INDUSTRY TRENDS

Kenyan solar-stove may cut cancer risks caused by burning wood

As data worldwide suggests the number of people with cancer is rising, some poorer nations are looking to find alternatives to cancer-causing fuel sources.

Kenya has seen the introduction of solar-powered cookers which capture the Sun’s rays instead of using wood fires which are blamed for half-a-million deaths.

It uses mirrors to focus sunlight to a central point and when it comes to cooking it is an extremely cheap form of solar power.

The parabolic cooker can be built easily and cheaply by the women using cement on a metal mesh which is covered with a mosaic of shiny mirrors.

Its inventor is environmentalist Keziah Ngugi who says: “So, if you look at the sky, like now it is blue, that is potential for cooking with the sun. And because we live around the tropics, the potential is immense, it is really huge.”