BioLite: cooking, charging and lighting with fire and sun

BioLite is now available at SportFits. The American brand from Brooklyn stands for a simple, effective idea: energy outdoors from fire and sunlight, with no mains socket, no gas and no disposable batteries. With wood-burning stoves that generate electricity as they cook, solar lanterns and compact power banks, BioLite brings a brand to the range that combines technology and campfire in its own way.

Bikepacking trip, camping weekend or an evening in the garden cabin: BioLite provides power where there is none.

It all began in 2006 as a weekend project. Jonathan Cedar and Alec Drummond, two engineers from New York, were tinkering with a camping stove that would burn wood more efficiently: less smoke, more heat. What started as a prototype in a garage became a company in 2009 and, in 2012, its first market-ready product: the BioLite CampStove.

What makes it special is thermoelectric technology. An integrated generator converts surplus heat into electricity, enough to charge a smartphone while dinner cooks. The idea took off. Today BioLite is based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and employs a growing team of engineers, designers and social entrepreneurs.

BioLite is more than an outdoor brand. The company follows a business model its founders call Parallel Innovation: the same core technology found in the CampStove is also used for cooking stoves in developing countries, where around 3 billion people cook over open fires every day.

Open cooking fires cause smoke poisoning, respiratory illness and deforestation. According to BioLite, its HomeStove cuts smoke by more than 90% and halves wood consumption. The company says revenue from its outdoor business funds the development and distribution of these stoves in India, Uganda and other countries.

The company's own figure: more than 8 million people in regions without a reliable power grid now benefit from BioLite products.

BioLite splits its range into three areas, all with the same goal: off-grid power on the move. From the wood-burning stove to the inflatable solar lantern, the common thread is independence from the mains.

At the heart of BioLite is the thermoelectric technology in the CampStove. You burn twigs, cones or small pieces of wood, material you find right where you are. A built-in fan creates a swirl of air in the combustion chamber, which according to the manufacturer makes combustion almost smoke-free. The heat drives a thermoelectric generator that produces electricity.

That electricity has two jobs. It runs the fan itself, so the system keeps itself going, and it charges external devices through a USB port. The integrated 3,200 mAh battery stores surplus energy, so you can keep charging after you have finished cooking. An LED display shows fire strength and available power in real time.

BioLite describes "Energy Everywhere" as its company purpose: for every item sold, one person living in energy poverty is meant to gain access to safe lighting and charging.

The key facts, as stated by BioLite:

• CO₂ accounting: emissions measured annually, remaining emissions offset
• HomeStove programme: 90% less smoke and 50% less wood than an open fire
• Pilot projects since 2013 in India and Uganda, since extended to other countries
• 2022: revenue from energy access reached a similar scale to the outdoor segment
• 2025: acquisition of Goal Zero's RV business to support further growth