Sustainable Feedstock
The Charcoal Project encourages the development and use of more sustainable sources of feedstock for charcoal and charcoal briquettes.
What do we mean by sustainable?
TCP has been researching and developing sustainable and renewable energy feedstocks and supply chains. Many producers of charcoal briquettes rely on chardust, also known as charcoal fines, which is a waste byproduct generated from traditional charcoal production and distribution. While using chardust is a good way to clean up waste streams, this adds to the value chain of a product that is unsustainably produced, and further incentivises producers to continue with traditional, inefficient methods.
Sustainable feedstocks may include nuisance plants, crop waste, or biomass grown specifically for energy harvesting, such as bamboo or trees. The feedstock can be processed into lump charcoal or into briquettes. Additionally, waste streams from urban refuse can also be transformed into charcoal briquettes. Done properly, all these sustainable sources of biomass can be transformed into modern, net-zero GHG fuels, thus displacing traditional charcoal.