Small-Scale Sustainable Charcoal Production in Kenya

Emily Ruder & Jacob Rankin, “Small-Scale Sustainable Charcoal Production in Kenya”
Mentor: Mai Phillips, Conservation and Environmental Science

Woodfuel accounts for 80% of energy consumption in Kenya and accounts for most of the deforestation after agriculture. The Dryland Natural Resource Center (DNRC) in Mbumbuni, Kenya is producing sustainable charcoal to combat these issues during a transition to modern energy technologies. The DNRC’s goal is to profit from charcoal production and pay farmers a relatively high price for their crop. To accomplish this goal, they need to produce product efficiently to keep production costs low. This research intends to find a way to achieve highest yields in charcoal production at the DNRC. We studied four species most commonly harvested by farmers (Terminalia brownii, Senna siamea, Acacia polyacantha, Senna spectabilis). Samples per species n=6, total n=24. These were harvested and dried for 1, 2, and 3-month periods. Moisture, diameter, and weight measurements were taken before carbonization (process of turning wood to charcoal). Mass after carbonization was used to find yield. Observational data were also collected and considered. Our findings will result in recommendations to increase sustainable charcoal yields in small-scale production at the DNRC.

 

Comments

  1. This was an excellent presentation. Very interesting work. The presentation was very easy to follow and interesting. The visuals were nice. The font on the first set of bar graphs could have been bigger. But you did a great job of explaining why this matters and why you would make specific recommendations. Which is often the hardest part of science. Nicely presented! Well done!

    1. Thank you Dr. Larson! We will think more about the visual accessability for our future presentations. I appreciate you taking the time to view our work.

Leave a Reply to Christine Larson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *