The Charcoal Project

Africa 2040: Wood energy consumption up by 40%

IEA: By 2040, SSA will see a 40% increase in bioenergy consumption and a burgeoning $70 billion USD industry.

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NEWS: Grain farmers shifting to planting trees, especially for fuel

Via Kenya’s Daily Nation — (16/04/2013) Investment in private forestry is becoming profitable, in Western Kenya due to increased demand for wood fuel by textile and food processing industries.

Grain farmers who have invested in commercial forestry are recording huge profits as a result of the high demand for wood products that has outstripped forest plantation establishments.

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WASHplus Update focuses on fuel “stacking”

In this issue of WASHplus Weekly, the focus is on fuel “stacking,” which is the use of multiple fuels/stoves at one time. Stacking is a complex factor that influences the adoption and use of cookstoves. In many households, traditional stoves are used at the same time as improved cookstoves, or the different stoves may be used for different foods. Evidence points to the simultaneous use of different fuel regardless of income levels. Households continue to use different fuels as their incomes rise, and they do not immediately abandon the use of fuelwood. Other factors, such as reliability of supply, safety, and taste preferences of food cooked using fuelwood, may be factors under consideration by households.

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Black Carbon: The low-hanging fruit of climate change that keeps getting lower

“Reducing emissions from diesel engines and domestic wood and coal fires is a no-brainer, as there are tandem health and climate benefits,” says Professor Piers Forster of the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment.

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