A Refrigerator that Runs Without Electricity
Community Projects, Processing & Food Preservation — by Craig Mackintosh
Sometimes there are simple solutions to universal needs that don’t require coal fired electricity, fossil fuels, or even solar panels or wind turbines.
Around a third of the world’s population have no access to electricity. If you’re like me, you’ve spent your entire life being able to plug in. Do we ever give a thought to what life would be like if the various appliances we’ve come to rely on were to suddenly stop working? One of the most energy guzzling appliances in our carbon footprint portfolio is the refrigerator. But, unplug it, and the quality of your life will suddenly deteriorate. Take that thought, and imagine living in a hot dry country in Africa, without electricity, where food quickly wilts and rots in the sun, aided by onslaughts of flies.
One modern day genius, mindful of this basic need to preserve food, has solved the problem for many. Mohammed Bah Abba, a Nigerian teacher, invented the ‘device’ — a refrigerator that doesn’t require electricity!
From a family of pot-makers, Mohammed has made ingeniously simple use of the laws of thermodynamics to create the pot-in-pot refrigerator, called a Zeer in Arabic.
Here’s how it works.
You take two earthen pots, both being the same shape but different sizes, and put one within the other. Then, fill the space between the two pots with sand before pouring water into the same cavity to make the sand wet. Then, place food items into the inner pot, and cover with a lid or damp cloth. You only need to ensure the pot-in-pot refrigerator is kept in a dry, well-ventilated space; the laws of thermodynamics does the rest. As the moisture in the sand evaporates, it draws heat away from the inner pot, cooling its contents. The only maintenance required is the addition of more water, around twice a day.
To give an idea of its performance, spinach that would normally wilt within hours in the African heat will last around twelve days in the pot, and items like tomatoes and peppers that normally struggle to survive a few days, now last three weeks. Aubergines (eggplants) get a life extension from just a few days to almost a month.
Inventing the refrigerator in 1995, Mohammed distributed thousands around Nigerian communities during the late 1990s (initially for free to get the word out, then later at just production-cost price), and subsequently won the Rolex Award for Enterprise in the year 2000. It has improved the lives and health of thousands. Less work can translate into more education for children, and small farmers who were before losing large proportions of their harvest are now able to earn a better income. Another knock-on benefit is improved health due to better preservation of vitamins, as well as a reduction in health problems like dysentery due to the separation of food and flies.
It seems that not all the answers to life’s needs have to come with a plug and instruction book.
Originally published on Celsias
Overjoyed. I’m now convinced that we can reduce our energy consumption to at least 1/10th of what we currently use without altering our quality of life in a negative way.
This was the last piece in the equation.
Post more info if possible.
I think it needs a plastic pull out lining which would hold all the food, so you could grab your bucket of chilled vegies take what you needed and then return the lot to the chiller.
In fact we could probably chill entire shopping centers using this porus material and sand/water combination. Its just a different approach to the cooling towers we currently use with water sprayed into a tower and air passed through it. Maybe the porus material could be on the roof and the natural air and sun would cool the building by evaporation. If there was a glass ceiling over it the water could be collected and recycled. If it were clean Sea Water the salt and the pure fresh water could be collected, and no chemicals need be used to keep the air sterile. The only problem shopping centers have is cooling as the heat load of the people, lights, refrigerators (see its related!) heats the building many times over. Just another example of the sickening waste which our industrialized cities perpetuate through no concern for the energy consumption needed. Fortunately legislation is changing, but make sure that if any building goes up near you it is five or six star energy rated. Its up to you! Six star means it has innovative technology for saving energy and is pushing the limits to new levels. Any energy hungry buildings and trust me most of them are obscene, will be around for a long time causing their occupants pain and the world to expire faster, needlessly burning energy until they are refitted or rebuilt. Do everyone a favor, do the world a favor and go out of your way to insist five or six star energy compliance ( http://www.abcb.gov.au/go/eehousing_p1 ) for any new building, especially by councils who can lead by example and large corporate ventures, who use the most energy.
Lets do this!
Comment by Jo — August 12, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
Another off-grid non-electric refrigerator concept, talked about at TED, is linked from my blog, http://permakent.com/2008/07/09/off-grid-non-electric-refrigeration/
Comment by J. Kent Hastings — August 13, 2008 @ 6:57 am
For the plugged in West, this is exactly the sort of do-it-yourself project that can spawn a celebration of changes and commitment essential to transitional culture. Thank you for publishing it.
I’ve intended to link to your site (from http://www.celebratewaste.org). Now I shall!
Comment by Richard Smith — August 14, 2008 @ 4:15 am
Absolutly fabulous, It’s alway’s nice to hear of another renewable resource
Comment by laurel — August 14, 2008 @ 11:51 am
Hang on… what about the (quite numerous) parts of the world where water is extremely scarce…? Will they want to use it to power a refrigerator?
Comment by Alex — August 14, 2008 @ 7:32 pm
my guess is this is only really feasible on a small scale, (i.e., not to effectively cool entire rooms!) because as the size of the container increases, the surface area to volume ratio decreases. the ultimate effect is less loss of heat per unit of time in relation to the volume of the area being cooled.
i could also be completely wrong, but if not, there’s nothing wrong with small scale!
another thing i’m interested in: what is the relationship between cooling effectiveness and environment? In other words, where will this type of refrigerator work? Only in hot tropical or subtropical desert-type (arid) areas? Or will it work in temperate climates, too? If so, during what months of the year?
Comment by ethan — August 15, 2008 @ 3:40 pm
Good article, remember though that the whole idea of a ‘carbon footprint’ is a terrible and ridiculous joke that has gone on too far.
Carbon is a life giving gas and is NOT driving climate change. contary to politically motivated proaganda man made global warming is a fraud - see “The Great Global Warming Swindle”.
Comment by ryan brown — August 16, 2008 @ 2:05 am
http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm
it’s all there. the conclusions, the methodology. the money trails. what exactly about the scientific methodologies they use to assess the anthropogenic factors contributing to climate change do you disagree with?
hate to break the news to you, dude, but you’re the one getting “swindled” if you’re believing the propaganda in that hack film. given the amount of money interest and power behind these efforts to debunk and dismiss anthropogenic climate change, i’m honestly surprised that the results have been so pathetic.
ps “remember, though…” are you freaking kidding me?
“oh, that’s RIGHT, i completely forgot for a moment that anthropogenic climate change is a HOAX. thank you so much for that reminder. i’m just soooo forgetful about these types of things sometimes.”
is it really that easy for you to be a patronizing douche? or is it hard work?
Comment by ethan — August 16, 2008 @ 6:41 am
The Great Global Warming Swindle, a film that exposes the so called “consensus” of scientists as bogus is a “hack film”? Oh really?
So I suppose “An Inconvenient Truth” from failed politician turned self-appointed global warming cult leader Al Gore is reliable and should be treated as gospel then, right?
After all politicans are such an honest bunch of folks arent they?
If there is money being made - and they certainly is - it is for those that suspend reason, logic, and independent scientific evidence and subscribe to the pro-anthropogenic(man-made)cult, whether it be for climate change scientists or for compliant journalists, who endless remind us to feel guilty of our “carbon footprint”. So plenty of money for those that go with the flow.
Especially from the IPCC. The IpCC is a UN apointed body and is therefore obvious politically motivated and driven and huge amounts of money is poured into promoting this bogus theory.
The fact is the entire solar system has been gradually heating up due to solar activity over the last century. It is not a problem solely happening on earth, therefore it is obviouslly not a man made problem and part of a bigger solar system wide issue.
Try explaining this to the modern day end of the world end is night doomsayers.
Is it not pathetic to trick people to get a list of scientists on file then? The fact is the cat is out of the bag, many scientists are now speaking out (some of which were man made global warming advocates and have back tracked)that this C02 = global warming theory is fundementally wrong - despite the intimidation to go along with UN sponsored bullshit.
In fact there are far more scientists now who question this fraudelent science than there are IPCC “scientists” which is a fraudulent document (If you watch the film some of the scientists on the list asked to be removed from the list but they refused).
Why are we being conned into believing this?
so goverments can drastically destroy our quality of life in the form of punitive carbon taxes.
Comment by ryan brown — August 16, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
Also worth seeing is “Global Warming or Global Governance” also on google video. Demonstrates the political reasons for instilling this insidious propaganda.
This is no doubt another “hack film”.
A “hack film” is a lovely all encompassing term and strategy to dismiss anybody who dares to counter official propaganda with sound scientific experiments (which is of course a big part of what science is about) so that you don’t need to get into troubling data that might challenge a viewpoint that you may have invested a strong emotional attachment too.
Comment by ryan brown — August 16, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
In permaculture design we concentrate on links to constants in the universe and evaporation cools and condensation warms. Good design starts with good basic main frame themes which then iterate into complexity from there.
Comment by Geoff Lawton — August 16, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
perhaps you could use an automatic plant waterer to keep the sand moist maybe.
Comment by ryan brown — August 17, 2008 @ 12:21 am
Ethan, Ryan may well be right. Anthropogenic Global Warming is beginning to look like a huge and sinister confidence trick.
Watch the video before you comment. http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=4860344067427439443&ei=UlqxSPiCIpOKrgP25tjADA&q=%E2%80%9CGlobal+Warming+or+Global+Governance%E2%80%9D&hl=en
…and please don’t descend into personal abuse of anyone, just because they disagree with you. When you lose your temper, you lose your argument.
Comment by Alexi — August 24, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
Citing “an inconvenient truth” is nothing but a red herring. i’ve never even seen the movie, and it’s not relevant to this discussion. I will simply ignore your patronizing attitudes (which, yes, I will continue to mock if you continue to act that way) and restate my original, unanswered question:
what exactly about the scientific methodologies they use to assess the anthropogenic factors contributing to climate change do you disagree with?
telling me to “watch a movie” that has long been dismantled due to being completely misleading and disingenuous — including both abuse of interviewees as well as scientific data, and using industry-funded research and scientists — isn’t really an effective form of answering that question.
it’s really ironic that you spout off all this crap about int’l gov’t conspiracies and you don’t look at the matrix of power and control that already exists between governments and wealthy, extremely powerful industry interests. that’s not skepticism — it’s selective gullibility. millions and even billions of industry dollars [from basically a few rich white guys] which are behind the crap you keep trying to assert as “counter-evidence” that anthropogenic global warming is bunk.
http://www.climateofdenial.net/
so, start ignoring the propaganda and start participating directly in the discussion about the scientific data, methodologies and techniques.
Comment by ethan — August 25, 2008 @ 3:30 am
as a small tag note: global warming isn’t “the end of the world.” but denying it is irresponsible and will simply make the fundamentals of life — such as plentiful access to clean drinking water, healthy food, and stable shelter — much more difficult to attain for all but the world’s wealthiest few.
Comment by ethan — August 25, 2008 @ 3:42 am
This is wonderful for hoy dry climates-not so great for hot humid climates-mold and bacteria problems plus evaporation would not happen quickly enough to get all the cooling benifits. In humid climates you can dig deep in the earth 3-4ft or more to take advantage of the earths naturally cool depths of if you have cold creek or spring in the shade you can submerge a waterproof cooler 3/4 up- this also works great.
Comment by Asia — September 16, 2008 @ 9:08 am
Ethan and Ryan: whether you believe in global warming or not, the truth of the matter is that the world population and its need for natural resources has drastically increased in the past century. However, the natural resources available haven’t increased, which means that with increased demand, those resources must have decreased. Which means that we are putting incredible strain on the environment. I’m sorry Ryan, but as this continues it won’t just be the government that’s ‘drastically destroying our quality of life’.
I don’t know if you guys are from Australia or not, but do you think its a hoax that Melbourne’s just had the driest spring on record? Or that the reservoirs are drastically low going into summer? Yes, we’ve always had drought cycles, but like I said there’s much more demand now than ever before because of our lifestyles and population size. Let’s concentrate on what we really can do - live in a way that has as little impact on the environment as possible; which is the point of a permaculture forum, isn’t it?
I’m so glad to see that people in Africa are making changes and being forward thinking in ways that us westerners struggle with. Maybe we can use these pots for our fresh fruit and veg, which might mean that we only need a small fridge for the rest of our food. I’m sure we can use rainwater or water caught in our shower to keep the pots moist rather than fresh tap water.
Comment by Mel — November 14, 2008 @ 2:43 am
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