From what I have seen and heard on my trips to Kenya, the solar cooker, which can be made for pennies, are very efficient, but do not fit in with the East African psyche, they take too long to cook a meal. From my observations, it seems that Kenyans like to prepare and eat with little or no gap in between. So they need an instant heat source to cook on, wood, charcoal, kerosene or, if they are modern (and can afford it) butane gas.
So, trees will continue to be decimated until an alternative instant fuel is found, that is acceptable to those who have to use it.
You can read an article on the BBC website here
I have been working on methane collector design for a while now and have come up with a version that is easy and cheap to construct, and easy to use.
My contention is that if butane is acceptable, then so is methane. The difference is that methane occurs naturally, and to collect it is a simple matter. It is FREE!
Looking at its use ecologically, burning methane forms water and CO2, which is a good thing. Why? Because methane is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2, so it is far more acceptable to have CO2 floating around rather than methane, isn't it?
But most people living in rural East Africa are not interested in that, they are too busy surviving.
So, what about the charcoal makers? They will not be happy seeing their livlihood disappearing as people convert to methane for cooking.
So, show them how to make methane collectors, install them and maintain them. Yes, they need maintaining. A 45 gallon methane collector will produce gas for about six months before it needs refurbishing. But, the by-product is fertiliser, just what is needed on a shamba.
So, to recap:
- Methane is free
- Using methane saves trees
- A methane collector produces fertiliser
- Using methane helps to eliminate a potent greenhouse gas that would normally escape to atmosphere.
- Methane is a clean fuel, so there are no particulates to irritate and inflame eyes and lungs.
- Charcoal producers can be easily trained to make, install and maintain methane collectors, so they will not lose their income. In fact, with a little persuasion, maybe they will even promote the use of methane.
What is the next step?
KCIS has produced a working model. We can produce free methane. We are willing to spread the word.
We have contacted various charities and NGOs who are supposed to be interested in saving trees and protecting the water catchment areas. What is their response?
NOTHING!
If you are interested in saving trees in Kenya, contact us. We will work with anyone who is serious about making people's lives better in Kenya, or even East Africa.
Also published at Baba Mzungu’s blog
3 comments:
What feedstock are you using? I'm particularly interested in the use of aquatic weeds such as Typha, Phragmites and water hyacinth. I'm an international rabble-rouser for the control of aquatic weeds. If you've got a good machine for making them into gas, I like that better than charcoal or ethanol.
Rabble-rouser? I like the cut of your jib!!
We have only used animal waste or *technical term* - cow shit in trials.
But any organic waste rots down and produces methane in the right circumstances, that is in an anaerobic environment.
I know little about aquatic weeds, but when they die, they sink to the bottom of the pond or lake and produce methane. I would imagine that "fresh" plant material would have to be chopped up, but this is the sort of thing we want to find out with further research - hence the need for funding.
Our "machine" is designed to be easily constructed using cheap materials and heat from the sun (28 to 30°C), but what is important is the process.
I would imagine that rotted down aquatics would produce fantastic fertiliser, too.
david@kcisupport.plus.com
Drop me an email.
how about just re-planting enough trees?
say per capita use of charcoal is 5 bags a year, we just need to plant enough trees to grow 10 bags a year.
China has reafforested millions of acres in outer mongolia by simply flying over during the rains and throwing tree seeds out of an airplane.(a bit more science to it but thats how nature more or less does it)
mirroring nature is usually the cheapest and most successful of way of doing things.
for example; a one kilogram bag of acacia tree seeds, (the yellow fever) has about 16,000 seeds in it. and costs a 1000bob per Kg.
And luckily all tree's have a very impressive net economic value due to the ecological and social side effects, erosion control, CO2, animal habitat, rain, employment etc..
indigenous energy farming, living, breathing bank accounts all around the country..and the sludge that comes out of biogas plants is excellent fertilizer.
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