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Jean Kim Chaix

Kim Chaix is the Founding Director of The Charcoal Project and is also Director of Strategic Impact for Rainforest Foundation USA.

A stove for Darfur

At the height of the Darfur emergency in 2004, women had to sometimes walk as long as seven hours to find firewood outside the refugee camps. The women were frequently the victims of rape during these treks.

Faced with these threats, the US government turned to Berkeley Lab scientist Ashok Gadgil to help find a solution to the problem. The Berkeley-Darfur Stove is the response devised by Ashok, his colleagues, and the women of Darfur.

A stove for Darfur Read More »

Cambodia: Commercial venture to produce “cleaner” charcoal

MONG Riththy Group (a privately held local agro-industrial company) is preparing to put “cleaner” charcoal on the domestic market after a US$10 million investment, its president told the Phnom Penh Post Tuesday. In the coming two weeks, the company is set to introduce between 250 and 1,000 tonnes of Acacia charcoal on the domestic market each month at a price of 1,200 riels (US$0.30) per kilogram, said Mong Riththy. The special charcoal is thought to be cleaner than the domestic charcoal used normally, as it burns at a high heat and does not produce as much smoke as other varieties.

Cambodia: Commercial venture to produce “cleaner” charcoal Read More »

Haiti bioenergy relief initiative: connecting projects and funders

Following last week’s disaster, there’s a good chance that the number of people in Haiti depending on wood and charcoal for their every day needs has sky-rocketed from about 70% to close to 100%. The Charcoal Project is helping by connecting energy-efficient stove/kiln producers and sustainable biomass briquettes makers with potential government, multilateral, and NGO funders. The Charcoal Project will help by collecting information and matching funders with projects that are capable of delivering immediate solutions to Haiti’s urgent bioenergy needs.

Haiti bioenergy relief initiative: connecting projects and funders Read More »

After the earthquake: Haiti’s deforestation needs attention

Seventy-one percent of all fuel consumed in Haiti is wood or charcoal, according to the US Agency for International Development. Every year, the country’s 9 million (and growing) inhabitants burn a quantity of wood and charcoal equal to 30 million trees, according to this essay. That’s 20 million more trees than Haiti grows yearly.

After the earthquake: Haiti’s deforestation needs attention Read More »

Endangered gorillas threatened by charcoal trade

In the past decade 150 rangers from the Congolese national wildlife service have been killed in eastern Congo’s five reserves.

Three rangers were wounded in gun battles last summer, but the search and destroy operation dismantled 1,000 kilns — piles of earth and wood as tall as a man in which branches are burnt for days at high heat and pressure to make charcoal. The charcoal produced by each kiln is worth about £600.

Endangered gorillas threatened by charcoal trade Read More »

Haiti’s environment

The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic (D.R.) is more than just a political boundary.

It also reflects the large amount of deforestation that has occurred on the Haitian side of the border.

One can easily see from satellite imagery the lush forests still thriving on the D.R. side of the border, which is in sharp contrast to the Haitian side of the border.

Haiti’s environment Read More »

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