Introduction

Over the past few years, the ICRC has been faced with a number of emergency situations which require the application of specific technologies. The displacement of individuals, groups and families in any given context suddenly gives rise to many issues, relating to environmental protection in particular.

The response to such crises often seems to be prompted by sheer urgency rather than stemming from the calm reflection that the gravity of such situations requires. However, experience has shown the attitude which should be adopted to come up with appropriate solutions.

This takes into consideration the people affected or displaced by a conflict and the best way of meeting their basic needs. The pragmatic approach may deal effectively with the situation, but unfortunately it tends to leave its mark on the environment or even cause severe environmental damage which in turn disrupts the ecosystem, often irreversibly.

The ICRC has therefore directed its research towards finding better ways of responding to the basic and pressing needs of populations in emergency situations, mindful of how difficult it is to fully achieve those objectives.

Effective responses have been found through the exchange of ideas and cooperation with research consultants, and the implementation of new methods.

1.  Studies on solar energy

Cooperation with universities, polytechnic institutes, specialized academies, schools of engineering, industry and private researchers.

Refrigeration and freezing

1.1 Active solar energy

Thermal solar cooling by adsorption: studies and development carried out in cooperation with the school of engineering of the Swiss canton of Vaud.

The main objective is to illustrate that, using a simple flat plate solar collector, a solar-driven solid adsorption device can function properly with adequate output in warm climates. Experiments have been carried out during periods when temperatures reached up to 40°C during the day and 30°C at night. Another aim is to show that it is possible to assemble such a device with simple means, avoiding sophisticated leak detection methods, and to determine where to apply such technology.

Beneficiaries: patients in hospitals, dispensaries, health centres, etc.

Mobile solar cooling requires an insulated box equipped with photovoltaic plates which produce the electricity necessary for producing low temperatures.

2. Solar applications in increasing use

Water heating

2.1 Passive solar energy Water heating

Production of electric current

2.2 Active solar energy

In several contexts, photovoltaic collectors can produce the electricity needed for lighting hospitals, dispensaries or health centres which are not connected to the mains electricity supply or to a generator, and for lighting workplaces or housing, in this case through 12v networks. Various machines, such as measuring instruments, immersible drilling pumps or mobile refrigeration units for medicines and vaccines, can also be powered by such devices.

Beneficiaries: outpatients, hospital or dispensary inpatients, schools, kindergartens, reception centres, emergency shelters, etc.

3. Appropriate use of renewable sources of energy and traditional fuels

The ICRC's Water and Habitat Unit is anxious to respond as efficiently as possible to the immediate needs of populations in emergency situations. It has also examined the difficulties faced by civilian victims in terms of food and heating. These crucial concerns prompted the ICRC to seek the services of the Geneva-based Renewable Energy Development Institute (REDI), which has wide experience in this field.

More than ten years of close cooperation with REDI have resulted in the development of effective applications which are tailored to specific needs. They are economical, simple and easily installed, with reasonable production costs. The main challenge is to ensure production of the necessary components in volatile contexts or circumstances that have little in common with those prevailing in peaceful and stable industrialized countries.

Research has focused on applications using traditional fuels, derived from natural resources which are rapidly being depleted, and on renewable sources of energy, such as solar energy, which are being mastered with increasing success.

Heating, cooking, sterilization, incineration

3.1 Wood

• Community cooker with 4B pot

The first applications intended for emergency situations were developed from a 200-litre oil drum cut in two around the middle. The lower part is used as a protective shield for the fire which is laid on a grid made of the steel mesh used in reinforced concrete. The upper part serves as a cooking pot with a lid made from the bottom of the drum. The advantage of this type of cooker is that it consumes 50 to 60% less wood than traditional half-drums placed on three stones.


Beneficiaries: detainees, large groups of displaced persons, large groups of people in community centres, patients in feeding centres.

• Cal 1C stove-cooker

This model was developed for use in countries with a cold climate which have basic industrial and technical facilities but are beset by instability. More than 100,000 Cal 1C units were manufactured during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, for example. The appliance consists of a sheet-steel cylinder and a firebox made of steel mesh or cast iron, depending on the production possibilities. A 15-litre cooking pot with a lid fits over the top of the cylinder. Alternatively, the cylinder is covered with a metal plate which supplies constant heat for one or two saucepans. Access to the wood fire is through an opening with a vertically sliding panel. Through this opening a special baking sheet can be placed on the firebox for baking bread. A protective covering around the heating cylinder (which can reach a temperature of 400°C) produces warm air by convection and protects against burns. This is particularly important where there are children. The stove is fitted with a flue pipe and elbow for the smoke and fumes. It can be quickly and easily mounted in virtually any type of situation. The initial model has been modified and is now more efficient. The stove has just been produced in large numbers to meet the urgent needs of populations displaced by conflict in the Balkans and the northern Caucasus.


Beneficiaries: displaced families, host families, community kitchens, hospitals, dispensaries, kindergartens, schools, medical and social welfare institutions.

• UNICEF sterilizer

This was developed for use in hospitals, dispensaries and health posts cut off from the mains electricity supply because of conflict, for example. The system is similar to the Cal 1C except that the cooking pot is replaced by a 40-litre steam sterilizer.


Beneficiaries: casualties requiring surgery

3.2 Coal

• Cal 2C stove-cooker

This application is identical to the wood-fuelled Cal 1C except for the firebox, which is fitted with thicker steel bars to withstand a very high initial temperature. The Cal 2C was developed for regions where coal is more plentiful than firewood and to avoid the felling of trees in areas in danger of deforestation. In addition, it acts as both a heater and a cooker.

Beneficiaries: displaced families, groups of displaced families, groups of individuals, families taking in displaced persons, community centres, hospitals, dispensaries, health posts, schools, kindergartens, medical and social welfare institutions, etc.


3.3 Heating oil, kerosene, lamp oil

• P 135 3.5-7-10 Kw multi-fuel stove

Many years of research were required to develop this complex yet simple application, which involves transforming liquid into gas. The aim is essentially to give the beneficiaries the means of preparing hot meals while limiting the consumption of firewood to the minimum. In the long term, the intention is to make the target populations familiar with the stove so that it will eventually replace charcoal which, although still the traditional fuel in many countries, leads to deforestation.

The stove consists of a metal frame supporting a burner, topped by a jet nozzle and gravity-fed from a recipient placed at the right height for optimum combustion. The frame can hold a cooking pan about 25 cm in diameter.

A wide range of models have already been manufactured by the hundreds to meet both individual and collective needs.

Beneficiaries: detainees, displaced persons and groups of families, patients and families in hospitals, hospital infusion rooms, feeding centres, day-care centres, school kitchens, kindergartens, etc.

• P 145 13-20 Kw

This is an improved version of earlier generations of P 145s. It is a powerful cooker developed to completely replace the firewood which traditionally fuels large-capacity cooking stoves. It works in practically the same way as less powerful appliances but differs in its outward appearance.


Beneficiaries: hospital patients, displaced persons, detention centres, canteens, community kitchens, etc.

3.4 Paraffin

This heater works with kerosene or, preferably, with paraffin and is intended to give a quick and constant supply of hot water for the kitchen or shower. Mobile and easily transportable, it must be connected to the water mains or another water source. Beneficiaries: displaced populations, community centres, detention centres, etc.

3.5 Engine sump oil

• HV1 stove-cooker

This application was born of recent concern about the effect on the environment of the destruction or incineration of used fossil fuels. Studies led to the production of several prototypes. Once the models and parameters were established, these trials resulted in the manufacture (in Switzerland) of small numbers of several models tailored to various uses.

The HV1 model was developed for both heating and cooking. Surrounded by a protective casing, it functions as a convector on which cooking can be done. The smoke-evacuation system is designed in such a way as to increase the heating surface, which has an extension allowing two cooking pans to be always ready for use. The slow fire is fed by gravity from a lateral tank which is actually part of the cooker, thereby avoiding the need for a carburettor.


Beneficiaries: garages and mechanical workshops wishing to incinerate engine sump oil. Displaced families, community centres, schools, kindergartens, medical and social welfare institutions, health centres, dispensaries, etc.

• HV2 stove-cooker

Same characteristics but more powerful than the HV1.


Beneficiaries: same as for the HV1.

3.6 Methane (H), butane, propane (cold climates)

• Type 25 single-burner, U-shaped or square gas cooker

These three applications were developed for regions and contexts where it is possible to use gas. The stoves, which are simple in design, differ in form and capacity. The single-burner version produces 2 Kw, the U-shaped one between 4 and 6 Kw, and the square one 8 Kw. The stove is made of milled metal tubing and is mounted on a stable frame which can support a cooking pan at least 25 cm in diameter, depending on the model. It is fitted with a gas tap fed by a pipe coming from the supply source and an injection nozzle (adapted to the quality of the gas).


Beneficiaries: displaced or host families, communities, etc.

3.7 Passive solar energy Sterilization of surgical instruments by Fresnel lens. Beneficiaries: hospitals (especially for surgery), dispensaries, health posts and centres, infirmaries, etc.

4. Community kitchens

4.1 Wood

• Community cooker with 4B cooking pot (described above)

• "Bellerive"-type large-capacity community cooker with cooking pot

This cooker was developed to meet the need to provide food for a large number of persons on a permanent basis. It consists of an insulated protective steel cylinder that serves as an oven. The oven door gives access to the firebox so that the fire can be regulated. The interior of the cylinder is lined with refractory bricks. The whole thing provides a stable support for a cooking pot with a capacity of between 80 and 500 litres, depending on the model. Tests were carried out with a view to reaching a capacity of some 800 litres but these did not prove successful.


Beneficiaries: large displaced populations, detainees, hospital patients


4.2 Heating oil

• "Bellerive"-type large-capacity community cooker with cooking pot and P145 20 Kw burner

5. Table of energy sources, fuels, functions and applications

ENERGY SOURCE	FUNCTION	APPLICATION
Passive solar energy	Hot water Heating Sterilization	Collectors/recipients Collectors/recipients REDI Fresnel lens
Active solar energy	Production of electricity Refrigeration Freezing	Photovoltaic panel Photovoltaic panel Photovolts and adsorption
Wood	Heating Cooking Sterilization Incineration	REDI CAL 1C REDI B4, REDI CAL C1 REDI CAL 1C + UNICEF sterilizer not yet available
Coal	Heating Cooking Sterilization	REDI CAL 2C REDI CAL 2C REDI CAL 2C + UNICEF sterilizer
Heating oil, kerosene, lamp oil	Hot water Heating Cooking Refrigeration Light	REDI P 135 stove Warm-air fan REDI P 135 stove, REDI P 145 stove Not yet available Wick lamp
Paraffin	Hot water Light	Heating tube – continuous flow Not yet available
Engine sump oil	Heating Cooking	REDI HV1 + HV2 REDI HV1 + HV2
Methane (H), butane, propane	Heating Cooking	Not yet available REDI Type 25 single-duct stove REDI U-shaped stove Redi rectangular stove

6. Applications for emergency housing modules

Housing and temporary services programme

6.1 Context: Balkans-Montenegro

To deal with the most pressing needs, a number of emergency community facilities were built with the assistance of the displaced population. The first initiatives of this kind concentrated on water supply, the construction of latrines in reception centres, and the construction of temporary buildings to house community kitchens and dispensaries and of recreation units. All these emergency facilities were built under the supervision and technical coordination of ICRC engineers and using materials available on the spot.


Beneficiaries: families and populations displaced by conflict.

Temporary housing modules programme

6.2 East Timor

A large number of displaced people were temporarily rehoused at reception sites in housing modules designed as a matter of urgency. These units were made of tiles, lath, beams and ready-cut and assembled wooden posts and were covered with plastic-coated, waterproof canvas. The ICRC engineers held a brief training session to show community team leaders how to assemble and mount the modules. The units were brought to the temporary resettlement sites and assembled by the beneficiaries themselves. This type of housing, which is more permanent than tents, offers families better shelter than temporary structures and may be kept as permanent dwellings.


Beneficiaries: families and populations displaced by the events.

OP/SANSEC – EH, François Rueff