Oct 2008
The demand for clean cooking in India has prompted Fort Collins, Colo.-based Envirofit International to increase its 2009 production of biomass stoves.
The ‘cookstoves’ reduce toxic emissions by as much as 80 percent, use 50 percent less fuel and reduce cooking cycle time by 40 percent, according to Envirofit, a 501(c)3 nonprofit backed by the Shell Foundation, a charity established by the Shell Group in 2000.
The stoves sell for Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,000 ($10 to $40 USD). Since the line launched in May, Envirofit has sold 15,000 stoves and expects to reach 25,000 before the end of the year, according to co-founder and Vice President of Operations Tim Bauer.
Other products by Envirofit include a direct-injection retrofit kit for dirty, two-stroke engines that reduces emissions by 8 percent and fuel consumption by up to 40 percent, Bauer said. The $300 to $350 product is commercially available in the Philippines but has potential in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan and India, he said.