The winner of this years $74,000 FT Climate Change Challenge is Jon Bohmer.

Jon Bohmer is the creator of a cheap solar power oven that costs about $5 to make.

The solar oven can bake break, cook casseroles, and even boil water.

It is made from two boxes, one inside the other with an acrylic cover, which lets the sun's power in and traps it.

Black paint on the inner box and silver foil on the outer help concentrate the heat while a layer of straw or newspaper between the two provides insulation.

The oven is targeted at the three billion people who use firewood to cook in developing countries.

Mr Bohmer said: "We're saving lives and saving trees. I doubt if there is any other technology that can make so much impact for so little money."

He plans to use the $74,000 prize money to conduct mass trials in 10 countries, including South Africa, India and Indonesia and gather data to back an application for carbon credits.

The box aims to save some of the millions of children who die each year from food cooked with unclean drinking water.

He believes it will also halve the need for firewood, saving an estimated two tonnes of carbon per family per year.

He has now developed a more robust, longer-lasting cooker in corrugated plastic, which he says can be mass-produced as cheaply as the cardboard version.

Technorati Tags: black paint, bohmer, cardboard version, developing countries, saving trees, silver foil, solar, solar oven, solar power, south africa

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