( CNN ) -- It 's a new idea which could resonate with communities across the developing world -- a biomass stove which also generates electricity using sound waves . The Score-Stove is a cooker , fridge and energy generator in one which harnesses waste heat from cooking to power a specially designed thermo-acoustic engine , helping provide energy to areas where access to electricity is limited . The project is being led by the UK 's University of Nottingham , but has drawn on the expertise of partners around the world including the Los Alamos National Laboratory ( LANL ) in New Mexico . LANL researchers Scott Backhaus and Greg Swift demonstrated the first-ever thermo-acoustic engine in 1999 , adapting the principles originally outlined by Scottish engineer Robert Stirling in the 19th century . In Stirling 's thermodynamic engine ( patented in 1816 ) air or gas is alternately heated from an external source and cooled . The expansion and contraction of the air drives displacer pistons in the Stirling Engine , but in Score-Stove 's thermo-acoustic set-up there are no moving parts , says Paul Riley , Score project director . The stove heats a specially shaped pipe at one end while the other end is cooled , Riley explains , compressing air inside the pipe and causing it to vibrate and produce powerful sound waves . `` You can think of it as a big microphone or a loudspeaker working backwards . In fact we are using loudspeakers ( which act as a linear alternator ) in some of the rigs turning the sound into electricity , '' Riley said . `` It 's in excess of 170 decibels -- that 's more than the Space Shuttle taking off -- but it 's whisper quiet outside the pipe , '' he added . Riley and colleagues at Nottingham have producing 36 watts of electricity under laboratory conditions and recently started installing and testing stoves in Nepal and Bangladesh . `` We must adapt the lab version for each area , taking into account local biomass fuels , types of pots and pans used to cook , along with the everyday tasks the unit will be required for , '' Riley said . In the 2011 World Energy Outlook , the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) reported that around 1.3 billion people presently have no access to electricity with 95 % of this number living in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia . Even small amounts of electricity ( Score-Stove 's aim is to achieve an output of around 150 watts ) could transform the lives of rural communities providing light and charging facilities for a booming cell phone market . According to the GSMA -- an association representing mobile phone operators worldwide -- over 70 % of Africa 's one billion population will own a cell phone by the end of 2012 . The Score-Stove also makes cooking more efficient helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limiting exposure to cooking smoke . Nearly three billion people still rely on biomass stoves which cause around two million premature deaths annually , according to the World Health Organization . Making Score-Stoves in large numbers would currently cost around $ 250 per unit , Riley says , but a target of around $ 30 in the future is realistic . `` That 's the next stage of the research . We hope to be making this in the millions . We are talking to several large manufacturers who are evaluating the product at the moment , '' he said . `` I am convinced that a wood-burning stove that can also generate electricity will benefit these ( three billion ) people . Perhaps more . ''
New multi - purpose biomass stove generates electricity from sound waves created by cooking . Score - 2 currently undergoing field trials in Nepal and India . Los Alamos National Laboratory assisted British Army with thermo - acoustic technology .