What is Aprovecho Research Center?

For over 30 years, Aprovecho Research Center (ARC) consultants have been designing and implementing improved biomass cooking and heating technologies in more than 60 countries worldwide. The Center was formally established in 1976, and is dedicated to researching, developing and disseminating clean cookstove technologies for meeting the basic needs of refugees, impoverished people, and communities in the developing world. For decades, ARC has been the world's leader in open source development of all aspects of improved cooking stoves.

Why Cleaner Cookstoves?

- Improved cooking stoves address at least 5 of the 8 United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals: [1] ending poverty and hunger; [2] gender equity; [3] child health; [4] maternal health; and [5] environmental sustainability.

- The primary source of smoke polluting the skies over Asia and accelerating glacial melting is from traditional cooking fires, Scientific American reports.

- In 2009, HRH Prince Charles presented the 2009 Ashden International Energy Champion Award to ARC for its groundbreaking achievements in creating affordable and reliable mass produced improved cook stoves.

Our Programs

Research, Development, & Publications

The Advanced Studies in Appropriate Technology (ASAT) Lab studies methods for designing, building, and disseminating cooking and heating technology that is both mass-produced and/or made from vernacular (locally available) low-cost materials that can be found easily in the towns and villages where improved stoves are needed.

We develop educational books, videos, and other media using simple, easy to understand language to teach methods and principles for designing and disseminating improved cooking and heating stoves. Review the list of ARC publications availabe for download or visit the ARC Research Library for reports and other information relevant to the issues ARC strives to address.

International Stove Design Consulting & Training

Our consultants travel to cities and villages around the world to provide technical assistance and training to NGOs and local groups developing and disseminating improved stove technology.

We have current and past projects in Mexico, Central America, South America, Africa, India, the Philippines and more.

Emissions Testing and Evaluation

We operate a state-of-the-art laboratory dedicated to testing stoves. Testing and reports on fuel use, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and greenhouse gas emissions from a variety of improved cookstoves are available to projects, with examples here for download.

Our testing methodology has been corroborated by the US EPA in a paper exploring results of standardized testing between the two laboratories.

Portable in-field emissions testing equipment is also available for use in-country to monitor indoor air pollution. Read more about stove testing and this equipment.