Blue Flame Stoves is a Norwegian supplier of high quality, clean burning ethanol cookstoves for the African Market.
Our stoves are developed by the Norwegian research & design company Abry & Kavanagh Design AS, and have been manufactured under licence in China since 2014. Over 55,000 stoves have been distributed under the Safi brand in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar through our partners. The stoves are approved for Green Development’s Carbon Credit program in Madagascar authorized by the World Bank, and field tested by UNCHR in the Dadaab refugee camp.
A global issue
The stoves are designed to address the problems caused by cooking over wood and charcoal – the results of which are over 3.8 million deaths annually (600 000 in Africa alone) and rapid deforestation. In Africa, collecting firewood is both time consuming and dangerous. Women and children daily spend several hours walking long distances and are constantly at risk of being assaulted. By using ethanol based cooking solutions instead, more time is available to spend on education, children or work.
About 80 percent of Kenyans who live in urban areas use charcoal for cooking hence putting a lot of pressure on the households from respiratory related diseases as well as adverse effects on the forest cover. About 10 kilograms of wood is used to make one kilogram of charcoal, putting a lot of strain on the country’s forests. Kenya in 2015 estimated a loss of 5.6 million trees daily due to deforestation.
Ethanol and a circular economy
The planet needs immediate action and new solutions to combat climate change. Reducing CO2 emissions and preventing deforestation are top priorities. We strongly support the UN Sustainable Development Goals and want to contribute through the Blue Flame Stoves venture. Conversion to ethanol based cooking solutions is recognised as the single most effective intervention improving health and living standards, and at the same time protecting the environment. Bioethanol as a bi-product of sugar cane processing and represents a fully renewable resource in a circular economy.
Our goal is to develop and supply the best ethanol stoves on the market and be the preferred choice in national ethanol programmes in the coming years.