PSU Magazine Fall 2000

H ow would you like to spend 50 percent of your income to fuel your stove- while filling your home with deadly fumes and making your chil– dren sick? That's an easy question to answer for most U .S. residents. But for three billion people-half the world's popu– lation-the response has been, "I have no choice." John Hall, professor of economics and international studies and chair of PSU's Department of Eco– nomics, didn't like that answer. While a 1995 Fulbright fellow in Zambia, Hall watched as families strug– gled to keep their cooking fires burn– ing. Charcoal was and is the primary fuel fo r peop le of the region, he discov– ered. But buying charcoal claims half a typical family's income. It also appear to be destroying the ecosystem as Zam– bian bum the trees of their fragile canopied savannah to make charcoal. Hall also observed that burning charcoal indoors induces and worsens many resp iratory ailments. Later he fo und that worldwide as many as four million children may die every year from respiratory ills, especially pneu– monia, exacerbated by the toxic fumes and particulates in smoke. "Not only was buying charcoal a great depletion of the resources of the family," says Hall, "but manufacturing charcoal was destroying the savannah, and burning charcoa l within the closed environment of homes was making children sick." A n avid camper and wood stove enthusiast, Hall envisioned an alternative to charcoal fires: an ultra– efficient field stove- one that used abundant, read ily gathered twigs. On his return to Portland , Hall took weld– ing classes and eventually fashioned the first BushBuddy, a fi eld stove of exceptional efficiency. Fire typically emits some of its unburned fuel source as organic mater– ial in smoke. If the smoke from a camp– fire has ever sought you out, you've experienced firsthand the watery eyes and coughing those particulates pro– duce. The BushBuddy shoots searing air into its smoke, igniting and burning virtually all of the remaining organic material, or, in scientific parlance, the 18 P U MAGAZINE FALL 2000 A trip to Zambia brought out unknown talents in this PSU professor. By Melissa Steineger BushBuddy uses secondary combustion. The result: an ultra-clean fire. With the BushBuddy, u ers don't have to destroy trees fo r cooking; they can use twigs, or even dried animal waste, which-as U.S. settlers found with buffalo "chips"-makes for a fine flame when dry. The BushBuddy, Hall hoped, would be a solution fo r the Zambian families struggling to pay fo r charcoa l. After refining the design over several years, he successfully negotiated his way through a yea rs- long labyrinth to patent his invention and began the even more arduous task of marketing. I n February 1999, two months after receiving a patent, Hall flew to Alaska to peddle the BushBuddy at the Fur Rendezvous, an annual event bringing together an eclectic mix of people interested in the outdoors. The response to the BushBuddy was enthu- iastic, but small. Hall approached two large camp stove manufacturers, but wasn't able to interest them in produc– ing the stove on his terms; Hall wants at least an average level of royalty per unit, money he hopes would help sup– ply developing countries with the BushBuddy. With the help of former U.S. Sen. Mark 0. Hatfjeld, he approached disaster relief agencies. Aga in, the results fell short. So for now, Hall continues to sell a stove or two each week to customers who find his BushBuddy.com Web site or hear about his stove from friends. If the world should come knocking, Hall is ready. But he's also eager to get back to his first interest, economic science. "I'd like to get back to my research on Central Europe," he says. "What I really need is someone with good intentions to pick up the Bush– Buddy where I'd like to leave off."D Professor John Hall (left) built the fuel. efficient stove (top) after visiting Zambia. '