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August 2008: U.S.-based humanitarian organization Operation Blessing International (OBI) is helping villagers in remote, barren regions of China’s Gansu Province to cook with solar energy. In 2007 OBI distributed 582 concentrator-type solar cookers at a cost of about $50 each. The cookers are made of a concave concrete shell lined with small mirror pieces that reflect sunlight under a cooking vessel, which sits on a metal support above the reflectors. According to OBI’s newsletter Blessings, the solar cookers are used to cook local crops like potatoes and wheat. “With a solar oven in the yard, villagers do not need to spend time collecting sticks or wood in order to boil water or cook potatoes,” said Dr. Ma Yan, OBI’s Gansu director. “Farmers still have to buy coal for heat and cooking, but a solar oven reduces the quantity of burning sticks, grass and wood that are very precious in the drought-stricken mountain areas.” Heifer China has begun distributing similar concentrator-type solar cookers in China, primarily in sunny Qinghai Province. A recent article in Heifer International’s World Ark magazine states that the solar cookers are “geared toward reducing reliance on firewood and preserving the pristine headwaters of many of Asia’s largest rivers. ... [They also] offer a clean alternative to fire pits and traditional stoves.”

Operation Blessing International
977 Centerville Turnpike
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23463
USA

Tel: (800) 730-2537