Mexican Carlos Glatt Invents an Affordable and Efficient ‘La Estufita’ Stove to Improve Public Health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 4.3 million people die prematurely every year from using solid fuels and open fires inside their homes and more than 3 billion people affected by cooking with firewood, worldwide!
As we live in the 21st century, these figures are very alarming which directly affect the human health and need immediate action to curb it.
In fact, an exposure to wood smoke is the main risk factor for lung cancer in non-smoking population across the world.
Images credit: Glatt Stove
Carlos Glatt’s Invention: Glatt Stove
A social project ‘Glatt Stove’ founded by a Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Glatt in 2013, has a mission to eliminate the risk of death from respiratory disease caused by cooking with firewood or gas using a novel green solution that is practical, cheaper, easy to use and safe for people living in rural areas.
The main product is La Estufita (Little Stove) a resistant and portable stove that works with an ecological liquid fuel.
Images credit: Glatt Stove
Carlos got inspired to invent the product when he met a 14-year-old girl who was breastfeeding a baby.
She was suffering from the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease because she had been cooking with wood. He took her to the local hospital in Guerrero, Mexico and decided to do something. He sold his tourism brand Piraña Joe and set up a workshop in his kitchen!
He designed an affordable and efficient 15cm x 15 cm stove Estufita powered by an alcohol-based fuel, which does not require fuel wood, charcoal or any biomass or even electricity.
It has a smoke-free low emission of pollutants at 7 ppm (parts per million) VS. 750,000ppm generated when cooking with firewood.
The Glatt Stove can serve up to 2 years and its monthly fuel consumption at 2 to 3 gallons per family. It weighs only 1.33 kg, with a temperature at 320 °C and supports a pot of 70 kg.
You can enjoy cooking during any outdoor events as this tiny stove fits into a personal backpack, making it easy to carry anywhere, so you can cook practically anything you want, wherever you want.
Excellent invention and social initiative of Carlos Glatt to help people in improving their health…Great work.
