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Charcoal)
Each little pile of food items costs 30 Kenya Shillings as does the pile of charcoal in the center of the circle. By using a
CooKit or other solar cooker, people can buy food instead of fuel.
Fuelwood in the form of wood or charcoal remains the dominate energy source for over two billion people worldwide. In some areas not even these fuels are available and dry grass or cow dung are burned instead. Charcoal is often favored by cooks since its heat stays rather constant and the fire doesn't have to be tended as much. It take 10 kg of wood though to make 1 kg of charcoal.
[edit] Nigeria
Most of sub-Saharan Africa is buried either in the forest or stands as an island. Nigeria happens to be the major petroleum refining and exporting country - supplying its products to some greater number of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. Unfortunately, inasmuch as the fuel is readily available, the price remains prohibitive and less accessible to the average family. Ironically, Nigeria itself imports refined petroleum products for its domestic consumption from overseas. The result is endless dependence on fossil fuel for our domestic needs - hence the flaggrant exploitation of the forests. Aware of this tendency, governments had embarked on tree planting campaigns at various levels; but little result has been achieved by these efforts for lack of alternative energy. Cost of electricity is beyond the reach of many urban dwellers let alone the rural majority, hence people prefer to do most of their cooking with charcoal or firewood. In the riverine communities where fishing is the major occupation, preservation is not possible except by drying the fish over firewood or charcoal. The level of carbon infused into the fishes during this drying process constitutes a major source of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. High percentage of much needed protein is lost through this process of preservation. With these activities of wood cutting, our wild-life is almost becoming extinct. The beautiful ecology is being destroyed at a fast rate due to ocean and desert encroachment. The photographs show pile of firewood for sale and some trucks offloading charcoal while buyers are qeueing up to take delivery of their consignments. Only a solar revolution can save the situation.
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|  Trucks offloading charcoal |
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 Carrying fuelwood in Nepal |  NASA photo shows smoke from Indian cooking fires |
Fuelwood as a percentage of energy consumption in Africa
Fuelwood as a percentage of energy consumption in Asia
Fuelwood as a percentage of energy consumption in Central and South America
[edit] Quotes about the world fuelwood situation
- "Worldwide, more than three billion people cook with wood, dung, coal and other solid fuels on open fires or traditional stoves." [1]
- "Wood energy is the dominant source of energy for over two billion people, particularly in households in developing countries. Biofuels, especially fuelwood and charcoal, currently provide more than 14 percent of the world's total primary energy." [2]
- "2.5 billion people - 40 per cent of the world’s population are still cooking and heating their homes with basic energy sources, such as charcoal, wood, biomass and dung." [3]
- "For cooking, heating and other energy needs, over 2.5 billion people in developing countries depend on fuelwood or, when that is unaffordable, on crop residues and animal dung." [4]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
