Ethanol Stove Hackathon 2025: Fueling Innovation for Sustainable Cooking in Ghana

Isaac O

11 months ago

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Join the 2025 Ethanol Stove Innovation Hackathon and help design cleaner, safer, and affordable cooking solutions for Ghana. Open to young Ghanaian innovators, this challenge offers funding, mentorship, and a chance to drive sustainable impact.

Over 54% of Ghanaian households—and a staggering 78% in rural areas—still rely on polluting fuels like charcoal, firewood, and crop residues for cooking. These traditional fuels contribute to indoor air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and deforestation, posing serious environmental and public health risks.

To address this challenge, the Ethanol Stove Innovation Hackathon invites young Ghanaians to design efficient, safe, and locally adaptable ethanol-based cookstoves. This youth-led initiative aims to drive innovation, sustainability, and inclusive development in Ghana’s clean cooking sector.

About the Hackathon

The Ethanol Stove Innovation Hackathon is a competitive initiative focused on developing functional ethanol stove prototypes that are:

Affordable for local households
Safe and user-friendly
Fuel-efficient and environmentally sustainable
Adaptable to local materials and contexts

Participants will compete individually or in teams to conceptualize, design, and prototype solutions that could replace polluting stoves and expand access to clean energy technologies.

Why Ethanol?

Ethanol-based stoves offer a cleaner and safer cooking alternative. A recent pilot study by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) found strong interest in ethanol stoves. However, adoption has been limited by design flaws, fuel availability, and cost.

This hackathon seeks to address these barriers by empowering young innovators to build scalable, real-world solutions.

Competition Phases

Phase 1: Expression of Interest and Conceptual Design

Applicants will submit:

A preliminary sketch or schematic of their proposed stove design
A design concept (max 1,500 words) detailing functionality, safety, fuel efficiency, and adaptability
A brief profile of the individual or team

Assessment will focus on originality, clarity, relevance, and capacity to further develop the concept.

Phase 2: Technical Proposal and Feasibility

Shortlisted applicants must submit:

Detailed design documentation (max 2,500 words) including components, materials, combustion systems, and safety features
A cost breakdown and feasibility assessment outlining anticipated production costs and challenges

Finalists will be selected based on technical soundness, scalability, and alignment with clean cooking goals.

Phase 3: Prototype Development

Selected participants will receive:

Up to $15,000 in grant funding for prototype development
Mentorship from industry experts and clean energy professionals
Periodic design feedback and coaching

Prototypes must be built using cost-effective, locally available materials, and accompanied by a publicly accessible open-source design guide to promote scaling and innovation.

Eligibility Criteria

The hackathon is open to passionate young Ghanaians committed to sustainable development and innovation.

Applicants must:

Be Ghanaian citizens
Be 35 years or younger
Apply as an individual or part of a team of up to five (5) members

Target participants include:

University and technical students
Early-career professionals in clean energy, engineering, product design
Young entrepreneurs and innovators in sustainability

Applicants from diverse disciplines are encouraged to apply. Experience in stove design, mechanical engineering, materials science, or related fields is advantageous.

Women, persons with disabilities, and gender-diverse teams are strongly encouraged to apply.

What You’ll Gain

A chance to develop a real-world prototype
Exposure to expert mentorship
Funding support of up to $15,000
An opportunity to contribute to national clean energy efforts
A platform to scale your innovation and help transform cooking in Ghana

Intellectual Property & Open Access

While applicants will retain ownership of their intellectual property, they must license their design guides under an open, non-commercial public license. This ensures that the innovation remains accessible and replicable to support broader clean cooking adoption.