Charcoal and wood

Biofuels in the developing world for Cooking

  • Tanzania - less than 60% of the rural population is within range of the electric grid. There's no natural gas distribution network anywhere.
  • You can cook by burning wood (16-20 MJ / kg) - bringing wood to market
  • But you can "cook" wood anaerobically (burn *some* wood to heat-while-not-burning other wood) which dries it out and results in a product which burns hotter, and has a much higher energy / weight ratio called Charcoal (30 MJ / kg)
  • Which fuel, wood or charcoal, do you think has the larger carbon footprint?
  • Cooking indoors (with wood or charcoal) generates soot, and eventually lung irritation / health issues.
  • Natural gas or propane burns much cleaner