Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy for Sustainable Development

Review

A review of injera baking technologies in Ethiopia: Challenges and gaps

Kamil Dino Adem ⁎, Demiss Alemu Ambie
School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 385, King George IV Street, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Most of the people living in the Third World cook/bake food using biomass as their primary energy sources. There
Received 7 January 2017 are a number of efforts undertaken to improve the efficiency, lessen the indoor air pollution and reduce emission
Revised 3 August 2017 of a three-stone-open-fire stove by introducing improved cooking stoves. The major purpose of this review is to
Accepted 11 August 2017
organize, and document research and development efforts, showing gaps for researchers and developers work-
Available online xxxx
ing in the area of improved biomass and other stoves more specifically for baking injera. The information in the
Keywords:
review, which is mostly in chronological order, is obtained from governmental and non-governmental reports,
Biomass stove patents and journals written in the area of injera baking stoves. The most important results of the review show
Injera baking stove that a number of efforts were undertaken to improve injera baking stoves, though there were no organized
Gasifier stove reviews earlier to show the efforts made by various institutions. The review also shows that other alternative
Electric injera baking stove energy sources for injera baking stoves have been used to address the problem of the majority of the people living
Patent on injera baking stove in rural areas. In the end, the review indicated a research direction for the future in relation to the supply of
Solar injera baking stove alternative energy sources such as solar, biogas, gasifier and electric power for injera baking stoves.
© 2017 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Injera and its baseline baking technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
What is injera? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Three-stone-fire for baking injera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Early research and development efforts for improvements of injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Biomass injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Injera baking pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Electric injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
LPG and kerosene injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Recent research efforts towards improving injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
General research outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Summary of research outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Improved biomass injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Electric and heat transfer fluid injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Solar powered injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Patents acquired for injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The benefits of the hitherto improved injera baking stoves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Indoor air pollution reduction and specific fuel consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Carbon emission reduction potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Research directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kamil.dino@aau.edu.et (K.D. Adem).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2017.08.003
0973-0826/© 2017 International Energy Initiative. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
70 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80
Introduction
The number of people in the world using traditional biomass energy
is 2.7 billion (IEA, 2015). In Ethiopia, 95% of the population relies on the
use of traditional biomass for cooking application (IEA, 2015) among
which 50% of the energy is used to bake injera — traditional pan cake
like bread. Due to the low efficiency of injera baking biomass stoves,
large amounts of firewood are used, resulting in high indoor air
pollution, greenhouse gas emission and rampant deforestation. The at-
tempts to improve the injera baking stove resulted in incremental
change in efficiency and reduction in emission of pollutants without
major breakthrough hitherto.
Injera together with ‘wot’ (sauce) is the major staple food eaten by
Ethiopians and Eritreans as well as people from some areas of Somalia
and Sudan (Asfafaw et al., 2014) both living in their country and abroad.
The standard injera weighs 310 g and it is 52 cm in diameter. Injera is a
pancake-like thin bread which is flat at the bottom and has many “eyes”
on top and looks like a ‘thin sheet’. The majority of injera is prepared
from the local indigenous grain teff. Teff (Eragrostistef) even if eaten by
most Ethiopians and Eritreans, was not appreciated until recently.
Researchers found out that teff is gluten-free which makes it very
attractive for healthy nutrition (Kaleab, 2014). The details of the injera
baking process which starts from preparation and ends in baking is
described by Stewart and Getachew (1962).
Most of the people living in Ethiopia bake injera using biomass on
open-fire stoves. The inefficient open-fire stove consumes large
amounts of firewood and produces high indoor air pollution and CO2
emission. A three-stone-stove or a three-stand-stove is where three
stones with a similar size are made from clay. The three stones are
placed in a triangle to support or carry the baking pan with a diameter
of 60 cm and thickness of 20 cm on average. Then, firewood is inserted
into the openings between the stands for burning. While burning is
taking place below the pan, injera is baked on it. In the process, 90% of
the energy supplied is lost to the environment. Moreover, the cook
and her child is exposed to large amounts of CO and PM which is
above the WHO standard set for safe cooking (Beyene and Koch, 2013).
Researchers in Ethiopia and abroad have made attempts to improve
the efficiency of injera baking stoves to save energy, reduce indoor air
pollution and CO2 emission. This includes early efforts by the Ministry
of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, i.e. by the Alternative Energy
Development and Promotion Directorate, and GIZ-Energy Coordination
Office in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Significant achievement is reg-
istered by the GIZ-Energy Coordination office-Ethiopia in disseminating
around 455,000 improved injera baking stoves—Mirt,1 throughout the
country (GIZ-ECO, 2011). A number of studies were conducted to see
the reduction in specific fuel consumption of Mirt compared to open
fire baking which was in the range of 30–49% (Workeneh, 2005;
Alemayehu et al., 2012; Walelign et al., 2013; Anteneh, 2014; Yosef,
2007; Anteneh and Walelign, 2011; Dresen et al., 2014). However, im-
proving the performance of biomass stoves, especially for baking injera
still remains to be a challenge for researchers.
This review discusses the following issues: i) early development of
injera baking stoves, ii) current research, and iii) the way forward in
terms of research and development regarding injera baking stoves. Since
the information collected is mostly from reports from governmental and
non-governmental institutions in the country, most of the references
are not published in peer reviewed journals.
Our effort will present significant benefits to a wider public.
Besides, it will serve as a starting point for researchers who are inter-
ested in designing, manufacturing and testing of stoves particularly
for the purpose of baking not only in Ethiopia but also elsewhere in
the world.
1
Mirt stove — means ‘best’ in local language and is used to name a biomass improved
injera baking stove.
Injera and its baseline baking technology
What is injera?
Injera is a flatbread with a unique taste; it is a circular pancake that is
sour and tasty and has a soft-spongy like structure with a thickness of
2–4 mm and a diameter of around 58 cm. The major ingredient for
baking injera is teff, though other cereals such as sorghum and barley
are sometimes used. These days, some consumers tend to add a few
grams of rice flour for whitening injera. The knowledge and skill of
baking injera is well known by Ethiopians and it has been transferred
from generation to generation for a long time. The general structure of
well baked injera is shown in Fig. 1.2
Injera is made from teff flour which is mixed with water and allowed
to ferment by adding left over batter from the previous baking session
as a starter. When it is ready, fire will be lit from the bottom of the
clay pan for biomass stoves and in the case of electric injera baking
stove resistors will be turned on. When the pan's temperature reached
around 200 °C, the dough will be poured into the baking pan. The
viscosity allows it to be poured into the baking pan rather than rolling
out. Finally, the baked injera will be removed from the baking pan.
The majority of Ethiopians still bake injera using three-stone fire.
Starting from1980s efforts have been made to improve biomass injera
baking stoves and introduce electric injera baking stoves for urban
dwellers.
Three-stone-fire for baking injera
As the name indicates, a three-stone open-fire stove uses three sep-
arate stones to support the mitad (clay pan) for baking. The types and
sizes of stones used varies according to the availability of the stones.
Usually three (10–15 cm) high stones are used to support the mitad
(Fig. 2a).
A number of developers have used a three-stone open-fire injera
baking stove as a reference for showing the improvements with various
versions of the Mirt stove. The specific fuel consumption of a three-stone
open-fire stove on average is 929 g of wood/kg of injera using CCT
protocol for testing (Table 1). Yosef (2007) conducted tests on Mirt
and three-stone open-fire injera baking stove and obtained indoor air
pollution parameters for three-stone open-fire stove as 80 ppm for CO
and 1.10 mg/m3 for PM.
Early research and development efforts for improvements of injera
baking stoves
Biomass injera baking stoves
The need for efficient injera baking stoves had not been addressed
for a long time until governmental institutions laid the foundation in
the 1980s. Early efforts included manufacturing of mud injera baking
stoves by the Burayou Basic Technology Center (BTC), under the Minis-
try of Education in the early 1980s. The name of the stove was ‘Burayou
mud-stove’. The then Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission
(now Ministry of Science and Technology of Ethiopia) hired a consultant
in 1981 to assess traditional closed stove in selected areas of the country
(Ali, 1981). The major aim of this study was to make a survey of the
types of stoves in use in the country. The numbers of stoves surveyed
were 113 with a diameter of 60–65 cm and thickness of less than
2.5 cm earthen stove (mitad). Out of the total, 109 types of stoves
were identified for further evaluation. Then, depending on the
similarities of the stoves, the stoves were reduced into 20 stove types
and finally, six stoves were selected for further testing. The performance
evaluation was made based on water boiling test. It was performed at
2
http://www.diretube.com/articles/read-injera-got-standardized_4311.html.
 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80
Fig. 1. A picture of top and bottom side of a typical injera.
the Appropriate Technology Center of the Adult Education Department
of the Ministry of Education. The report indicated that a pit type stove
(Stove E) was found to be the most efficient stove. This stove was
constructed out of a mixture of clay, and chid (teff straw). All of the
stove parts were made out of clay and chid and they named it Burayou
mud-stove (Ali, 1981).
The total weight of the stove is about 100 kg. The stove is massive
and fragile, and it needs at least two persons for installation. This also
makes transportation very difficult. The sketch of the Burayou injera
baking stove is shown in Fig. 2b.
In 1986, the Ambo team modified the Burayou mud-stove and came-
up with the Ambo mud-stove used for injera baking (ITDG-GTZ, 1991).
In the early 1990s, a team of experts at the then Ethiopian Energy
Authority with consultants from abroad started a survey to make a
starting point for the development of injera baking stove in the country.
The assessment made throughout the country revealed that the
Burayou, Ambo and Tigrian mud stoves were the more efficient stoves
at the time of the study, in 1991 (Endale et al., 1992). When tests
were conducted on the above mentioned three injera baking mud
stoves, the variation in performance was associated with thickness
and seasoning skill of the mitad (Shimelis, 1991).
Enclosed traditional injera baking stoves are commonly used in the
northern part of Ethiopia, mostly in Tigray (Tigray National Regional
State) and Wollo (a province in Amhara National Regional State). They
are named after the area where they are most popular in Tigray and
hence, it is commonly referred as Tigrian stove. These stoves, unlike
three-stone injera baking stoves, are permanently built on the ground
or on a raised platform made up of mud and stones. Users build the
stove according to one's estimate of dimensions. In some places, the
height of the stove varies from 28 to 40 cm with one or two smoke
outlets. A typical Tigrian injera baking stove has usually two smoke
outlets and a height of about 35 cm.
The efficiency of a well-built enclosed Tigrian injera baking stove is
about 12% (Tim, 1991). Compared to the three stone open fire injera
baking stove, it consumes less fuel, and is easier to use and protects
from burns.
Tehesh injera baking stove was developed by GIZ (previously GTZ)
and the Rural Technology Promotion Center of Mekele. The idea of
designing Tehesh came from improving the existing Tigrian injera
baking stove. Fig. 2c shows Tehesh injera baking stove.
The raw materials needed for the making of Tehesh are mud, stones,
and straw. Small amount of fresh dung is mixed together with mud to
increase its adhesion. This mixture is smeared over the vertically
stacked stone from inside and outside. The straw is used as insulation
by placing it between the outer and inner walls of the stove and under
the combustion chamber (RTPC, 1998).
Sodo injera baking stove is made by the Rural Technology Promotion
Center in Sodo. The name of the stove is taken from the place it was first
71
designed. It is an enclosed stove made of 2 mm sheet metal. The Sodo
injera stove can support mitad (stove) sizes between 54 and 56 cm.
The total height of the stove is 42 cm. The combustion chamber is
60 cm in diameter and 15 cm in height. It has an ash-collecting box
under the perforated metal grate (Fig. 2d). The controlled cooking test
conducted by Sodo RTPC on a 45 cm diameter mitad shows that the
average fuel wood consumption of the stove was 0.343 kg wood per
injera (MoA/GTZ, 1999).
Tests were conducted on the Burayou, Ambo and Tigrian stoves, and
Ambo was found to be the most efficient compared to the other two
injera baking stoves, but the fuel consumption reduction was not
satisfactory. Later on, important modifications were made and the
team of experts came up with a mud injera baking stove which is
efficient, and they named it ‘Mirt’, which means ‘best’ (Endale et al.,
1992).
Consequently, the mud structure of Mirt is changed into cement-
mortar mixture to build the fire chamber enclosure as shown in Fig. 2e.
And this stove is widely promoted by the GIZ-Energy Bureau Office in
Ethiopia and named Mirt.
The specific fuel consumption of Mirt stove has been determined by
a number of researchers and developers. The average specific fuel con-
sumption of Mirt stove is 535 g of wood per kg of injera (Table 2).
Mirt stove was tested at the Aprovecho Research Center; the test was
conducted using the water boiling test procedure where the time to boil
is 35.8 min and 6407 g of fuel was used. The CO observed was 192 g and
PM was 5322 g. The improved design brought about a percentage re-
duction of 18% (time to boil), 81% (fuel use), 90% (CO), and 83% (PM).
Fig. 2f shows the experimental modification made to Mirt stove
(Hatfield et al., 2006).
The other improved injera baking stove is made out of clay and its
name is Gonziye (Fig. 2g). It is a multipurpose improved cooking stove
to be used both for injera baking and other types of cooking such as
water heating, coffee making and wot3 preparation. The specific fuel
consumption of Gonziye injera baking stove is 617 g/kg of injera
(Anteneh, 2014).
Awramba is the other improved injera baking stove which is named
after the Awramba community in Amhara Regional State. This injera
baking stove has been in use in the community since 1971. This stove
also integrates other cooking applications in addition to injera baking.
It has a specific fuel consumption reduction of 35% compared to the
open-fire injera baking stove. Fig. 2h shows the simultaneous operation
of the injera baking and cooking using the Awramba injera baking stove
(Walelign et al., 2013).
Biogas cooking stove is widely used in developing countries; howev-
er it is not yet popular for injera baking. There are a number of efforts by
3
Wot — traditional sauce eaten with injera.
72 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

(g) (h)

(i) (j)

Fig. 2. Biomass injera baking stoves: a) three-stone open-fire, b) Burayou, c) Tehesh (actual & sketch), d) Sodo, e) Mirt with cooking stove, f) modified Mirt, g) Gonziye, h) Awramba, i) biogas
burner (old), j) biogas burner (recent).

the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity—Alternative Energy De- In 1996, a biogas injera baking stove was tested. It was a three ring
velopment Directorate and SNV to develop a bio-gas stove for baking stove consisting of three concentric rings made from a 1/2″ steel pipe.
injera. Fig. 2i shows the biogas burner tested for injera baking application.
 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80 73

Table 1 electric injera baking stove. The number of electric injera stove in use
Specific fuel consumption of three-stone open-fire stoves. is estimated to reach 850,000 in the year 2020 (EEA, 2015), which
No. Specific fuel consumption Injera baked Reference demands corresponding energy efficiency measures to improve the
(g/kg of injera) per session peak hour load created by households.
1 630 Workeneh (2005) The Ethiopian Energy Authority is in the process of preparing the
2 1029 23–25 Alemayehu et al. (2012) Ethiopian standard for labeling electric injera baking stoves in order
3 1031 25–30 Anteneh and Walelign (2011) to create awareness for the users to select their preference according
4 1025 25–27 Walelign et al. (2013)
to their interest based on the performance of the stove (MWIE,
Average 929
2016).

LPG and kerosene injera baking stoves

The performance of the concentric three-ring injera stove was
determined by baking injera. The power output of the stove was
11 kW, corresponding to gas consumption of 41 l/min. The gas con-
sumption per injera was 193 l (3108 kJ/injera). The average efficiency
of the three-ring biogas stove was 16% in the range of improved biomass
stove. This figure is quite low for a gas stove (Dereje, 1996).
Ethiopia has also recently established the National Biogas Program
(NBPE) with the support from the Netherlands Development Organiza-
tion (SNV) to promote the use of biogas for cooking. NBPE assisted a
company to develop an injera baking stove which uses biogas as a fuel
(Hivos, 2016). Combustion of methane using proper fuel-to-air ratio
will create a non-polluting and comfortable kitchen for injera baking.
The amount of biogas or the feed stock required for baking injera for a
household, on average 25–30 injera at a time, is quite significant. Thus,
improving the development of an injera baking biogas stove requires
further efforts by researchers and developers in the area. Fig. 2j shows
an injera baking stove using biogas.
The number of LPG users in Ethiopia is relatively low for decades due
to the high prices of the gas and its appliances. LPG stove was also tested
for injera baking appliance. During the test, a gas burner imported from
Krampous, in France, with clay plate of 50 cm diameter was used. The
Krampous burner was designed for the preparation of “crepes”
(pancakes). For injera baking purpose, the cast iron baking plate was
replaced by a clay plate. The specific energy consumption with LPG
was much higher than wood and electricity which might have been
caused by the high power of the gas stove with about 6 kW. The energy
consumption with LPG using the Krampous burner was 16 to 43%
higher than with wood and more than twice as high when compared
to electricity (Yahaya, 1984).
Recent research efforts towards improving injera baking stoves
General research outputs

Injera baking pan Conducting research on improving the performance of injera baking
stove has increased in recent years due to environmental and health
Improved biomass injera baking stove was also functionally tested concerns, in addition to the possible reduction in the amount of energy
using metal as an injera baking pan (Putz and Muller, 2011). The quality lost during injera baking. As shown in Fig. 4, the path followed in recent
of injera baked on a metal pan is not as good as the clay-made injera researches consists of, at first, with optimization of a numerical model
baking pan. The circular metal pan used to bake injera has a higher to come up with an improved injera baking thin plate made of ceramic
thermal conductivity compared to clay injera baking pan which allows or other material in order to minimize specific energy consumption
heat transfer rapidly generating small amounts of burns and less ‘eyes’ with experimental validation. The second direction is the use of thermic
in the baked injera. fluid and steam as working fluid in order to use solar energy to bake
injera.
The numerical investigation mainly focused on application of the
Electric injera baking stoves
finite element method to see the possibility of using numerical
methods to solve the performance indicators of electric injera baking
Electric injera baking stove (electric injera mitad) was introduced to
stoves. A 2D transient Finite Element Method is used to see the tem-
Ethiopia 40 years (EEA, 2015) back through the then Ethiopian Electric
perature distribution during baking of injera with a conventional clay
Light & Power Authority (EELPA). In order to disseminate the electric
plate and a new ceramic plate. Both showed a reasonable heat-up
injera stove, various government and private organizations produced
and baking time during the test (Assefa, 2010; Abulkadir and
the stove and sold it to the market. Since the electric injera baking
Demiss, 2013). When the numerical investigation was compared
stove is not standardized, the performance of the electric injera baking
with experimental results for various power supplies and thermic
stove depends on the experience of the company and the quality of
oil temperature, the result showed a minimal error. The experimen-
the workmanship. The average power demand of a single household
tal results on the electric injera baking stove with a clay pan4 (thick-
electric injera baking stove is in the range of 3 to 4 kW. Fig. 3 shows a
ness: 20 mm) and a ceramic pan 5 (thickness: 8 mm) have been
commonly manufactured electric injera baking stove. Currently, small
compared and the results showed a thermal efficiency of 53% for
manufacturing enterprises are involved in the manufacturing of the
the clay baking pan and 66% for the ceramic plate baking pan
(Gashaw, 2011). Similarly, the thermal efficiency for baking 10–15
Table 2 injera was 53–66% for the clay pan and 66–72% for the ceramic pan
Specific fuel consumption of Mirt stove. (Awash, 2011). The ceramic pan was manufactured at a ceramic fac-
No. Specific fuel consumption Injera baked Reference tory in Ethiopia (Tabor Ceramic Factory). In these studies, the output
(g/kg of injera) per session of the numerical computations cannot directly be compared with
1 460 Workeneh (2005)
electric injera baking stove efficiency.
2 524 Yosef (2007) The other effort made by this study was on the possibility of using
3 596 23–25 Alemayehu et al. (2012) indirect heating for baking injera with thermic-fluid and steam as a
4 528 25–30 Anteneh and Walelign (2011)
5 575 23–25 Alemayehu et al. (2012) 4
Clay pan — made of ordinary plastic clay sintered between temperatures of 800 and
6 667 23–25 Alemayehu et al. (2012)
900 °C made at household level.
7 393 Dresen et al. (2014) 5
Ceramic pan — made of plastic clay, silica sand, kaolin, feldspar and quartz which is
Average 535
sintered at a temperature of 1200 °C.
74 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80

a) b) c)

Fig. 3. Electric injera baking stove: a) back side before sealing, b) backside sealed with gypsum, and assembled electric injera baking stove (EEA, 2015).

working fluid (Fig. 5). This was verified experimentally at two locations
in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Mekele). In the first case, the solar energy
was simulated with an electric heater to supply heat to the thermic-
fluid so that injera is baked before the whole system is connected to
the parabolic trough since the overall objective of the project was bak-
ing injera using solar energy using thermic-fluid. The surface tempera-
ture of the baking pan was in the range of 180–220 °C. The proposed
injera baking system for the thermic-fluid is shown in Fig. 5. The test re-
sult showed a reasonable injera texture with a surface temperature of
215 °C (Abdulkadir et al., 2011; Mekonnen, 2011).
The second experimental study was a solar thermal stove which
generates steam by concentrating suns ray using a parabolic dish on
the receiver. The steam flows through a pipe to the injera baking stove
and condenses by transferring heat to the baking pan which is placed
on the steel plate that is in contact with steam (Fig. 6). The important
conclusion drawn from this study was the possibility of baking injera
using indirect steam in a temperature range from 135 to 160 °C. The
indicated temperature was less than the literature or experimental
values obtained earlier by other researchers or developers working on
an injera baking stove (Asfafaw et al., 2014).
The usual operation temperature was around 250 °C to obtain a
well-baked injera. As it has been stated in this study, it requires further
testing and verification.
Direct solar radiation through a mirror was also tried in the USA
using a frying pan for baking injera. A prototype was tested with a
diameter of 46 cm of the baking pan with baking capacity of 4 kg per
hour. Fig. 7 shows a frying pan injera baking prototype apparatus. The
reported baking time was 2 min. The researcher states that the design
is scalable to any required size (Gallagher, 2011). It is a good attempt
to be explored and verified for a larger scale application.

Recent research on
injera baking

Numerical optimization of Experimental

Electric injera baking investigation of injera
stoves baking stoves

Thermic fluid as a
Clay injera working fluid
baking pan using ceramic pan
Electric power as
energy source
using clay/ceramic
Ceramic injera pan
baking pan Steam as a working
fluid using clay pan

Fig. 4. Process of recent injera baking stove research.

 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80 75

Fig. 5. Injera baking using solar power with thermic-fluid as a working fluid (Abdulkadir et al., 2011).

Summary of research outputs
Improved biomass injera baking stoves
As the primary purpose of improving injera baking stoves is to
reduce fuel consumption for economic and environmental reasons,
specific fuel consumption has been used as a tool for comparison.
The maximum reduction in specific fuel consumption of improved
injera baking stoves relating to open-fire stove in Ethiopia is 49%
while the minimum is 34% (Table 3). Similarly, the maximum
percentage reduction in CO during the test period was 91% while
that of PM was 19.3% in comparison with an open-fire injera baking
stove (Yosef, 2007).

Fig. 6. Parabolic dish solar thermal injera baking stove (sketch & actual test-rig) (Asfafaw et al., 2014).

Fig. 7. Prototype injera baking frying pan (Gallagher, 2011).

76 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80

Electric and heat transfer fluid injera baking stoves

Alemayehu et al. (2012)

Alemayehu et al. (2012)

Alemayehu et al. (2012)

Alemayehu et al. (2012)

Anteneh and Walelign

Walelign et al. (2013)

Electric injera baking stoves have wider use in urban areas where

Dresen et al. (2014)

Workeneh (2005)
grid electricity is available. Numerical and empirical investigation of

Anteneh (2014)
electric injera baking was conducted by many researchers. The baking

Yosef (2007)
pan (mitad) was originally made out of clay, but a ceramic baking pan
Reference

(2011)
was also introduced for research. The average thermal efficiency
obtained is 50% for the clay and 60% for the ceramic plate. Table 4
shows the major output of research on Electric injera baking using
% reduction in time to boil CO concentration PM concentration

both clay and ceramic baking pan.

(mg/m3)

Solar powered injera baking stoves

Injera baking stove operated by solar energy was another option
0.88
1.10

investigated by various researchers. The major outputs obtained by

–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
experimental investigation are mainly the possible use of steam for
baking injera with a temperature range of 135–160 °C and a direct
solar radiation reflector to bake injera on a cooking pan at 180 °C.
compared with open-fire (ppm)

Numerical investigation of baking injera with solar energy showed a

7.2

promising result. The experiment was conducted based on a simulated

80
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
electric heater to heat the thermic fluid circulating in the baking
process. Table 5 shows the reviewed journals available on the develop-
ment of a solar assisted injera baking stove and research on injera baking
open-fire injera baking stove injera baking stove

pan.

Patents acquired for injera baking stoves

−7

15

17

15

In addition to research and development efforts on biomass and

–
–

–
1
–
7
–
7
–
5
–
–
–

electric injera baking stoves, a number of patents were acquired for

Specific fuel consumption Total baking time % reduction in specific fuel
consumption compared to

mass production of injera at industrial level. All the proposed injera

baking machines operate either with electricity or gas. So these studies
on injera baking machine were catering only for urban areas. Out of 6
patents acquired from the US patent office, one is currently operating
which is invented by Admassu (Kloman, 2013). Admassu's injera baking
machine (Fig. 8c) has the capacity of producing 1000 injera per hour;
this is an industrial size injera production method. Fig. 8 shows the
Reduction in specific fuel consumption, time to bake, CO and PM for improved biomass injera baking stoves in Ethiopia.

30

49

42

49

44

42

34

41

35

24
–

patents claimed by various developers (Kindie et al., 2003; Desalegn,

2005; Admassu, 2004; Temesgen, 2008; Mulugeta, 2011; Ma, 2012).
Table 6 shows a summary of the patents achieved up to now regarding
the mass production of injera with their respective invention outputs.
(min.)

129
121
102

121
101
121
100
117
116
117
110
117
106
114
107
120

The benefits of the hitherto improved injera baking stoves

–
–

–
–

Indoor air pollution reduction and specific fuel consumption

Although a large number of tests have been undertaken to evaluate

(g/kg of injera)
Performance

the performance of Mirt stove, there were only two reports on the
environmental performance of Mirt stove. Yosef (2007) reported that
1031

1031

1031

1026

1029

1029

1038

1025

the percentage reduction in CO during the test was 91% while that of
460
630
524

596

528

575

596

667

617

573

393
520

PM was 19.3%. The second test conducted at the Aprovecho Research

Ethiopia-Ministry of Water,

Development & Promotion

Center did not show percentage reduction compared to a three stone

Irrigation, and Electricity

open fire stove. However, a water boiling test conducted at the center
Awramba community

on Mirt and ‘improved Mirt’ stoves showed remarkable improvement

(Alternative Energy

Directorate)/GIZ

in terms of indoor air pollution and fuel consumption (Hatfield et al.,

Developed by

2006). The majority of tests conducted are attributed to GIZ and

Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity—Alternative Energy
Promotion Center. The percentage reduction in specific fuel consump-
GIZ

tion of Mirt compared to an open-fire stove obtained by various

Mirt stove (with integrated

researchers is between 30% and 49% (Workeneh, 2005; Yosef, 2007;

Anteneh and Walelign, 2011; Alemayehu et al., 2012; Anteneh, 2014;
Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Three-stone open-fire

Walelign et al., 2013).

Yekum Mirt Type-II
Yekum injera mitad

Yekum Mirt Type-I

Institutional Mirt

Awramba stove
Gounzie stove
No. Type of stove

Carbon emission reduction potential

Mirt stove

Mirt stove

Mirt stove
chimney)

Most of the improved injera baking stoves have contributed to

emission reduction compared to the three-stone open-fire, which is
Table 3

used by the majority of the people in Ethiopia. A few researchers and de-
10
1

velopers attempted to measure the CO2 emission reduction potential of

 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80 77

Table 4
Electric & heat transfer fluid injera baking stoves research output.

No. Authors Year Title of the research Major outputs Reference

1 Mekonnen 2011 Design and manufacturing of laboratory • Design and manufacturing a laboratory model for solar powered Mekonnen (2011)
Mesele Tsegaye model for solar powered injera baking oven injera baking oven system consisting of oil storage and heating tank,
pumping and piping system, baking pan assembly and support structure.
• The system uses electrical heater to heat the thermic fluid to be used for
baking.
• A temperature of 215 °C is achieved on baking pan and baked injera.
2 Gashaw Getenet 2011 Heat transfer analysis during the process of • Developed mathematical models and finite element formulations for Gashaw (2011)
injera baking by finite element method baking pan and injera during baking.
• Simulation was done in terms of temperature profile during heat-up
and cyclic injera baking using MATLAB.
• Performed simulation for four different electric power sources
(1.867 kW, 2.2 kW, 2.5 kW, and 3 kW) using two types of baking
pans (clay and ceramic).
• Efficiency achieved for baking cycle of 10–50 injera is 53–66% for
clay pan and 66–72% for ceramic baking pan.
3 Awash Tekle Tafere 2011 Experimental investigation of performance • Maximum energy losses occurred at the bottom of conventional Awash (2011)
characteristics and efficiency of electric and improved (ceramic) baking pans with the efficiency of 52%
injera baking pans (‘MITAD’) and 75%, respectively.
• Increasing the number of baking cycles and density of batter
increases the efficiency of the injera baking by 5–10%.

Table 5
Solar thermal injera baking stoves and injera baking pan research outputs.

No. Authors Year Title of the research Major outputs Reference

1 Assefa Ayalew Tareke
2 Asfafaw Haileselassie,
Mulu Bayray Kahsay, and
Ole Jorgen Nydal
3 Abdulkadir Aman Hassen,
Demiss Alemu Amibe and Ole
Jorgen Nydal
4 Abdulkadir Aman Hassen and
Demiss Alemu Amibe
5 Alan Gallagher
6 Katrin Putz and Joachim
Muller
2010 Heat transfer analysis of Injera
baking pan by FEM
2013 Design and development of solar
thermal injera baking: steam
based direct baking
2011 Performance investigation of solar
powered injera baking oven for
indoor cooking
2013 Finite element modeling of solar
powered injera baking oven for
indoor cooking
2011 A solar fryer
2011 Development of a multi fuel mitad
as stove extension for injera baking
in Ethiopia
• FEM is used to model heat transfer process during injera baking using clay Assefa
plate. This was experimentally verified using electric injera baking stove. (2010)
• Major improvements are predicted if the cooking plate thickness is
minimized or thermal conductivity increased.
• Introduces indirect solar stove Asfafaw
• A parabolic dish with an aperture area of 2.54 m2 with well insulated pipes et al. (2014)
and stainless steel heat exchanger to bake injera.
• The experiment demonstrated that a high temperature indirect steam
baking of injera is possible
• The authors claim that injera could be baked at a temperature of 135–160
°C with acceptable quality
• A new type of baking system is proposed where solar energy is used as a Abdulkadir
power source. The solar thermal energy is transferred to the kitchen by means et al. (2011)
of a circulating heat transfer fluid which is heated by a parabolic trough.
•A new type of baking pan made from ceramic is manufactured and used for
baking injera
• In order to heat the ceramic baking pan a steel pan with fins is put underneath
and the oil enters the cavity to transfer the heat to the steel and fins.
• It takes approximately 1 h to start circulating the oil and 40 min to reach
the optimum baking temperature (~180 °C–220 °C).
• 5 injera was baked at an interval of 2 min and idle time of 3 min between
each injera.
• A 2D transient finite element analysis was carried out for a new type of Abulkadir
solar powered injera baking system. and Demiss
• In the proposed system, heat transfer oil is heated using solar energy by (2013)
parabolic trough and the oil circulates through the space below the baking
pan in the kitchen.
• Based on previous finite element study on existing electric injera baking
pans, a new type of baking pan made from ceramic with 8 mm thickness
was manufactured and used for the proposed system
• The proposed baking pan that uses solar energy gives acceptable heat up
and baking time compared to existing conventional baking methods.
• The finite element model predicts well the temperature distribution
during initial heat up and cyclic baking.
• A 42 cm diameter injera baking pan was heated using solar radiation Gallagher
through a mirror reflector. (2011)
• Capacity of solar fryer was 4 kg/h.
• The pan reaches a temperature of 180 °C in 20 min.
• Developing a multi fuel injera mitad applicable in combination with Putz and
existing energy saving and relatively cleaner stoves. Muller
• To better exploit the available heat the first prototype was realized with metal. (2011)
• The lower heat capacity of metal compared to clay influences the
distinctive appearance of injera—it leads to a slightly different formation of
the eyes (holes) on the pancake's surface.
• The proven high demand for a fuel saving injera baking appliance in
Ethiopia justifies the further optimization of the multi fuel injera mitad.
78 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Fig. 8. Schematic diagram of patents obtained on mass production injera (Kindie et al., 2003; Desalegn, 2005; Admassu, 2004; Temesgen, 2008; Mulugeta, 2011; Ma, 2012).

Table 6
Invention regarding injera baking stove and their major outputs.

No. Title of the invention Inventor Year of Major inventions Reference

invention

1 Method and apparatus for Mengistu A. Kindie, 2003 A device used to bake injera and bread by making use of a dispenser. The dispenser Kindie et al.
making bread Robert J. Sweeney, pours the batter in the baking surface which is heated by an electric power supply from (2003)
and Jim Aitken the bottom. The device is automated for continuous injera baking operation
2 Method of and apparatus for Emiru Y. Desalegn 2005 A measured amount of batter dispensed into a horizontal moving conveyor where Desalegn
making Ethiopian bread injera is baked and transported to a cooling zone. The machine is automated to bake (2005)
injera continuously with the help of electric power.
3 Injera manufacturing Wundeh Mulugeta 2006 A continuous injera baking machine consisting of storage, dispensing, baking and Admassu
system cooling stages. The machine is capable of producing injera in mass continuously. (2004)
4 Injera baking machine Yoseph Temesgen 2008 Automated injera baking machine starting from polishing the surface of baking plate, Temesgen
dispensing and removing using spatula attached to a reciprocating conveyor. The batter (2008)
dispensing mechanism can rotate and reciprocate simultaneously.
5 Rotary baking system and Wassie Mulugeta 2011 An automatic rotary injera baking machine which consists of a movable dispensing unit Mulugeta
method with a rotary system for baking using a gas burner. The gas will be fed to each baking (2011)
surface from the gas cylinder.
6 Method and apparatus for Michael Ma 2012 Injera baking machine with a large production capacity consisting of a batter dispenser Ma (2012)
rapid production of injera coupled with a conveyor belt for transport. A perforated cylinder is used to dispense
bread the batter to produce a number of injera. The baked injera will be transported into a
cooling and packaging unit after baking.
 K.D. Adem, D.A. Ambie / Energy for Sustainable Development 41 (2017) 69–80 79

Three-stone

Injera baking plate-

Mirt Stove Mitad

Biomass Fuel Gasifier Stove

Biogas Stove

Injera
Energy
Solar Thermal Injera
Solar Energy
Baking Stove

Household Electric
Injera Baking Stove
Electric Energy
Mass Production
Electric Injera Baking
Stove

Energy Source Type of Stove Injera to be baked

Fig. 9. Research directions for injera baking stove.

the improved injera baking stoves such as Mirt stove. Dresen et al.
(2014) showed that 2.145 tons of CO2 per ICS per year could be saved
by using Mirt. Similarly, World Food Program—Ethiopia and World
Vision Ethiopia through the Project Design Document (PDD) for
programmes of activities registered a carbon saving potential of
1.14 tCO2/device/year (World Vison Ethiopia, 2013; World Food Pro-
gram, 2014).
Research directions
Injera will continue to be the staple food of Ethiopians and Eritreans
in years to come. In order to efficiently bake injera using various types of
stoves, research and development work for injera baking is critical.
Currently, biomass is the dominant source of energy used for injera
baking followed by electricity. Electricity is mainly used in urban areas
of the country. Alternative energy sources such as solar, thermal and
biogas can be used for baking injera (Fig. 9).
As it has been stated in the early study of injera baking stove, and
subsequent studies using numerical methods, improving the injera
baking pan will directly minimize the losses associated with baking. A
number of efforts are being undertaken to improve the baking pan,
such as ceramic materials and combinations of steel chips combined
with clay and glass. Research directions could also focus on improving
the thermal conductivity of the baking pan without compromising the
quality of injera. A composite injera baking pan could also be an area
to be explored further.
The case of electric injera baking is relatively well established except
for possible improvements in efficiency. Solar thermal, gasification and
biogas, which are potential future research areas of focus, will have
enormous contributions for improvements on the health of women
and children exposed to indoor air pollution. However, most research
efforts on injera baking stoves were focused on improving specific fuel
consumption and little attention was given to the reduction of indoor
air pollution such as CO and PM as well as reducing carbon emissions.
Therefore, future research efforts should also address such issues as
these which are also important factors in the development of injera
baking stoves. Fig. 9 shows the possible layout for research in the
areas of injera baking.
Although the long term solutions for developing countries such as
Ethiopia is connecting electricity to all of its inhabitants, the short and
middle term solution is improving the performance of biomass stoves
through research collaborations of the governmental institutions with
other partners. The development of biomass technology will be instru-
mental in the energy mix in the long term solution strategy, particularly
for decentralized energy generation systems. Specifically, the use of
clean biomass stoves for baking injera is a vital issue for alleviating air
pollution, greenhouse gases and energy efficiency. This is a grave
concern not only for the majority of Ethiopians but also for people living
in rural parts of the world, such as most developing countries in Africa.
Besides, biomass is a key factor in the energy mix; it requires further
research undertakings for more efficient utilization.
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