Soter AG, a Swiss-based company, is the exclusive license holder for the Turbococina technology, developed and patented by Salvadorian inventor René Núñez Suárez. Tecnologias Ecologicas Centroamericanas SA de CV is a Salvadoran based company which was fully acquired by Soter AG to implement the “Turbococinas,” rural cooking stove substitution program in El Salvador, a Program of Activities registered under the United Nation's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
Contact Information
Our Focus
We are currently developing the project "Turbococinas, rural cooking stove substitution program in El Salvador," under the Clean Development Mechanism, as a Program of Activities (PoA). This project seeks to substitute traditional stoves by Turbococinas in approximately 3,500 public schools and 100,000 poor rural households, by working in coordination with the Salvadorean government's social programs. Low-income households and public schools who usually serve low income families are the target group for the proposed project activity. More than 1,000 Turbococinas have already been distributed to public schools (starting in March 2010 and up to October 2011), benefiting more than 130,000 students, and including training on Turbococina use for nearly 20,000 mothers of schoolchidren.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
The financial incentive for low-income households and public schools, which normally have a low budget, to participate in the PoA seems to be exceptional. Providing Turbococinas for free, coupled with a capacity building campaign, will overcome some of the most important problems and barriers of technology diffusion. The main problems and barriers, especially faced by low-income households, are namely the limited access to capital, prevailing cooking practices, and insufficient provision of information. The possibility to overcome these obstacles coupled with the pure economic value of the offer indicates that the overall project benefit is considerably greater for low-income households. Hence it is hypothesized that these households will be the overwhelming majority of participants in the PoA. Further it is argued that it can be expected that technology adoption of low-income households will be highly based on the general country's population characteristics and disproportionate economic value of Turbococinas for low-income households.
The introduction of the Turbococina in schools is hypothesized to have a significant impact on public education. The schools serve as platform for training and technology diffusion. The same women responsible for cooking in schools are the ones cooking in the households that form part of the “Comunidades Solidarias Rurales” program. Therefore it is expected that the acceptance of the Turbococina is likely to rise due to the mother’s knowledge gained by cooking in the schools, as well as the raising awareness of the students.
We have considerable experience in market development for improved cooking stoves, including the use of carbon finance to develop innovative and sustainable business models. Our primary innovation is the Turbococina, the most efficient and cleanest wood cookstove available in the world today. However, almost equally innovative are our biz/financing model and organizational/executional approach, based on carbon finance mechanisms and public-private partnerships with existing public social support and poverty alleviation networks, which allow for the Turbococina to be delivered free of charge to final users, namely low-income households and public schools in the poorest rural areas of El Salvador. Finally, we believe that by using public schools and existing poverty alleviation networks, this will have a definite positive effect on consumer adoption behavior of Turbococinas. In fact, rural public schools have so far served as an ideal platform for training and technology diffusion of Turbococinas, since the users who have been trained in schools are usually the same mothers of the families already included in the poverty alleviation program in El Salvador.
The Turbococina is the first practical application of the “Pressurized Combustión and Heat Transfer Process and Apparatus (US Patent 6,651,645)”. It was developed and patented by the Salvadoran engineer René Núñez Suárez. For this invention he received the “Climate Technology Leadership Award”, awarded by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) of the International Energy Agency, during the 8th United Nations Convention on Climate Change in New Delhi, India, 2002. In addition the Turbococina received the “Innovatum Praemium 2008” by the Salvadoran Foundation for economic and social development (“Fundación Salvadoreña para el Deasarrollo Económico y Social, Programa de Promoción a la Innovación”).
As part of our project, we have conducted a study including in-field emissions monitoring of traditional stoves and Turbococinas, in collaboration with the University of California Irvine. The results of the study are a reduction of 99% of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) emissions with the use of Turbococinas, when compared to traditional wood stoves currently used in El Salvador.
Relevant Publications or Studies
“Turbococinas,” rural cooking stove substitution program in El Salvador Program of Activities Project Design Document (POA-DD and CPA-DD), available at http://cdm.unfccc.int/ProgrammeOfActivities/Validation/DB/CC3SL63S21H7EK... ; Programa de innovación PROINNOVA, Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development, public consultation of “Turbococinas” POA available at http://www.fusades.org/?cat=1320&lang=es&title=Consulta%20p%FAblica%20Pr... ; United Nations Development Program in El Salvador http://www.pnud.org.sv/2007/content/view/310/122/ Studies: Quantification of CO2e savings from improved cookstoves in El Salvador. R. Edwards, University of California Irvine; O. Masera, UNAM. October 2010. “Estudio de Impacto de las Turbococinas en San José Villanueva, departamento de La Libertad, El Salvador, C.A. Proyecto Piloto de Innovación: Turbococinas y Carbón Social.” D. Salcedo; CARE El Salvador, Universidad Francisco Gavidia, Tecnologías Ecológicas Centroamericanas SA de CV, San Salvador, 2008. El arte y la ciencia de hacer tortillas, cocer frijoles y freir arroz. R. Núñez Suárez, Universidad Francisco Gavidia, San Salvador, 2007. Available at http://wwwisis.ufg.edu.sv/wwwisis/documentos/TE/333.953%2097-S211m.pdf Press: http://www.laprensagrafica.com/economia/nacional/118711-cuatrocientas-es... http://mexico.cnn.com/videos/2011/05/19/turbo-cocina-una-solucion-verde
Our Contribution to the Partnership
We are interested in participating by sharing our information and experience related to the Turbococinas program.
