Adoption of sugarcane waste materials and other biomass charcoal briquette technology as alternative to wood fuel

Also known as 'green charcoal' because of its plant origin, the charcoal briquettes was produced through the process of carbonization, adhesion, and compaction. Results revealed that three parts of the carbonized organic biomass sugarcane trashes generated one part char or the conversion ratio of 3:1. Similarly, this ratio was produced from dried grasses, dicot leaves, and rice straw. On the other hand, the conversion rate of raw organic rice husks and saw dust was 60% char. For sugarcane trash and other leaf-like biomass, the char, when mixed with 10% gelatinized starch as binder produced sturdy, hard, well-formed, and compact briquettes. For rice husk and sawdust, a 30% mixture of gelatinized starch was needed to produce the ideal charcoal briquette. It was also found out that a mixture of lower rates gave loose, easily crumpled or brittle briquettes while a higher amount of the binder mixture produced saggy or deformed briquettes. As for the length of its burning time, the charcoal briquette burned longer than wood charcoal when used as fuel for cooking. A half kilo of briquette burned consistently for one hour and 45 minutes. The charcoal briquette was also smokeless and produced less soot unlike the regular wood charcoal. Price-wise, using the charcoal briquette was also found to be more economical than using the LPG [liquefied petroleum gas], wood fuel, and wood charcoal given that a 12 kg LPG tank that can be used for 20 days of cooking, costed P540, which was P9/cooking, differing in cost of P3/cooking when compared with the charcoal briquette. As part of adopting the technology, an exhibit of the product was conducted at the local market and SM Bacolod [Philippines] as well as a series of demonstrations among mothers and chefs. Of the 380 participants, almost all or 99% preferred to use charcoal briquette in cooking as it was smokeless, produced less soot, burnt longer than wood charcoal, and costs less than other fuel sources. Moreover, 90% responded that the briquette was environment-friendly.