The Experts below are selected from a list of 93 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Nigel Scott - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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tracking the adoption of electric Pressure Cookers among mini grid customers in tanzania
Energies, 2021Co-Authors: Ansila Kweka, Anna Clements, Megan Bomba, Nora Schurhoff, Joseph Bundala, Erick Mgonda, Mattias Nilsson, Elliot Avila, Nigel ScottAbstract:“Are electric cooking appliances viable clean cooking solutions for mini-grids?” To help answer this question, the Access to Energy Institute (A2EI) set up a pilot project in six different mini-grid locations around Lake Victoria in Tanzania and gave 100 households an electric Pressure cooker (EPC) to use in their homes. Each EPC was connected to a smart meter to collect data on how the EPCs were used. The paper presents findings from a study designed around the A2EI pilot project that aims to provide an understanding of cooking practices, the adoption of electric cooking over time, and to assess the potential for electric cooking to substitute traditional cooking fuels. Through collaboration with the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) program, Nexleaf Analytics, and PowerGen, the pilot has generated data on electrical energy consumption from 92 households in six remote areas as well as a comprehensive range of other datasets gathered from 28 households in two of the locations. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of this data. It starts with an analysis of cooking practices in these communities—dishes cooked, utensils used for cooking, and choice of fuels. It goes on to examine fuel stacking behavior, and finally, it examines how people have integrated EPCs into their cooking practices before the highlighting key impacts associated with using EPCs. The answer to the original research question will be useful for different stakeholders such as utility companies, mini-grid operators, electric cooking appliance manufacturers, the clean cooking sector, and international organizations.
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Experiences of electric Pressure Cookers in East Africa
2019Co-Authors: Simon Batchelor, Ed Brown, Nigel Scott, Jon Sumanik-learyAbstract:This paper seeks to highlight the emerging opportunity for manufacturers to enter the largely untapped market for efficient electric cooking appliances such as the Electric Pressure Cooker (EPC) in East and Southern Africa. The paper is an output of the UK Aid1 programme Modern Energy Cooking Services, a 5 year programme of work (2018 – 2023) led by Loughborough University. In East Africa, electricity networks are growing stronger and broader, opening up electric cooking to an almost entirely untapped market particularly in urban areas that are still dominated by charcoal. In each country, approximately 10 million people pay for polluting cooking fuels, yet they have a grid connection that is not used for cooking. Historically this has been due to the pricing and unreliability of the grids. As Grids get stronger and appliances more efficient the affordability and convenience of electric cooking is becoming more realistic. In Southern Africa, electric cooking has been and is more popular, however inefficient appliances are placing a heavy strain on national utilities, many of whom are now looking to manage demand more sustainably. Again, the advent of energy efficient appliances changes the dynamic for the household. Cooking is deeply cultural and any new energy efficient cooking devices must be compatible with local foods and cooking practices. This paper presents insights from cooking diaries, focus groups and ‘kitchen laboratory’ experiments carried out in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. The results show that EPCs are not only acceptable, but highly desirable. Over 90% of the menu can be cooked in an EPC and certain foods require just one fifth of the energy of a hotplate. In real homes, participants with EPCs, rice Cookers and hotplates chose the efficient appliances for approximately half their menu and for these dishes, they used roughly half the energy of the hotplate. Without training and with limited experience of the new devices, the trial participants in Kenya who cooked solely on electricity had a median daily consumption of 1.4kWh/household/day, and the cooking of 50% of the menu on an EPC utilised 0.47kWh/household/day of that total. Given that EPCs could have cooked 90% of the desired menu, with appropriate training and broader experience, the median could have been reduced to less than 1kwh/day/household. This research feeds into a new UK Aid programme, Modern Energy Cooking Services and concludes with recommended design modifications that could enable users to do more cooking with EPCs and open up sizeable new market segments including strengthening weak-grid and off-grid.
Patrick Videau - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Assessment and verification of commercially available Pressure Cookers for laboratory sterilization.
PloS one, 2018Co-Authors: Vaille Swenson, Amanda D. Stacy, Michael O. Gaylor, Blake Ushijima, Benjamin Philmus, Loralyn M. Cozy, Nina M. Videau, Patrick VideauAbstract:Laboratory science requires careful maintenance of sterile reagents and tools as well as the sterilization of waste prior to disposal. However, steam autoclaves typically used for this purpose may not be readily accessible to everyone in the scientific community, such as K-12 teachers, researchers in the field, students in under-funded laboratories, or persons in the developing world who lack funding and resources. This work examines the use of commercial electric Pressure Cookers as an alternative method for the sterilization of media, instruments, and waste. Four commonly available brands of Pressure cooker were tested for their ability to sterilize microbiological media, a variety of metal instruments, and high-titer microbial cultures. All four Pressure Cookers were able to sterilize these starting materials as well as a range of microbial types, including Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, filamentous fungi, unicellular fungi, and mixed environmental samples. Only the Instant Pot, however, was able to sterilize autoclave tester ampoules of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores. These results suggest that, depending on the nature of the work undertaken, store-bought Pressure Cookers can be an appropriate substitute for commercial autoclaves. Their adoption may also help increase the accessibility of science to a broader range of investigators.
Ansila Kweka - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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tracking the adoption of electric Pressure Cookers among mini grid customers in tanzania
Energies, 2021Co-Authors: Ansila Kweka, Anna Clements, Megan Bomba, Nora Schurhoff, Joseph Bundala, Erick Mgonda, Mattias Nilsson, Elliot Avila, Nigel ScottAbstract:“Are electric cooking appliances viable clean cooking solutions for mini-grids?” To help answer this question, the Access to Energy Institute (A2EI) set up a pilot project in six different mini-grid locations around Lake Victoria in Tanzania and gave 100 households an electric Pressure cooker (EPC) to use in their homes. Each EPC was connected to a smart meter to collect data on how the EPCs were used. The paper presents findings from a study designed around the A2EI pilot project that aims to provide an understanding of cooking practices, the adoption of electric cooking over time, and to assess the potential for electric cooking to substitute traditional cooking fuels. Through collaboration with the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) program, Nexleaf Analytics, and PowerGen, the pilot has generated data on electrical energy consumption from 92 households in six remote areas as well as a comprehensive range of other datasets gathered from 28 households in two of the locations. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of this data. It starts with an analysis of cooking practices in these communities—dishes cooked, utensils used for cooking, and choice of fuels. It goes on to examine fuel stacking behavior, and finally, it examines how people have integrated EPCs into their cooking practices before the highlighting key impacts associated with using EPCs. The answer to the original research question will be useful for different stakeholders such as utility companies, mini-grid operators, electric cooking appliance manufacturers, the clean cooking sector, and international organizations.
Vaille Swenson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Assessment and verification of commercially available Pressure Cookers for laboratory sterilization.
PloS one, 2018Co-Authors: Vaille Swenson, Amanda D. Stacy, Michael O. Gaylor, Blake Ushijima, Benjamin Philmus, Loralyn M. Cozy, Nina M. Videau, Patrick VideauAbstract:Laboratory science requires careful maintenance of sterile reagents and tools as well as the sterilization of waste prior to disposal. However, steam autoclaves typically used for this purpose may not be readily accessible to everyone in the scientific community, such as K-12 teachers, researchers in the field, students in under-funded laboratories, or persons in the developing world who lack funding and resources. This work examines the use of commercial electric Pressure Cookers as an alternative method for the sterilization of media, instruments, and waste. Four commonly available brands of Pressure cooker were tested for their ability to sterilize microbiological media, a variety of metal instruments, and high-titer microbial cultures. All four Pressure Cookers were able to sterilize these starting materials as well as a range of microbial types, including Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, filamentous fungi, unicellular fungi, and mixed environmental samples. Only the Instant Pot, however, was able to sterilize autoclave tester ampoules of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores. These results suggest that, depending on the nature of the work undertaken, store-bought Pressure Cookers can be an appropriate substitute for commercial autoclaves. Their adoption may also help increase the accessibility of science to a broader range of investigators.
Anna Clements - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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tracking the adoption of electric Pressure Cookers among mini grid customers in tanzania
Energies, 2021Co-Authors: Ansila Kweka, Anna Clements, Megan Bomba, Nora Schurhoff, Joseph Bundala, Erick Mgonda, Mattias Nilsson, Elliot Avila, Nigel ScottAbstract:“Are electric cooking appliances viable clean cooking solutions for mini-grids?” To help answer this question, the Access to Energy Institute (A2EI) set up a pilot project in six different mini-grid locations around Lake Victoria in Tanzania and gave 100 households an electric Pressure cooker (EPC) to use in their homes. Each EPC was connected to a smart meter to collect data on how the EPCs were used. The paper presents findings from a study designed around the A2EI pilot project that aims to provide an understanding of cooking practices, the adoption of electric cooking over time, and to assess the potential for electric cooking to substitute traditional cooking fuels. Through collaboration with the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) program, Nexleaf Analytics, and PowerGen, the pilot has generated data on electrical energy consumption from 92 households in six remote areas as well as a comprehensive range of other datasets gathered from 28 households in two of the locations. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of this data. It starts with an analysis of cooking practices in these communities—dishes cooked, utensils used for cooking, and choice of fuels. It goes on to examine fuel stacking behavior, and finally, it examines how people have integrated EPCs into their cooking practices before the highlighting key impacts associated with using EPCs. The answer to the original research question will be useful for different stakeholders such as utility companies, mini-grid operators, electric cooking appliance manufacturers, the clean cooking sector, and international organizations.