ISBN: 978-1-483-57064-8
DISCLAIMER
Although the contents of this eBook are based on factual research, anecdotal evidence and personal experience, Lee Elliott cannot be held accountable for the manner in which you decide to use the information supplied in this eBook.
The author and publisher have made every effort to make this eBook as comprehensive and accurate as possible, with the content in the eBook based on verifiable research and established facts, and as such they assume no responsibility for errors or omissions.
There may be mistakes both typographical and in content. No guarantee is provided in the eBook that the information stated is correct, complete and current. Therefore, the content should be used only as general guide and not as a specific or generic source of the subject matters covered.
You should be circumspect in using this information, and understand this is at your own risk. Your unique situation may not be perfectly aligned to the circumstances demonstrated here, and you should adapt your use of the information and recommendations accordingly.
Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied or actual endorsement if we refer to one of these specific designs or features.
This eBook is in no way intended to be a substitute for any legal, medical or professional advice on the subject matter.
Readers of this eBook are advised to conduct their own due diligence in terms of making business or purchasing decisions based on the content, and we recommend strongly that these decisions are independently verified by your own qualified professionals.
Your level of success in attaining the results claimed in our eBook depends on the time you devote to the procedures, ideas and techniques illustrated, your knowledge and various skills. Since these factors differ according to individuals, designs and environmental and geographical circumstances, results may vary.
Above all you need to employ common sense.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
As a child I was infatuated with adventure stories, in any shape or form. My heroes ranged from Asterix and Obelix, terrorizing the poor, downtrodden Romans, and in the process drinking copious volumes of wine and beer, to Tintin, his small dog Snowy and the perpetually dubious Captain Haddock, who as a team fluctuated widely, one minute scouting the dark jungles of the Amazon to the next adventure on some remote outpost on the dark side of the moon.
Be it Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys or Biggles, my thirst for good, adrenaline-pumping adventure stores remained insatiable. One character who in particular remained a constant source of fascination to me was the indomitable Huckleberry Finn. Maybe it was the curious company he kept, from his lifetime friend Tom Sawyer, to his new-found, surreptitious companion Jim, the runaway slave, or just the assortment of odd people who constantly popped in and out of his life. Either way, in my minds eye, I could easily visualize him travelling down the swollen Mississippi River on his raft, contemplating life or at the very least seemingly being able to effortlessly live constantly in the moment, like some loyal cinematic addict glued to the screen of a giant, continuous cinema theater churning out one new movie after the next. Huckleberry Finn moreover was always a participant, never a displaced observer.
In retrospect probably the only thing that surprises me about Huck is that he seemingly never possessed a solar cooker. I would have naturally just assumed that he would have one, no doubt manufactured at great length and with loving, detailed care, from raw materials undoubtedly bartered for various catfish that he and Tom had pursued and caught with great vigor and excitement on the banks of the Mississippi.
I can just imagine Tom and Huck catching and skinning catfish, and with gay abandon tossing these huge fish over their shoulders and trudging nonchalantly up to the regular Trading Store to barter and procure the necessary material for the solar cooker. After all what better way to end one their many frenetic days than eating a well-cooked solar meal out of their solar cooker, from the deck of their raft, of course!
Whist I do not profess to know if Huckleberry Finn ever owned a solar cooker or not, what does continue to surprise me is how long is has taken society to catch on to the concept of renewable energy, be it solar, wind, tidal, geothermal or microbiological. Even more surprising is the level of reluctance displayed by this same society as a whole, to make this next leap of faith.
Remarkable as it seems, Thomas Edison almost 80 years ago, in 1931, was quoted (in Uncommon Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James Newton, p. 31), as saying in conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone , We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Natures inexhaustible sources of energy sun, wind and tide. Id put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we dont have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that!
Historical scenes playing out on CNN of ballooning rivers of crude oil gushing out from damaged oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico tend to reinforce the growing collective perception that fossil fuel energy not only remains unpalatable to the average man and woman on the street, but also simply has a life span. Apart from being ultimately damaging to the environment, as a long-term sustainable solution it is simply morally corrupt.
Fortunately it seems this perception is shared by some fairly influential people and in this regard on June 15 2010 President Barak Obama in his address to the American people said, amongst many other things, that
For decades we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, weve talked and talked about the need to end Americas century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and time again, the path forward has been blocked-not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.
President Obama was talking conceptually of course but his call to action was unmistakable. He of all people must stand firm against this recalcitrance. Having said that, one at last begins to sense an approaching watershed and with it, hopefully, a change of thinking.
To what degree solar energy will contribute to future endeavors to harness renewable energy remains to be seen, and no doubt it will take a long time for the average housewife to swap her digital electric or gas oven for a solar cooker, especially on overcast and rainy days.
Coincidentally three months after President Obamas national address, his Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, on announcing the inauguration of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a new public-private partnership led by the United Nations Foundation (UNF), pronounced Today we can finally envision a future in which open fires and dirty stoves are replaced by clean, efficient and affordable stoves and fuels all over the world -- stoves that still cost as little as $25. By upgrading these dirty stoves, millions of lives could be saved and improved. Clean stoves could be as transformative as bed nets or vaccines.
