This increasing demand for charcoal as an alternative source of fuel in homes and some industries in Nigeria has snowballed into a smuggling ring across national borders, further destroying the already diminishing number of trees in the country.
May 2012
Joint UNIDO and Kenya biomass project to begin in June
Kenya and UNIDO launch 5-year biomass project. This is welcome news considering that over 68 percent of the population in Kenya use biomass for cooking, whilst Kenya’s Ministry of Energy estimates that up to 95 percent of the energy consumed in rural areas is in the form of fuel wood, agricultural residue and animal waste.
Tanzania: Championing Energy Solutions for Women
Bagamoyo’s (Tanzania) rapid urbanization and population growth have made it harder for workers like Msilo to keep their businesses afloat and feed their families. Alongside rising electricity costs, the wood most people use for their household and business energy needs is becoming scarcer.
Thirteen women and eight men were instructed on how to produce fuel alternatives to charcoal, using agriculture and crop residues. These residues include rice and cashew husks, wood shavings, coconut husks and shells – all of which can be fashioned into briquettes, whose growing use addresses the shortage of charcoal and other wood-based fuels.
NEWS: Why Energy Should Play a Crucial Role in Africa’s Development
By 2050… smoke from cooking fires will release about 7 billion tonnes of carbon in the form of greenhouse gases in Africa – that’s about 6 per cent of the total expected greenhouses from the continent. — Rwanda New Times
Debate Roundup: The Efficacy of Clean Cookstove
A roundup of who said what, when, about the “raging” debate on the efficacy of clean cookstoves.