In 1990, Peter Scott was traveling through Zaire when he witnessed the deforestation caused by the production of charcoal for household cooking. At that time, he dedicated his life to saving the forests of sub-Saharan Africa by designing and building fuel-efficient stoves.

In 2010, after spending 13 years as a cookstove consultant in Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa, Peter started Burn Design Lab and BURN Manufacturing Co. on Vashon Island, Washington. On a shoestring budget, BURN has assembled a team of world-class designers and engineers who are equally committed to designing the most fuel-efficient cookers in the world.

In 2014, BURN launched its first full manufacturing facility in Kenya – the first and only of its kind. BURN is now the only vertically integrated modern cookstove company in sub-Saharan Africa. The solar-powered facility currently has a capacity of 250,000 stoves per month and employs over 2,500 people, half of whom are women.

When BURN first started, there was little confidence in the cookstove industry to deliver tangible results. Over the past 10 years, BURN has built a successful business while proving that cookstoves can have transformative social, financial and environmental impacts. A recent study by UC Berkeley shows that a domestic investment of $40 to buy a Jikokoa generates a staggering return of $1,000 for the company.

Over the next three years, BURN aims to expand to Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, DRC, Nigeria and Ghana, launch five new products and increase production capacity in Kenya from 250,000 to 1 million per month.