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March 20, 2009
Aluminum solar energy stoves benefit communities in Juruti, in the state of Pará
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Sol-ão stoves, one of the winning projects of the 2007 Alcoa Innovation in Aluminum Award, will be used by the communities of Santa Luzia and São José, in Juruti
On the banks of the Amazon River, the municipality of Juruti, in the west of the state of Pará where Alcoa is installing a bauxite mine, has been selected to test two stoves that are heated basically by solar energy and cooking oil.
Installed in the communities of Santa Luzia and São José, the stoves are simple to operate:
1 – The equipment consists of a tubular aluminum and copper system containing cooking oil at normal temperature.
2 – Upon absorbing the solar energy, the tubular panel heats up, automatically transmitting heat to the oil. One of the properties of aluminum is that it transmits heat quickly, a decisive factor in choosing this metal to develop the stove.
3 – The oil then starts to circulate inside the cooking surface, distributing the heat and starting the process to cook the food.
The project is being coordinated by the Corporate Citizenship Institute (ICE), an organization whose mission is to help improve quality of life in communities. “Since they do not use firewood, electrical energy or gas to cook the food, these were the stoves we decided to install in these communities,” said Fernanda Bombardi, coordinator of the ICE.
According to Suzana Sheffield, vice president of the Alcoa Institute, the installation of this equipment will make an improvement to people’s diets in these communities. “With access to these stoves, they will be able to cook healthier meals, even when based on the regional staple, manioc flour, by using this ingredient to make soups with vegetables and fish,” she explained.
To assure that the communities use the stove correctly and sustainably, Alcoa will provide specific training. “The company will teach them to use their own vegetable gardens in a sustainable way. We plan to teach planting techniques and show them how to sell any excess produce,” said Sheffield. “Furthermore, there will be additional training at an experimental kitchen so these people can learn alternative recipes that use vegetables from their gardens,” she added.
This alternative stove, easily built and low-cost, can be used in many ways. For Paulo Henrique de Faria, one of the designers of the Sol-ão, the idea of this project is to guarantee environmental sustainability based on the concept of reusing materials, in the case of aluminum and oil. “The stove works on the principle of heat transmission. By using materials such as cooking oil and aluminum – which, among its other properties, easily store and transmit heat – it has been possible to develop a piece of equipment at an accessible cost both to implement and to maintain,” he explained.
“It is a privilege for our community to receive this stove. It is a dream come true, and it will help lots of people in these parts,” said Marcelino Souza dos Reis, a resident of the community of São José.
Alcoa Innovation in Aluminum Award encouraged the project
The idea for this equipment arose in 2007, when four students from the University of Itajubá, in the state of Minas Gerais, decided to take part in the sixth edition of the Alcoa Innovation in Aluminum Award, a scientific and cultural competition designed to promote and disseminate the ideas of Brazilian students and professionals in the sector.
The project entitled Sol-ão – fogão alternativo (alternative stove), designed by Paulo Henrique de Faria, Luciana A. Rodrigues, Luiz Fernando R. Alves and Márcio Hessel Verraci, and supervised by Professor Ana Paula Silva Figueiredo, won the award in the Management Planning category (student modality).
About Alcoa
Alcoa is the world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina combined, through its active and growing participation in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components including flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, Alcoa also markets Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems. The Company has been named one of the top most sustainable corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and has been a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for seven consecutive years. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com
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