S.T.E.V.E.N.

Sustainable Technology and Energy for Vital Economic Needs
414 Triphammer Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA.
Email: stevenfoundation@yahoo.com.
Website: www.virtualithaca.com/francis/stevenhomepage.html

NEWSLETTER 2001


Dear friend of the STEVEN Foundation,
   It is time once again for our annual newsletter, the 11th annual since 1991.  We remain a small organization, but determined to do our part in promoting Appropriate Technology (AT) and alternative energy in both our immediate surroundings and in developing countries.  2001 was a year of staying and working mainly here in Ithaca (although Jaroslav and Wilda Vanek did some work with AT during their visit to the Czech Republic).  Even without travel to developing countries for demonstrations and workshops, we find ways to spread our message, not only through mail and the internet but also through contact with people passing through Ithaca who take our material and know-how with them.
   We hope you will enjoy reading this newsletter, and we welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions about our work.  Best wishes for the upcoming year.
-- Francis Vanek, Director
 

In this issue:

1. Development of new dual source engine/pump demo
2. Cooking with sun in Ithaca this year
3. 2001 developments in Czech Republic
4. Updating of STEVEN website
5. Testing of Superbike
6. New board members join
7. Demonstrations of solar oven at Solar symposium, Ecovillage 10th anniversary
8. Continuing support to AT developers in the field
9. Editorial
 

Development of new dual source engine/pump demo


   As part of our backyard demonstration of appropriate technology, we have constructed and tested a dual-source steam engine and water pumping system.  A wood-fired steam boiler has been added to the previously existing solar powered system, so that the engine and pump can be run either by the solar parabolic trough collector when there is sunshine, or else by wood-burning when there is no sun.
   This system will allow us to demonstrate the pumping capability of the system regardless of the weather or even after dark, provided of course that it is not so cold that the water in the pump has frozen.  Visitors will be interested to see both the engine and the pump in operation, since they both demonstrate the possibility of building low-tech, non-human-powered machines from simple, locally available plumbing parts.  The system can also make the use of steam-powered pumping more versatile in the field, in areas where a modest amount of firewood can be taken from the surrounding area without contributing to deforestation.  This is because users of the system can operate it on solar power whenever possible, but still have the use of the pump when sufficient sun is not available, by burning wood or other biofuels.

Jaroslav Vanek (l) and Francis Vanek demonstrate the dual source steam engine and pump.  Wood burned in the recycled barbecue boils steam from an empty gas cylinder (inside barbecue compartment), which drives steam engine and piston pump (out of view behind large white flywheel), which in turn pumps water out of black bin and back in.  Solar collector waits for sun (!) in background.
 

Cooking with the Sun in Ithaca 2001


   Despite its reputation as a cloudy city, the warm season in Ithaca was actually very good for cooking with the sun this year, with sufficient sun for cooking on roughly two days in three.  This may have to do with the generally drier conditions prevalent in the northeastern US now: locally we have had 30 inches of rain through November compared with an average of 35 inches.
   With our busy schedule we focused mainly on cooking of bulk foods: grains (especially rice), beans and pulses, and root vegetables.  We also did make an occasional casserole or loaf of bread.  Approximate totals for the year were 35-40 pots of rice, 8-10 pots of beans-pulses-potatoes, and 5 casseroles and breads.  A few notables: the cookers performed well in intermittent sun and cumulus clouds, they were able to maintain a constant enough temperature to cook effectively; in clear conditions in the longest days (June and July), we were able to cook two dishes back-to-back; and we learned how to use the reflective cone as a rain protector by taking it off and placing it upside-down on the box, so that the whole unit could be easily covered with a waterproof tarp or sheet of plastic.
   The eight-sided panel we introduced last year appears to improve performance, though this has not been tested scientifically.  As shown in the illustration, although the total cross-sectional area of the cone is slightly reduced, light in the corners is reflected directly into the oven, so that overall insolation increases.

Figure: top view of solar oven, showing old 4-sided cone design (l), and new 8-sided cone design (r).

   Coming up for the further design evolution of the solar cooker is the recycling of discarded barbecue stands into solar oven stands (i.e. the ones on wheels with shelves on either side for holding dishes).  Removing the barbecue unit from such a stand and mounting the oven in its place would provide a convenient way to move the cooker, keep it at a convenient height above the ground, and provide shelves for putting dishes down on their way in or out of the oven.
   We also improved our larger community-size oven (dimensions 1m x 1m) this year, by adding a sealed hinge door and oven-racks with an adjustable slope.  The oven racks were recycled out of a conventional discarded oven, so this provides a good way to keep a usable item out of the waste stream.
 

2001 Developments in Czech Republic


   The Superbike patenting procedure seems to be nearing completion.  The responsible official in the Prague patent office informed us that the necessary papers and documents have reached his desk [after three years] and that they are at or near the top and thus should be acted on very soon.
   Perhaps more promising in the short run is the production of our solar ovens.  Many Czech families have country cottages without electricity and with fairly simple cooking facilities, and some have indicated interest in our solar oven after seeing us use the oven in cooking rice or baking a chicken.  With a friend living in our village we have developed a production facility to produce the ovens for local use, with very simple tools and instruments. The only mechanical tool is a versatile electric circular hand saw permitting other than vertical cuts.
 

Updated and Expanded STEVEN website


   This year we increased the size of the STEVEN website and also added many new pictures and diagrams to help viewers become familiar with the technologies.  Taking the existing STEVEN prospectus (1997, third edition), we updated the text where necessary, and then put text, diagrams, and photographs in the website.  We would eventually like to put text and diagrams for our complete construction manuals in the website in a form that is easy to download.  Note: if any reader has experience with this and would like to help, please do contact us!
  In a related matter, we have been considering how we might more effectively use the internet to promote appropriate technologies, and in April, Francis drew up a brief proposal outlining the project, which can be found in the website.  We are looking for prospective partners to work on this project.
   The address for the website is:

 www.virtualithaca.com/francis/stevenhomepage.html

We would be grateful for any feedback you may have; this can be sent to francisvanek@yahoo.com.
 

Testing the superbike


   In June we undertook the most physically demanding test yet of the superbike (bicycle with legs driving rear wheel and arms driving front wheel, using separate chain drive).  Francis rode it uphill from the village of Varna outside of Ithaca to the top of Mt. Pleasant, a climb of some 500 vertical feet, much of it on very steep roads.  The specific superbike used had a fixed gear in back and gearshift in front, so it was a cycle that ordinarily would be very difficult to pedal up a steep hill without walking.  Francis was able to ride up the hill, stopping twice to rest, which showed the difference that the additional power from the arms makes.

Diagram of Superbike


New Board Members Join

   The STEVEN Foundation wishes to welcome two new members to our board of directors, Bob Parks of Ithaca, and Sarah Cummer of Washington DC, as of our annual meeting in April of this year.   Both new members bring valuable experience to the board.  Bob is a Lecturer in Political Science at Elmira College, where he has in the past taken groups of students to the state of Oaxaca in Mexico to work with a developmental community, or ejido, based there.  More recently he was the director of the Ithaca Intercultural Institute, which brought students from Japan to Ithaca for a summer program of intensive English and cultural studies.  His current work includes the development of an online dictionary and thesaurus, so he has been able to help the Foundation with the development of our website.  Sarah lived in Ithaca until August of 1985, where she was active in community affairs, including the support of the progressive East Hill School, which her children attended.  While in Ithaca she earned her degree in law at Cornell University, and after leaving Ithaca served as a legal counsel for the national association of credit unions in Washington, so she is able to advise the Foundation on legal matters.  She currently runs a gardening business in Washington.  We wish to express our gratitude for their willingness to volunteer their time and knowledge to assist the work of the Foundation.
 

Demonstrations of Solar Oven at Solar Symposium, Ecovillage 10th Anniversary


   The STEVEN Foundation had two opportunities this year to demonstrate solar technology (the solar oven in this case), both in Ithaca.  The first was a solar symposium held in honor of the opening of the solar photovoltaic (PV) system on top of the Tompkins County library in downtown Ithaca (www.tcpl.org) in June.  For that event, we baked bread rolls using an oven set up next to the sidewalk outside the symposium venue, and talked about the work of the Foundation with numerous attendees and passers-by.  Then in September we participated in the 10th Anniversary of the Ecovillage at Ithaca, a local cohousing community, by demonstrating the use of a solar oven for baking nachos.  The enthusiasm with which visitors greeted the use of solar energy for cooking made clear the desire for clean technologies that really work.
 

Continuing Support to AT Developers in the Field


   We continue to handle various requests for information from across the US and around the world, mostly unsolicited, suggesting that the international grapevine continues to spread the word about our work on appropriate technology.  We have also been providing technical information to individuals actively involved in building technologies using STEVEN designs in California (icemaker), Iran (parabolic trough water heating using thermosiphon), India (parabolic trough for steam power), and Zambia (parabolic trough).  Increasingly this correspondence is taking on the use of email and the internet, and we hope that by gradually adding more details and interactivity to our website, we may be able to more efficiently support from a distance the building of the technologies.
 

Editorial: Using AT to Create a More Sane World


   A great deal has been written already regarding the events of September 11th, so it may seem redundant to once again call attention to them in this newsletter.  However, these events are directly connected to the difficult situation in developing countries today.  Since these circumstances are the focus of much of our work, we feel that it is worth making some reference to them here.
   First, we share in the grief felt by people everywhere dedicated to justice and the betterment of world in the aftermath of these events.  They have drawn our attention not only to the plight of the bereaved here in the US, but to the poverty in many countries of the Middle East, including Afghanistan.  We do not believe in any way that the existence of imbalances in the distribution of wealth and poverty justifies indiscriminate violence carried out arbitrarily against people who happened to be present in the World Trade Center.  However, we can see that reductions in the level of misery in these countries can reduce the risk of such attacks, since the motivation for such hatred will be reduced.
   If we wish to understand human misery, we can see that it stems in part from the poor condition of the natural environment that surrounds the people in question.  This environment is not adequate to provide for these people.  When they do not have sufficient clean water, or adequate agricultural land to feed themselves, hunger and discomfort are the result.  Here AT can help to improve conditions: for example, cooking with the sun can reduce firewood consumption, and thereby allow forests to grow back.
   Actions taken in the industrialized countries can help as well.  In our current global order, it is the rich countries which benefit the most from practices that degrade the environment, while it is the third world that suffers the most, because, paradoxically, lack of wealth in these latter countries means that their citizens can least afford to protect themselves from the outcome of negative trends such as global warming.  Take the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in Honduras: the combination of more intense hurricanes and ever larger numbers of people pushed to a marginal existence is a recipe for disaster in terms of ever increasing human suffering.  As a response, many of the same practices we advocate for developing countries apply in the wealthy countries as well: for example, using solar energy for cooking or electricity reduces consumption of fossil fuels and emissions of greenhouse gases, and thereby helps the environment.


Thank you to Oliver Habicht of Ithaca for providing advice on working with IT systems at the Foundation.  Oliver is a long-time family friend and is the System Support and Design Specialist in the Kroch Library at Cornell University.


Manuals and videos: the following materials are available on an ability-to-contribute basis from the STEVEN Foundation:

· Manuals: parabolic collector, steam engine, shallow-well pump, hydraulic pump, solar oven.
· Videos: overview of STEVEN technologies, instructions for shallow-well hand pump

Please write or email for more information.  STEVEN is a registered 501-c-3 nonprofit.  All donations are tax-deductible, and are used to help disseminate sustainable technology.



Uploaded November 27, 2001 by Francis Vanek.  Back to the S.T.E.V.E.N. Foundation homepage.