BPSU-developed cook stove to be used in Yolanda-hit housing project

BALANGA CITY, Bataan – The Bataan Peninsula State University-developed vertical-fed biomass cook stove will be used in Typoon Yolanda-hit housing project in Leyte province.

Engr. Jonathan Lacayanga, chairman of research and development in BPSU Abucay campus and inventor of the cook stove, said during interview at Smile Radio here that the cook stove will be distributed in the housing units of Magay Housing Project in Tanauan, Leyte.

He said the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Missionaries of the Roman Catholic church, proponent of the housing project, decided to integrate the cook stove to prevent respiratory-related diseases due to household air pollution among beneficiaries.

According to a World Health Organization 2009 report, about 2.5 billion people in more than 500 million homes worldwide use dirty and inefficient cook stoves.

More than 80 percent of the households in the Philippines use biomass fuel such as wood, corn cobs, coconut shell, animal manure, rice hull, sugarcane bagasse and crop residue.

In developing countries like the Philippines, the use of open fire stove that burn biomass fuel inefficiently are noted to cause hazards to human health, environment, and other household problems.

“The cook stove, aside from not polluting the air, is safe, easy to use, consume minimal fuel, durable and adaptable for different cooking purposes,” Lacayanga said.

The invention has been recognized by the Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves of the United Nations, making BPSU one of about 430 institutions in the world belonging to the alliance and the first in the Philippines.