The solar thermal cooling system can be considered as an outstanding technological solution for tropical countries that enjoy an all-year high sun exposure combined with a comparatively balanced need for cooling. The Fraunhofer Institute for environmental, safety- and energy-technology UMSICHT In Oberhausen, Germany, has developed a self-sufficient refrigerator, only run by solar heated water. In contrast to other solar systems this device needs different high-quality components like for example high-efficient solar collectors.

GECOTEC e.V.applies for financial support for the development of a mass production of this system in a so-called emergent country. The aim is to enable a commercial manufacture of solar cooling devices within the emergent nation for national and international markets.
To achieve sustainable improvement of the living conditions in economical weak countries we consider the realization of short-term solutions in other projects as valuable and trend setting as developments adjusted and designed for a long-term perspective.

Especially in tropical countries cooking with solar energy is a subject that is rarely developed and disseminated in adjusted technologies. The Institute for energy efficiency at the Universidad de Oriente in Santiago de Cuba has - beside the solar cookers shown on the bottom of this page - developed devices with special solar collectors that enable to use solar energy for cooking inside houses.

Currently GECOTEC e.V. is busy with manufacturing different prototypes of the solar cookers in Mexico and Nepal.
Like in our other projects it is the aim to realize ecotechnologies by using resources of the developing countries and to strengthen and possibly transfer their own competences and capacities for an economical development.

This project plot deals with recycling biomass into building materials (ecomate- riales; economic and ecologic building materials) and energy at a very small scale. This work is considering a step further into the application of the technology for the manufacture of the binder CP-40, this time widened up to the generation of energy. Building materials and energy have always had a direct link. The manufacture of most building materials is an energy consuming process whereas the energy is used for burning materials at high temperatures or crush coarse particles down to finer ones.

Steel and binders are the most energy consuming building materials. To manufacture any type of binder, the elements used must have been subjected to temperatures over 700 oC, although more frequently temperatures go beyond 1000 oC. The manufacture of binders accounts for the production of large amounts of the greenhouse gas CO2 with a negative ecological impact.

There are other building materials that, although require less energy in their manufacture, such energy has a negative impact on the environment since it is produced at the cost of depleting non-renewable resources such as the tropical forests. The cases of lime manufacture as well as fired clay brick production are very representative for the situation in developing countries where traditional fuels are not available and other fuels, such as firewood have to be utilized.
A concerning problem in developing countries is the management of the huge amount of wastes produced by the industry and agriculture. A significant part of these wastes is biomass that could be eventually used as renewable fuel, for instance in the building materials industry. However, the current conditions and infrastructure in most developing countries do not allow organizing initiatives to recycle combustible wastes productively.

The recycling of wasted biomass is encouraged. This comprises agriculture residues, paper wastes, or the organic part Solid Urban Wastes (SUW).
The agri-industrial wastes in the agruculture industry as well as wastes in harvesting rice, and coffee, are the main potential source of non disposed biomass. The Solid Urban Wastes (SUW) are another important source of biomass that increasingly becomes a major problem for big cities, and even in medium size urban centers.
Clay will be used as binder. Clay minerals, besides having binding properties on their own, can be additionally activated by inducing changes in the internal structure at temperature in the range from 800-1000 oC depending on the type of clay. The resulting material is a reasonably reactive pozzolana.

The idea of the SFB considers both binding properties of clays. Before combustion, the clay acts as the binder that helps compacting the biomass; when the SFB is burnt, the clay present in it is thermally activated, thus becoming a reactive pozzolana that is suitable to be used for the manufacture of lime-pozzolana binders.
This product represents an attractive, interesting and environmentally sound alternative for renewable fuel, which attains reasonable efficiency levels as compared to traditional fuels. Its use allows to recycle at very small-scale wastes that otherwise would have no proper disposal.

This technology has been worked out by our international partners CIDEM (Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Estructuras y Materiales) Santa Clara, Cuba and Grupo Sofonias, Suiza and EcoSur network, Nicaragua and ready to be realized in any building place, in large an small scale in special aplication to third-world countries.

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