Fuel from Charcoal

 More than 2 billion people use wood, charcoal, dung or agricultural residues as the primary fuel for their cooking and heating needs, leading to significant health, economic and environmental consequences. Burning wood or agricultural residues produces smoke with a variety of irritant pollutants, some of which are known carcinogens. More than 1.5 million deaths a year are caused by acute respiratory infections from breathing smoke from indoor cooking fires. Women and children are generally exposed to the greatest levels of pollutants and it is children who suffer the greatest health risk – respiratory infections are the leading cause of death of young children worldwide.

 Furthermore, many areas of the developing world face massive environmental problems due to deforestation as almost half the world’s timber harvest is burned for fuel.

Several attempts have been made to introduce environmentally-friendly, cleaner cooking alternatives such as solar cookers, fuel-efficient stoves and charcoal briquettes made from paper. Solar cookers can be slower than traditional stoves, may work only during limited hours on sunny days, and are often unable to fry foods, which precludes them from being used to cook many traditional dishes. Fuel-efficient stoves have started to be disseminated in regions ranging from India to Sudan, but while they reduce the consumption of wood-based or fossil fuels, they may not necessarily eliminate it. An effort to produce briquettes from waste paper was introduced to reduce wood use, but initially these briquettes can be difficult to use and they still produce a significant amount of smoke. Furthermore, waste paper is not readily available in many rural areas. For alternatives to traditional cooking to be met with better success, they must prove to be affordable, effective and culturally acceptable.