Stove technology

BBC reports on a low-smoke model of cookstove to replace the traditional mud stoves. The model (now open sourced) may well be as efficient as they claim, but 40 pounds is, according to my office mate, about 4000 rupees and a very significant expense. I looked at the website of the firm, and it seems to sell/resell a number of different stoves, including several that use dung. No solar, which probably says something.

Nice idea and all, though I get a faint whiff of press release/ad news story. Smoky stoves are a curse, causing millions of lung problems around the world. If new stoves are less smoky, we have a lot less lung disease.

I wonder what can be done with the traditional material--mud? If the combustion chamber and piping was molded to good tolerances, could the efficiency go up enough and the soot output go down enough to make it worthwhile?

If so, then how about designing pipe and chamber molds so that a village could make a lot of mud stoves off the same mold? Not as nice or easy to clean as steel, but more affordable out in the countryside.