Charcoal: A Fuel in Urgent Need of Solutions

Consider this:

* Africa emits roughly the same amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) from charcoal production and consumption as Europe does annually from transportation.

* Under a business as usual scenario, GHG emissions from charcoal production and consumption in sub-Saharan Africa are set to rise 140 – 190% by 2030.

* Under a business as usual scenario, household indoor air pollution will cause an estimated 9.8m premature deaths by the year 2030.¹

* Gradual and rapid transitions to charcoal would delay 1 to 2.8m deaths, respectively. Similar transitions to petroleum fuels would delay 1.3 to 3.7m deaths.

The facts above are only some of the important findings from a 2005 scientific paper co-authored by Daniel M. Kammen, the World Banks newly appointed “clean energy czar.”

What’s clear is that neither sub-Saharan Africa nor the world can afford to ignore the social, economic, and political impacts that the projected large-scale increase in charcoal consumption will have across the continent. (See our interview on Tanzania’s looming charcoal crisis)

The good news is that, unlike the complex social and business challenges posed by the deployment of tailored-made, clean cookstoves for individual cultures across the continent — charcoal efficiency solutions can be quickly replicated at scale and across borders.

Much like clean energy has proven an economic and environmental boon to certain enlightened societies, we think clean sustainable charcoal solutions will be the next big thing.

Just as the industrialized and emerging economies need “clean coal” (is there such a thing?), the Global South needs “clean charcoal” (there IS such a thing!)

This is why The Charcoal Project is committed to supporting and investing in the development of technologies, policies, business models, and other solutions necessary to address the challenges that lie ahead.

Our goal is to see in the future a Global Alliance for Clean Charcoal.

Stay tuned.

— The Charcoal Project

Below are some of the highlights from the paper mentioned above: Mortality and Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Biomass and Petroleum Energy Futures in Africa. (Science, 1 April, 2005. Vol. 308)

* We estimated that in 2000, households in SSA consumed nearly 470 million tons of woodfuels (0.72 tons per capita) in the form of wood and charcoal. By comparison, FAO estimates that India and China, with a combined population nearly 3.5 times larger than that of SSA, used 340 million tons of woodfuels in the same year (5).

* Overall, 94% of the African rural population and 73% of the urban population use woodfuels as their primary source of energy, mainly in the form of wood in rural areas and an equal split of wood and charcoal in urban centers.

* Nearly all charcoal in SSA currently is produced in traditional kilns, which have suboptimal conversion efficiency and no emission controls. Technological shifts in charcoal production include indigenous or exotic multipurpose tree crops, alternative inputs such as biomass waste products, and efficient kilns with emission controls.

* The net GHG emissions from residential energy use in SSA in 2000 were 79 million tons of carbon (MtC) (61% from wood, 35% from charcoal, 3% from kerosene, and 1% from LPG). In the absence of systematic changes in fuel-use patterns and in production and harvesting techniques (BAU scenario), cumulative emissions between 2000 and 2050 will be an estimated 6.7 GtC.

* A shift to sustainable biomass harvesting without a shift in household fuel use patterns can reduce GHG emissions by 36% but will have no health or direct welfare benefits for the region. Transition to petroleum-based fuels provides the next largest climate change benefits, with substantial reductions in childhood and adult female mortality (11).

* This transition is already underway among wealthier urban households in some countries of the region. However, for many people, this is not a feasible option over the next 2 to 3 decades. Obstacles include fuel affordability for individual households, high capital costs for fuel processing and delivery infrastructure, and volatility in both price and supply as a consequence of national energy policies and international markets.

* A shift from firewood to either charcoal or fossil fuels can reduce indoor air pollution by 90% or more (18). Therefore, charcoal can capture much of the health benefits of fossil-fuel use without the economic burden and infrastructure requirements (19, 20).

* Therefore, a shift to charcoal among SSA households can be equally as or more cost effective than some of the commonly cited health interventions in developing countries (15, 21). Charcoal is already a preferred fuel among many consumers and has a well-established production and marketing network in place in many countries. Therefore, charcoal resolves the important concern about intervention scaling-up in sustainable development and health technology evaluation.

* Widespread charcoal use in Africa as a health intervention presents major policy and research challenges and opportunities. Widespread use of charcoal without changes in technology and land management will lead to substantially higher GHG emissions (Fig. 3).

* Charcoal use has large, though poorly characterized, impacts on forest cover, soil fertility, and biodiversity. Currently feasible sustainable practices, similar to past efforts in Thailand and Brazil (22, 23), can substantially reduce these emissions.

* A real opportunity also exists to develop new harvesting and production methods, possibly with even fewer environmental impacts than those in the sustainable scenarios considered here (e.g., charcoal production from alternative feedstocks) (24).

* However, these advances require investment in technology R&D and in technology transfer and dissemination within and between countries. In addition to technological needs, the barriers to sustainable charcoal production are rooted in a lack of coherent energy policies specifically addressing residential energy needs and in biases toward industrial energy resources, as well as outdated forest policies that put control of forest resources in the hands of centralized agencies, which rarely recognize energy as an important forest product.

* If these technological, funding, and institutional challenges are met, transitioning to sustainable charcoal would create domestic jobs, boost rural economies, lessen the need for imported fossil fuels, and save foreign exchange.

* This integration of health outcomes into energy and resource technologies and policies offers an opportunity to reduce child mortality, promote gender equality, and improve environmental sustainability.

¹ One important positive outcome of the recently launched Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is the expected reduction in premature deaths from indoor air pollution.

However, the Alliance has no mandate to address the types of fuels consumed in the improved cookstoves. It’s focus is on delivering stoves that reduce fuel consumption and emissions.