Sustainability assessment of home-made solar cookers for use in developed countries
Mendoza, Joan Manuel F. (The University of Manchester. School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science)
Gallego Schmid, Alejandro (The University of Manchester. School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science)
Schmidt Rivera, Ximena C. (The University of Manchester. School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science)
Rieradevall, Joan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Azapagic, Adisa (The University of Manchester. School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science)

Data:	2019
Resum:	The sustainability benefits of using solar cookers in developing countries have been analysed widely in the literature. However, the sustainability potential of solar cookers in developed economies has not been explored yet, which is the topic of this paper. Three types of solar cooker - box, panel and parabolic - were built as part of this research, using mostly (>70%) reused household materials. Their life cycle environmental and economic performance was analysed and compared to conventional microwaves. The results were first considered at the level of individual cookers and then scaled up to the levels of a city, region and country, considering a conservative (10%) uptake of solar cookers in substitution of microwaves. The contribution of home-made solar cookers to a circular economy and their social sustainability were also analysed. Spain was used as an illustrative example to demonstrate the potential sustainability benefits of using solar cookers in developed countries. The results suggest that, in comparison with microwaves, they could reduce annual life cycle costs by up to 40% and environmental impacts by up to 65%, including greenhouse gas emissions. At the national level, 42,600 t of CO₂ eq. would be avoided annually while the consumption of primary energy would be reduced by 860 TJ. Furthermore, the electricity consumption would decrease by 67 GWh/yr and 4200 t/yr of household waste would be avoided. If solar cookers were built entirely by reusing household materials, up to €23. 2 million could be saved per year. Finally, the development of craft activities to build and repair the cookers can help people to engage socially and reduce stress, thus enhancing their social wellbeing. It can also increase people's awareness of a more sustainable use of resources. Therefore, home-made solar cookers represent a promising opportunity to motivate behavioural changes towards a circular economy and sustainability in developed countries.
Nota:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Matèria:	Circular economy ; Do-it-yourself (DIY) ; Eco-design ; Life cycle assessment (LCA) ; Life cycle costs (LCC) ; Social sustainability
Publicat a:	Science of the total environment, Vol. 648 (Jan. 2019) , p.184-196, ISSN 1879-1026

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.125
PMID: 30114589

Postprint 21 p, 624.3 KB

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