I would define an ingenious device as one that solves a complex problem with a cleverly simple and inexpensive (and therefore accessible) solution. The Kyoto Box is a solar-powered oven made from cardboard — yes, cardboard.
This device recently won the FT Climate Change Challenge, which is a Brit competition to find the most innovative solution to the effects of climate change. The box’s creator, Jon Bøhmer, is a Norwegian who lives in Kenya.
So what makes this box so great and so “green”? It can be used to purify drinking water (did you know that water pasteurizes at a mere 65 degrees?) and it decreases the need for firewood. In the developing world, these are big issues.
Kyoto Energy, Bøhmer’s company, has a few other really cool inventions, including the Kyoto Bag, which heats and cleans water and can be used as a shower, and my favorite: Kyoto Mosaic — plastic mirrors that can concentrate the Sun up to 500 times.
LINKS:
- Kyoto Energy
- “Cardboard Oven Wins £50,000 Green Contest”
- FT Climate Change Challenge
