I was asked to help fund a project in Africa to produce charcoal more efficiently. I was caught off guard by such a proposal. I began to read about the use of charcoal for heating in Africa. "Kenya’s population is rapidly growing and urbanizing, which is driving a soaring demand for charcoal in the country’s main cities. Studies show that charcoal production increased between 1.6 to 2.5 tons a year between 2004 to 2012, while revenues grew from $0.3 to $1.6 billion in the same period. Most wood used for charcoal production is sourced from trees on farms. It is estimated that around 40 percent of wood fuel, which includes both charcoal and firewood, is unsustainably harvested, causing negative impacts on Kenya’s biodiverse forests."
The article then went on to promote the growing of trees to produce charcoal rather than the stripping of native forests, and the use of more efficient kilns to increase the charcoal yields. Wow, did nobody get the global warming memo? Who is sponsoring this activity? Governing Multifunctional Landscapes in Sub-Saharan Africa (GML) project financed by the European Union, who else.
As I began to read more, I am seeing numbers that surprised me. According to the World Health Organization about 3 billion people in the world cook by burning wood or charcoal. It makes sense to do it sustainably and efficiently, if it has to be done, but it seems ironic that farmers in the EU are being limited because their cows have gas, which contributes to global warming when billions are burning wood to cook. I just don't know what to think about this request.
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