Online edition of Daily News

The National Engineering Research and Development Centre of Sri Lanka widely known as NERD has introduced a high efficient wood gas stove - Lanka Shakthi to the market.

Developed by NERD's Mechanical Engineer, D.M.P.Bandara, this stove has won several international awards including a silver award at the New Inventions Awards held in Switzerland last year and Presidential Award for new inventions in 2000.

At the launch: Science and Technology Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, Chairman NERD, Ranjan Rodrigo, Executive Director Integrated Development Association (IDEA), R. M. Amerasekera and NERD’s Mechanical Engineer, D. M. P. Bandara.

More than 75% households in Sri Lanka use firewood for cooking purposes. However, this process can be chaotic at times due to smoke emission and the deposit of carbon on the outer surfaces of the pots being the main difficulties of using the traditional firewood.

The NERD's invention which is an alternative to the traditional firewood stove would help eliminate such practical issues in cooking and assures a high efficient service to customers, a NERD official said.

Lanka Shakthi Wood Gas Stove

In comparison to LPG gas cookers, the wood gas stove is a safe and convenient way to cook food and it will also reduce the cost by 50%. In efficiency, it is about 20% greater than the traditional wood stove, he said. The efficiency of the traditional firewood stove is around 8 to 10 percent while Lanka Shakthi is around 30 to 35%.

For one hour's cooking, the stove needs 600 grams of wood chips and it provides sufficient heat for preparing a complete meal for an average family, the official said. A demonstration to launch the new wood gas stove was held in Colombo in the presence of Science and Technology Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. Several institutions and individuals obtained the technology on the occasion.

The spokesman said that NERD will take measures to popularise this technology among entrepreneurs and households islandwide.