Relieving Haiti’s homefuel crisis through ethanol

Crazy little thing called Ethanol

Depending on where you live, terms like “energy efficiency,” “emissions,” “cookstoves,” “biofuels,” and “ethanol” can mean very different things.

Take “ethanol,” for example.

If you live in the United States, Europe, or even Brazil, most people will think you are referring to the heavily subsidized corn- or sugar-based liquid biofuel that is often mixed with gasoline to power so-called “flex-fuel” vehicles.

But for the 3 billion people who depend on wood, charcoal, or animal dung for their household cooking or heating, ethanol means … … Well, ummm, actually, the word “ethanol” probably doesn’t mean all that much.

One plucky non-profit is hoping to change this by making locally and sustainably produced ethanol an attractive homefuel alternative to solid biomass fuels for the world’s 3 billion energy poor.

If all goes according to planned, Project Gaia, the visionary non-profit behind the idea, and its partners – which includes the Brazilian and Haitian government, along with a number of entrepreneurs — will soon be distributing in Haiti hundreds of locally assembled ethanol cookstoves along with the locally produced alcohol necessary to run them.

Now we’re cooking!

Unlike woodfuel or charcoal, which is mostly harvested from public lands by poor people the world over, ethanol is easily and cheaply made from a variety of agricultural crops, including sweet sorghum and sugar cane, both of which are staple crops and in ample supply in Haiti.

Another advantage of using plant-based ethanol is that the fibrous cellulose residue that remains after the cane juice has been extracted can easily be converted to fuel briquettes which can be used in traditional or improved solid fuel cookstoves.

Ethanol also burns cleaner than wood, charcoal, or animal dung, the solid fuels most commonly used in improved cookstoves around the world. This makes ethanol an attractive choice for those concerned with indoor air pollution, local environments, and Climate Change.

And as liquid fuels go, when paired with the right stove, ethanol’s characteristics makes it a safer choice than kerosene, the fossil fuel-based liquid alternative to ethanol that causes thousands of severe burns each year, mostly among children.

Project Gaia is hoping its plan to produce cane-based ethanol for home cooking in Haiti will generate employment and provide a much-needed domestic outlet for the country’s sugarcane production, which is very vulnerable to fluctuations in the international commodities market.

Haiti is home to a number of other key feedstocks for ethanol production, such as the sugars from rotting vegetables and fruits.

We caught up with Project Gaia’s frontman, Harry Stokes, to learn more about ethanol, the cookstoves, the plan for Haiti, and the alcohol’s potential role in helping alleviate the country’s deep-rooted energy poverty.

The Charcoal Project: Harry, what’s your take on the home energy situation in Haiti?

HS: Much of the focus on domestic fuel in Haiti has been on importing subsidized fuels (like LPG), establishing clean cookstove programs, or launching a few briquettes programs.

These are great ways to reduce emissions and consumption of wood and charcoal, create jobs, and recycle discarded agricultural or urban organic waste. But there is no way these solutions can quickly reduce demand for wood and charcoal as a primary source of fuel across the country.

Haiti is also 98% deforested and more than 70% of the population depends on charcoal or woodfuel for cooking.These figures clearly show that a sustainable supply of woody biomass fuels is in doubt. What’s more, since the earthquake, families must now spend more than 40% of their income on charcoal. And the price of charcoal has increased dramatically since the earthquake.

It’s clear that people need more fuel options. This means that, unless massive subsidies of fuel imports persist, Haiti will continue to depend on trees for fuel for some time to come.

TCP: Ok. Point taken. So what’s the argument for ethanol?

HS: Haiti has a rich history of producing sugar and rum from sugarcane, which means the country has the mills and distilleries necessary to produce ethanol.

Additionally, sugar is one of the country’s largest exports but it is vulnerable to swings in the commodities market and trade imbalances.

Plant ethanol is also much more of a renewable fuel than, say, trees, since it is produced from agricultural crops.

Ethanol is also cheaper than other fuel alternatives, such as LPG, kerosene, and even charcoal.

Finally, ethanol is safe and clean, so it can be considered a modern fuel.

TCP: Walk us through the plan.

HS: In order to get people to adopt ethanol as a homefuel you need two things: a stove and a reliable supply of ethanol.

Let’s start with the stoves.

The stoves we promote are like LPG stoves but they don’t depend on a pressurized tank to store the fuel and they don’t need pressure to fire the jets. They are the safest stoves on the market and provide a high degree of efficiency. They also produce ultra-low global warming emissions.

The stove has been put through its paces, too, logging over two million stove-use days during extensive testing in Africa and Brazil.

The other challenge will be to establish a supply chain that can ensure delivery of ethanol to the end user.

It’s critical that the fuel be available with minimal infliction of financial or logistic pain on the end user. The idea is to make the switch as easy as possible for consumers.

TCP: What’s the cost of the stove and how does it compare with solid biomass fuel stoves on the market locally? How do you plan to make these affordable to people?

HS: Right now the stoves are being manufactured in Europe but we are in advanced conversations with multiple partners to begin a stove factory in Haiti.

The technology is fairly simple and adaptable so we are very confident we can make high-quality stoves locally with support of Dometic AB, the Swedish company who produces the CleanCook stove.

More importantly, it means we can eliminate all transport and import duties, making them more affordable to the people who need them. Regarding the financial side of the equation, one liter (about 1 US qt) of ethanol can satisfy the cooking needs of a family of five for an entire day. Right now ethanol can be produced in Haiti for between USD $0.35 to $0.50 cents per liter.

On the other hand, the average family uses one marmite (about a coffee-can’s worth) of charcoal to cook one meal, and the cost runs between 80 cents and U$1 per marmite.

Given these figures, we’re confident ethanol can be very cost competitive from the start.

Our plan is to jump-start the ethanol stove adoption process by importing the components for 1,300 European manufactured stoves to Haiti and a sizeable batch of ethanol fuel from Brazil.

TCP: Let’s talk about the fuel. How is this going to work?

HS: The good news is that we are working towards a 100,000-liter donation of ethanol from Brazil. This volume along with the 1,300 donated European stoves will allow us to get into business right away.

The challenge will then be to make sure that our local partners have the capacity to produce a steady, reliable, sustainable, and affordable supply of fuel to the end users.

Which brings us to step two in the fuel security side of the equation.

We’ve already identified a distillery that is ready to start ethanol production for the domestic homecooking market, once the demand exists.

If the stoves are adopted as we expect them to be, there will be plenty of room for other distilleries to enter the ethanol market. Also, when it comes to efficiency in production, you can produce ethanol on a large or very small scale and there is a very low loss of energy in the conversion process from plant to fuel. Compare that to the 75 % energy loss in the wood-to-charcoal conversion process and you quickly see the advantage.

TCP: Tell us about the partnerships you’ve built for this project.

HS: We have established a partnership among seven private and public organizations, in and out of Haiti.

The pre-commercial and early development phase of the project will be led by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Project Gaia. The IRC is well known for its humanitarian aid work around the world and has played a lead role in bringing relief to Haitians displaced by the earthquake.

Meanwhile, The Dometic Group, an international appliance company that specializes in off-grid, efficient appliances, will work with SIMACT SA, a Haitian company backed by a Haitian-American investor group with a socially conscious investment strategy. Together, Dometic and SIMACT will work with a local manufacturer, Machine Technology and Application Corporation (MTAC) in Port-au-Prince to make the ethanol stove in Haiti. MTAC is owned and operated by a skilled machinist who brought his shop over from Florida to Haiti in 2005.

Also on board is the Public Private Alliance Foundation (PPAF), a non-profit skilled in international networking and team-building. PPAF will help in planning, promotion and identifying funding and business opportunities for the project.

TCP: How soon do you anticipate you will be in a position to roll out the stoves and the fuel?

HS: Our pilot phase is already under way. The IRC will assist in developing supply chain relationships for stoves and fuel and encouraging rural small-medium enterprises to become involved.

The IRC and Project Gaia will conduct assessments of stove use in hundreds of households and temporary shelters. These on-the-ground activities will be led by NGOs already delivering services to communities, including Viva Rio in the Bel Air section of Port-au-Prince and Grace International in Carrefour.

The Haitian Government will monitor these studies. Through Grace, Viva Rio and others, the Dometic ethanol CleanCook stoves will be delivered to the neediest families in each community.

The team will seek innovative solutions, such as carbon finance, to make stoves affordable for even the poorest customers.

TCP: Assuming the project takes off, what next?

HS: We want to see a self-sustaining ethanol fuel and cookstove project take off in Haiti. Our belief is that there is no reason why a successful model cannot be replicated elsewhere in Latin America or Africa, especially in countries that have high biomass fuel dependence, low woody biomass stocks, and ample agricultural land. The goal is to move people towards the production of liquid biofuels from suitable agricultural crops.

Individuals interested in supporting this initiative can help by sponsoring a stove for a family. A $50 donation will purchase a stove for a family in Haiti. The stove has an expected life-span of 10 years.

To donate, please visit Project Gaia.

Thank you!