Page 21 - Status Report

The Context

Despite decades of effort, around 2.8 billion
people worldwide still rely on solid fuels such
as wood, dung and coal to meet their basic
domestic energy needs. Use of solid fuels
for cooking is responsible for an estimated 4
million premature deaths every year. In India,
over 160 million households, constituting 70%
of the population, are cooking on polluting
cook stoves/indoor open fires. Over 50
million households do not have access to
reliable electricity. These households are a
representative of the high demand for clean
cooking and power generation. For cooking,
rural Indians use mud stoves with firewood,
cow dung or biomass for fuel. Women build
mud cook stoves for free but pay huge
recurring costs in terms of health, and lose
productive hours lost on collecting fuel and
drudgery. Alternatives for lighting in households
with poor grid connectivity come from the use
of kerosene lanterns, which are inefficient and
harmful.

The Initiative

Greenway’s improved biomass cook stove employs thermo electrics that powers a fan, providing
cleaner combustion for healthier cooking and excess electricity for household needs. The Greenway
Power Stove utilizes the residual heat generated while cooking and converts it into electrical energy,
generating about 8W net power. With typical cooking times of 2-3 hours per day, 16-24Wh of power
can be generated on a daily basis. This can charge any mobile phone or battery-operated electrical
device, supply a 1-2W LED light with enough charge to illuminate a room for 6 hours and cook a
delicious meal in a cleaner, healthier and less smoky kitchen.

The Outcome

Greenway has set up a manufacturing facility in Vadodara and currently the factory has the capacity
to manufacture about 30,000 stoves in a month. It can also produce both the TEG (themo-electric
generator) module and the power stove in-house. Greenway has thus far sold close to 400,000
Greenway Stoves with cumulative stove sales revenue of over INR 50 Crore. Greenway has since
raised USD 2.5 million in venture capital.

Status Report 21