Smoke-free

(Fortune Magazine) -- Problem: Indoor cooking fires create toxic fumes.

Solution: A superefficient clean-burning stove.

Three years ago Philips research chemist Paul van der Sluis, 44, set out to build a smokeless outdoor cooker. He wanted something for his backyard in the Netherlands that wouldn't annoy his neighbors. He wound up creating a lifesaver. Smoke and toxic fumes from indoor cooking fires are a serious health problem in the developing world. Van der Sluis's design reduces those emissions by using an electric fan, powered by the fire itself, to force air through the stove.

"First, the wood evaporates into gas," van der Sluis says, "and then the gas burns. The smoke completely burns off." Philips (Charts) plans to start selling the stoves this summer in India. Prices haven't been set.

FOR MORE INFO Go to research.philips.com.