Briquette programs that deliver high quality sustainable, alternative solid biofuels exist in major cities in sub-Saharan Africa, but not nearly at the scale necessary to significantly alleviate pressure on the environment from wood and charcoal production. There is clearly lots of room for growth of these types of programs that can create jobs, empower women, and delivering environmental benefits to the larger community. Triple bottom line, anyone?
Fuels
Various types of fuels
Putting a Price on Biodiversity Loss
What exactly is the cost to society when one million hectares (8,861 sq. miles, an area roughly the size of Costa Rica) of Brazilian rainforest disappears? The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) just released Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature, a report that aims to precisely answer that question. The report highlights government and business development policies that consistently fails to value the true cost of natural resources depletion. The report makes an excellent case for biodiversity loss valuation in all governmental decision-making processes. The report also highlights the strong link that exists between ecological conservation and a society’s ability to Continue reading
PAPER: Under ideal conditions, burning biomass is GHG neutral.
“If biomass is harvested in a sustainable way so that its long-term stocks are not depleted, and (it is) burned under ideal combustion conditions, it is effectively GHG (Greenhouse Gas) neutral.” from “Greenhouse Gas Implications of Household Energy Technology in Kenya.” American Chemical Society/Environmental Science & Technology. (2003) Authors: Rob Bailis, Majid Ezzati, and Daniel M. Kammen. The statement above would be music to the ears of solid biomass booster the world over were it not for one tiny, almost insignificant word: ideal. The lead-in to the full statement goes: “Under optimal conditions, biomass combustion results almost entirely in the Continue reading
Why solar cookers are not a viable option for the energy poor
Solar cookers do not work as reliable substitutes for traditional biomass cooking.
That’s in part because rural inhabitants in developing countries are often small plot farmers who must get up when it’s still dark out to get things going on the farm. Breakfast, the key meal of the day if you’re a farmers, is impossible to prepare before sunrise using a solar cooker.
The working urban poor have a different problem. If a family is out all day and doesn’t return until after dark, how can they prepare dinner? Also, where can you safely leave your solar cooker with food cooking when you live in a shanty town?
Charcoal: A Fuel in Urgent Need of Solutions
Sub-Saharan Africa today produces about the same amount of greenhouse gases from charcoal production and consumption as all of Europe’s transport combined.
If nothing changes, emissions are likely to triple by 2030.