water heaters, solar ovens, and lighting equipment. According to Natalia Bogatova, coordinator of SPARE (School Project for Application of Resources and Energy), BIOM concluded a contract for installation and maintenance of the above equipment for three years, but its specialists continue providing technical maintenance of the solar equipment after the contract expired. Solar energy for Kyrgyzstan’s social facilities - The Times Of Central Asia

Attendees at the Japan Solar Cooker Preliminary Convention.

• January 2015: The Japan Solar Cooker Preliminary Convention was held on November 22nd and 23rd, 2014 at the Ashikaga Institute of Technology. The convention was led by Professor Yuichi Nakajo with the goal of creating a network for manufacturers, distributors, traders, researchers, and others with a strong interest in solar cooking to collaborate. The event was attended by roughly 100 invited participants. Professor Nakajo is planning to hold a larger convention next year which will will be open to anyone interested in solar cooking.

• January 2015: GACC has released their November 2104 Post-Summit Report

• January 2015: Patricia McArdle responds to the GACC Post-Summit Report from the November 2014 conference.

The Lightoven III, designed by Hartmut Ehmler is explained at a training event for Pakistani Boy Scouts. - Hartmut Ehmler

• January 2015: Pakistani Boy Scouts are introduced to solar cooking - Hartmut Ehmler photographed this Boy Scout training event of his Lightoven III solar panel cooker. It is a lightweight portable design, suitable to take into the field for camping.

Solar Cooking in the Sahel - NOWCAST

• January 2015: Scholarly paper documents the available sunshine in the Sahel region of Africa - Authors, Beth Newton, Sophie Cowie, Derk Rijks, Jamie Banks, Helen Brindley, and John h. Marsham have published a well-documented analysis of the potential sunshine available for solar cooking in the Sahel region, particularly in northern Chad where a number of Sudanese refugee camps are located. TchadSolaire has been training both refugees and the indigenous population to solar cook in the region since 2005. Even along river population centers where clouds tend to form, solar cooking is possible for over 330 days a year. Read more: Solar Cooking in the Sahel - NOWCAST

Mid-day meal being prepared at a Mali school - Sun and Ice

• January 2015: Only the cooking food is out in the sun at this Mali school - Stephan Zech, with Sun and Ice, posted this photo of a mid-day meal being prepared at a school in Mali.

• January 2015: Carte Blanche visits the Holms of Saartjiesnek, South Africa - Kormorant