The Kyoto Box is a
solar cooker constructed from
polypropylene
Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene.
Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...
with an acrylic plastic cover. The oven traps the sun's rays, creating enough heat to boil water or cook food.
Construction and use
Two nested cardboard or polypropylene boxes form the oven structure. Temperatures inside the box can quickly reach 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit) on a sunny day. Temperatures could reach a maximum of 165 degrees Celsius. Bohmer claimed that the oven was capable of boiling 10 liters of water in two to three hours.
Solar cookers are being used by hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world. Solar cookers can also pasteurize or sterilize water to provide safe drinking water without using or collecting firewood. Kyoto Box is based on the original "Hot box" solar cooker, invented by De Sasseur in 1767.
Updated design
After the award of the
Financial Times Climate Change Challenge 2009 the design of the Kyoto Box was modified from the original cardboard to
polypropylene
Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene.
Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...
, boosting the cooking performance. A further innovation was the use of a white reflector instead of one covered with aluminum foil or
Mylar
BoPET (biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical stability, dimensional stability, transparency reflectivity, an ...
Inventor
The Norwegian inventor, Jon Bohmer, made the first model of the Kyoto Box with his daughters then aged 10 and 5 years old. It later won the FT Climate Change Challenge award, placing first in the competition.
Prize for 'Sun in the box' cooker
BBC News. Collected 9 Apr 2009.
See also
* CooKit
* Solar cooker
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official Website
(CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
)
Jon Bohmer's solar project under compulsory liquidation
Cooking appliances
Solar thermal energy
Ovens