BioLite: cooking, charging, lighting with fire and sun

BioLite is now available at SportFits. The US brand from Brooklyn stands for an idea that is as simple as it is effective: outdoor energy from natural sources, with no mains socket, gas or disposable batteries needed. With wood-burning stoves that generate electricity at the same time, solar lanterns and compact power banks, BioLite adds a brand to the range that combines technology and sustainability in its own distinctive way.

Whether you are on a bikepacking trip, away for a camping weekend or spending an evening at a garden cabin, BioLite provides energy where there is none.

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

The special feature is that the stove uses thermoelectric technology. An integrated generator converts excess heat into electricity: enough to charge a smartphone while dinner is cooking. The idea caught on. 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 used in the CampStove is also applied to cooking stoves in developing countries, where around 3 billion people cook over open fires every day.

Open-fire cooking causes smoke poisoning, respiratory illnesses and deforestation. BioLite’s HomeStove reduces smoke by more than 90% and halves wood consumption. Revenue from the outdoor business funds the development and distribution of these stoves in India, Uganda and other countries.

The result: more than 8 million people now benefit from BioLite products in regions without a reliable electricity grid.

BioLite divides its range into three areas, all with the same aim: self-sufficient power on the move. From wood-burning stoves to inflatable solar lanterns, the common thread is independence from the mains.

The heart of BioLite is the thermoelectric technology in the CampStove. You burn twigs, cones or small pieces of wood, using material you can find right where you are. An integrated fan creates an air swirl in the combustion chamber, helping to ensure almost smoke-free combustion. The heat drives a thermoelectric generator that produces electricity.

This electricity has two jobs: it powers the fan itself, making the system self-sustaining, and charges external devices via 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 intensity and available power in real time.

For BioLite, sustainability is not an add-on but the core of its business model. The brand has made "Energy Everywhere" its company purpose: for every item sold, one person experiencing energy poverty should gain access to safe lighting and charging.

The key facts:

• Climate Neutral certified: annual CO₂ accounting and offsetting
• HomeStove programme: reduces smoke by 90% and wood consumption by 50% compared with open fires
• Pilot projects since 2013 in India and Uganda, now expanded to further countries
• 2022: revenue from energy access has now reached a similar scale to the outdoor segment.
• 2025: acquisition of Goal Zero's RV business to support further growth