Muhammad Nurhuda, Biomass Stove UB.03-1

By Cindy Nawilis

At the same time when Indonesia faced an energy crisis due to the soaring price of gas and increasing scarcity of kerosene, a lecturer at Brawijaya University of Malang in East Java pondered his substantial, meaningful contributions to society. To turn his musings to reality, Dr. Muhammad Nurhuda, with background in theoretical physics, delved into renewable energy research in 2008 in the form of clean cooking stoves, using waste-based fuel and for usage in underprivileged communities in Indonesia.

A year later, Indonesia imposed a policy of energy conversion from kerosene to LPG by cutting subsidies for kerosene. However, due to poor controls and oversight, there have been many cases of gas explosions and injuries from lack of knowledge by users. As a result, many people returned to kerosene if they can afford the high costs, or back to firewood use, which adds more burden to households and leads to rapid deforestation. Nurhuda’s biomass stove was an attractive alternative in these circumstances, and his research has entitled him several awards and the opportunity to showcase his innovation to President Susilo Bambang Yudhiyono in 2009.

His biomass stoves have undergone several transformations before the current UB.03-1 model that Kopernik distributes. While working on earlier prototypes, Inotek, an Indonesian innovation incubator, chose Nurhuda’s UB.02 stove to receive funding and commercialization support from the Lemelson Foundation’s Recognition and Mentoring Program (RAMP). However, it was ill-received by the targeted communities due to its short duration of combustion. And a bigger deterrent was the firewood required for combustion. Although Nurhuda prefers and insists using small scrap wood to better conserve environmental resources, he observes that the public does not share the same sentiments: “Regardless how good a technology is, if it’s not practical, people won’t use it. The biggest complaints we received about the stove is about the size of the wood needed to fuel the fire. The impracticality and burden of cutting wood into pieces is the main reason why people were not eager to use it.”

Many more feedbacks and improvements later, the UB.03-1, whose patent is currently being processed, offers the perfect solution. The stove is basically a gasifier stove, but with pre-heating and counter flow burning mechanism to complete the combustion. When standard-sized fuel is properly dried, the stove produces no smoke--significantly reducing health risks incurred from the thick black fumes of conventionally used stoves. Compared to traditional three-brick/stone stoves, the biomass UB.03-1 stove can save fuels up to 80%. A regular household switching from a kerosene stove can save up to USD $20 a month. With so many benefits to offer, communities are quick to convert to the new and improved stove.

“The results have been astonishing,” Nurhuda said. “The public is very enthusiastic, because to cook they now only need 3 logs of wood, 12 cm in length with 6 cm diameter, which is very little fuel for fire that lasts over an hour. Small pieces of wood are still needed, but only to initiate the fire. An additional log can extend the fire for another 30 minutes.” The change to regular woodfire made possible by the new stove will “greatly aid the rural communities, especially the housewives, who will save time, save costs on fuel, and their kitchens will not be so smoky.”

To date more than 4000 stoves total have been sold according to Nurhuda, although this figure also includes what he considers unsuccessful models. Kopernik have distributed close to 1500 of the 4000+ stoves to Timor-leste and five different locations throughout Indonesia: Punden, Klaten, Bojonegoro, West Nusa Tenggara, and surrounding area of Mt. Merapi in Yogyakarta. This video below provides a closer look of the village residents of Punden who received the stoves.


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