Fueling Change

Category: Raising Funds to End Charcoal | Date: Sep 08 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Meet Tarynn and Cody of Denver, Colorado who are expecting their first child in November. They attended the Denver fundraiser that Emmanuel and I hosted in March this year and decided that they wanted to join the fight to save Virunga’s last mountain gorillas. At first, they weren’t sure how to help, but then they came up with the idea of holding a baby shower, but instead of asking for gifts for their newborn, they would ask their friends to make donations to help the Congo’s mountain gorillas. At a lake near Denver, Colorado yesterday, they hosted what I think was the world’s first Mountain Gorilla Shower.

A mindful couple working to bring their child into a better world

I drove down and shared what I know about the situation facing the gorillas, and talked about how we are introducing non-woody biomass briquettes to N. Kivu as an alternative to charcoal. I also did an interactive briquette making demonstration so everyone could see firsthand how their donations would be used. Their friends were great, stepping right in, getting dirty, and making some briquettes. There were about 50 people in attendance and we had lots of great questions and discussion.

“Thank you!” to Tarynn, Cody, and all their friends who made donations to help us save Virunga’s last mountain gorillas. This is such a great example of how everyday citizens can make an impact!

Generous donations
Thank you very much to all the caring people who donated recently to help us bring briquettes to the people living near Virunga National Park: Pamela R - $150, Edward S. - $50, Amy B - $25, Lalena W - $20, and Lisa R - $15.

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: Sep 01 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Condolences
This is Robert. I want to start this blog with an acknowledgment of Villavu Kamate, the ranger who just lost his life working to protect the northern sector of the park (and the others who were on patrol with him). Like so many before him, he made the ultimate sacrifice to protect Virunga. These guys are my heroes and deserve all the support we can give them.

Donations
Thank you to the following people for their generous donations: Jacque O - $150, Rebecca - $50, Carrie B. - $40, Brigitta S- $25, and Amy M - $20!! It’s so heartening to have your support, especially on the heals of such tough news.

Meeting with the Minister of Environment
I would like to fill you in on the meeting that Ephrem and I had with Felicite Kalume Ndoole, the Provincial Minister of the Environment. We went to see the Minister to share our plans for the briquette project in Goma and north of Kibati. She has been a strong ally of ours in the fight to save the park, and on several occasions stood up to a great deal of pressure from the charcoal lobby.

Ephrem explaining the program - while I wonder what the filming is all about. Turns out, the briquette program was to be a feature on the news. Unfortunately, there was a long power outage that night and I don’t think it ever aired. The reality is, very few have power, let alone televisions.

Realizing that she can’t hold the charcoal lobby at bay for long without viable alternatives, Ephrem and I wanted to make sure she understood that we have a road map for success. We shared our plans for developing the market in Goma and in the villages north of the city, which she was pleased to hear about, but she kept hammering the question, “When will you be able to replace charcoal with these briquettes? I wish we could just snap our fingers and it would be done, but it’s huge undertaking that is going to take time. Good news is, we’re growing the business rapidly and already have 9 presses online and 18 more to go into production this week. If we’re producing at peak capacity, these presses can meet the fuel needs for almost 3000 people.

When we left the meeting, we passed a long line of people who had the next meeting with the Minister. Ephrem looked back at them, looked at me, and smiled, “Do you know who those people are?” to which I answered, “No”. “They are from the charcoal lobby and they are trying to convince her to open up the park to charcoal production”. It was very sobering to witness this effort in the halls of government. Make no mistake, there is a massive amount of pressure on local officials to get out of the way of charcoal production. This is why it is so important that we scale up our briquette program rapidly – and why we need your help!

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: Aug 24 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Recent donations
Robert here. Wow, you guys are great! A big Congo “Asante sana” to the following people for helping launch the biomass briquette project in North Kivu: Tim O - $100, Christopher P - $100, Ethan Z - $50, Nicholas L - $50, Ian B - $50, and Thomas P - $20. When I told people in Goma and Rumangabo that they’re not alone in this project — that there is a team of people willing to help outside Congo — they were amazed that anyone cared. You have no idea how much these contributions give them (and me) hope that we will succeed. This will enable us to train two more press groups and provide them with two complete press outfits.

The “Mzungu” from Colorado trying to earn some street credentials in Rumangabo

Congo trip
I just got back from a two week trip to Congo where I got to meet all the great people working to save the Virunga National Park. The purpose of my trip was to help get the briquette program up to speed — and to learn the lay of the land and get a feel for how things work in eastern Congo. On my first day, Ephrem and I headed up north to the Kibati checkpoint, where we saw dedicated ICCN rangers confiscating illegal charcoal. Then it was on to Rumangabo and Katale. In Rumangabo, we met with Francky, Charles, and the other members of the briquette team at park headquarters. It was also nice to meet Diddy and Innocent (who got a good laugh when I asked them if they were movie stars - given their appearances with Anderson Cooper). Great progress is being made in Rumangabo — thousands of briquettes are being produced each week. We still need to get our production numbers up, but we’ve made a good start and are cranking out about 6600 briquettes per press per month now. Our goal is to get to 10,000. Looks like we’re going to be constructing a press building operation there with the help of Soderu — a great French NGO that does contract work for the park. This will enable us to eventually start making presses for a fraction of the cost and mean that we can do press repairs onsite.

Anatole from Group d’Action Pour le Droit explains his Goma operation

In Goma, Anatole from Groupe d’Action Pour le Droit, ICCN’s Balemba and Jean Bosco, and I worked on developing a city-wide briquetting program aimed up getting 50 press operations up and running in the next several months — with the eventual goal of 5000 presses in operation in two years. Lofty goals, yes, but with 20% of the southern sector of Virunga being lost to illegal charcoal production in the last year, we have to be ambitious!

Our target market: Odds are every person in this picture burns illegal charcoal coming out of Virunga National Park. Illegal charcoal is everywhere, but an alternative is on its way!

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: Jul 18 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Recent donations
Our humble thanks to the following people for helping us make the effort to end charcoal a success: Carol L. $200, Eileen C. $100, and Katie L $50. Your donations will go directly to supporting the very project you see below. Thank you!

Progress in Rumangabo
Last week, Virginia and Francky trained our new press workers and despite a brief encounter with an “unfriendly”, perservered and finished the week successfully. The workers seemed very eager and enthusiastic about their new job opportunity.

Virginia watches the teams take to briquetting like they were old hands at it

Gathering materials to be crushed and converted to compost

Gaining an appreciation for the hammer mill - workers use the old fashioned mortar and pestle. Your donations will help us purchase a hammer mill, which reduces a team’s labor by 75%!

Getting a feel for a good mix

The pressing competition in full-swing

The winning team takes home much needed rice and beans

Francky will be beginning full-time work in Rumangabo on July 21st. As with the hammer mill, your donations will help pay his salary and those of the press workers. Once our production dries and is ready for use, we will begin selling it locally with the hopes of having our sales finance the Rumangabo team. Our goal is to have the entire village weaned off of charcoal within 6 months. Thank you all for following our progress — and for your generous contributions!

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: Jul 10 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Recent donations
Wow! A huge thank you to Natalia R. in California who gave us a $500.00 donation this month. Natalia did her thesis on Grauer’s gorillas and has been a steadfast supporter of the mountain gorillas as well. Judy B, thank you, too, for your generous donation. People like you make it all possible!

The latest news
Ultimately, we began exploring biomass briquettes as a way of saving mountain gorillas and the forests of Virunga, NP, but it’s becoming quite clear that we are going to be helping humans, too. It looks to be a win-win for everyone. The animals and forests will benefit from the reduction in deforestation and habitat destruction and people will benefit having access to a sustainable fuel that costs less. The current charcoal producers also stand to benefit through the creation of a new fuel market — one that is legal and not a dead-end. This week, we took one step closer to realizing our goal as Virginia Echavarria headed up to Rumangabo to start up a briquette operation at park headquarters with Ephrem Balole and ICCN Ranger Balemba.

Virginia arrived in Rumangabo on Tuesday with Francky Balole (no relation to Ephrem). Francky is one of the final candidates for the Briquette Assistant position that we posted in Bukavu and Goma in late June. With Belemba’s help, Ephrem hired 12 people from the displaced peoples’ camp. They will make up our initial press teams.

Francky takes a stove and briquettes home for a test during his training in Bukavu

Virginia and Francky headed up on Tuesday with material, and in classic Virginia-style, jumped right in. The first task was getting a feel for the area and seeing what exists up there in terms of available biomass. The answer: lots of leaves, which means lots of composting. We hope to augment this with waste products such as paper and sawdust, which reduce our labor requirements. They also got a feel for the facilities, such as where we will make the briquettes, store the materials and presses, as well the accommodations for our soon-to-be-named assistant. The next day, they gathered the workers and did a presentation on briquetting.

Newly hired press workers being briefed on the training schedule

Virginia’s presentation drew a far bigger crowd than expected. Look at her go!

Material preparation: Workers shredding and soaking waste paper from a Goma printer

My son Ty, inspired by all the paper shredding in Rumangabo, gets down to work himself

A team of new press workers and a new press getting to know each other

A worker laying out briquettes to dry

Franky leading a discussion about the pressing operation

Today, Virginia and Franky lead a competition amongst the teams to get an idea of how they were taking to the technology and how much they could produce. They were happily surprised to find that with a few days of training, the teams were producing 125 briquettes per hour. To put that in perspective, that’s enough briquettes made in one hour to supply cooking fuel to approximately 10 families of 8 people for a day — and for 35-40% less money. Virginia sent the workers home with stoves and free briquettes at the end of the day, so they could experience first-hand what it’s like to cook with the fuel they made. News about that and more coming soon…

As always, thanks go to the Legacy Foundation for their continued guidance!

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: Jul 02 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

My apologies for the long silence in this blog, but please don’t get the wrong impression. A great deal has been happening in the effort to end charcoal. Before I get to that, though, I would like to send out a sincere “Thanks!” to those of you that have continued to support our efforts.

Donations
Our heartfelt thanks go out to Judy J. for her monthly donation of $30, John J. $200, Carrie C. $100, Theresa T. $80, Alex A. $50, Carmen C. $40, and Robin R. $15.

Biomass Briquettes
In our last bog entry, I spoke of my trip to Portland to do a 3-day briquette training with the Legacy Foundation. Since then, Virginia and I have been working closely on the Bukavu briquette pilot, and as those of you who follow her blog know, she has been very successful. Not only are people constantly approaching her to bring a press operation to their village, she has even managed to start selling the briquettes. Our biggest fear, which was that people wouldn’t accept the biomass briquettes as an alternative to charcoal - or “makala” as it is know in the DRC — proved to be wrong. Quite to the contrary, people have said that briquettes burn just like charcoal. The evidence for this is that people are actually willing to buy the briquettes instead of charcoal.

The next phase of the briquette project is to take our operation closer to Virunga NP, the heart of the charcoal trade. Ephrem will be bringing three additional presses to Virunga NP next week. Our goal is to eventually attract the charcoal producers into the briquette market and make them realize that future profits will come from briquettes, not charcoal. The reality is, cutting down the forests of Virunga NP is a financial dead-end, whereas the materials for briquettes — grass and leaves — exist in abundance and can be regrown much more rapidly, all of which translates into sustainability. Let’s not kid ourselves, economic incentives are more powerful than an appeal to peoples’ sense of doing what is “right” for the mountain gorillas — especially when many of these people support their families on $1.00 per day.

The Briquette Project’s Unsung Heroes
I would really like to acknowledge all the help we have received from some key people behind the scenes:

Kizito Nandaka and William Guyot from SoDeRu: Thank you for providing housing, a car, bike, petrol, Internet connection, and security for Virginia — and for all of your encouragement. Also, thanks for putting up with my late night calls!

Sue and Sam: Thank you so much for paying for the first press operation.

Sister Helena Albarracin and the others at the Bukavu hospital: Thank you for being so willing to give this technology a try and for all the resources that you have made available.

Solange Ngobobo of IFRADE in Kadutu: Thank you for your help hosting the first press operation.

The Legacy Foundation: Thank you for all your help and expertise — and good humor.

You are the best!

Bosch-Siemens protos plant-oil stoves
As mentioned previously, Bosch und Siemens Hausgerate GmbH in Munich, Germany has graciously agreed to provide us with 100 protos plant-oil stoves and spare parts to carry out a 3-month feasibility study. These stoves can burn a variety of plant oils, all of which can be sustainably grown in the Congo. Our stoves left Nanjing, China two weeks ago and should arrive in Goma by early August. I will be going to Leyte University in the Philippines to train on the stoves, learn how to grow and press plant oil, as well as to learn about marketing the stoves. From there, I will go to the Congo to train the trainers and help Ephrem with kicking off the pilot, and assist with further developing the briquette program.

Fundraising
As you know, it all boils down to money eventually. I am busy writing grant proposals in hopes of securing the financial backing needed to make these projects successful. Emmanuel and I will be holding several fundraisers in the United States this fall. Several of you have come forward and offered to help us organize a fundraiser in your city — thank you. If you think you might be interested as well, please let us know. And, your donations to this blog continue to be a major help. With each biomass press we buy for $200, we can supply full-time employment for 8 people and get 100 families off of charcoal. Never underestimate the power of your contributions!

5 responses so far

Category: Alternative energy | Date: May 26 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Can something as simple as a briquette made from grass and leaves make a difference in the survival of the mountain gorilla? The answer is a resounding YES!! We have been busy working on finding alternatives to the forest charcoal being produced deep in mountain gorilla habitat. As you may know, charcoal production is decimating the last populations of mountain gorillas.

I just got back from a 3-day briquette making seminar with Richard and Joyce Stanley of the Legacy Foundation. They have been “briquetting” for 17 years and have led the introduction of biomass briquettes all over Africa. As yet, they haven’t been to Congo, but are happy to see that WildlifeDirect is leading the charge.

My biggest concern has been whether or not the people of the Congo will accept the briquettes. As you know, old habits die hard. After cooking a meal for 10 people using just a metal pan as a stove, I gained a new confidence in the viability of the biomass briquettes. For starters, have a look at the following pictures of the briquettes being burned:

Start-up: First we got a little pile of kindling going and then set the briquettes on top with the holes facing upward (this is about 5 minutes after lighting). To make up for not having air holes in the bottom of the stove, we propped the briquettes up on pebbles to allow for air flow. We also positioned the briquettes close together, which helps them burn better.

15 minutes out: Very HOT and burning without visible smoke.

“The PhD is in the finger tips…”
That’s Richard’s mantra. Perhaps the biggest challenge to the briquette maker is getting the mix right. This is where science becomes an art. The first step is to gather all of the “green” biomass that is going to be part of the briquette. Only charcoal fines and sawdust are ready to go “as is”. Everything else must be gathered, dried, ground or thrashed, and composted. The composting is the big challenge because it can sit around and seem to be doing nothing, and then all of a sudden, take off. The time between being at a standstill and turning into ash can be a matter of 24-48 hours. So, the briquetter must pay close attention, knowing when the mix is kicking into high gear and then stopping it before it starts to turn into soil — or worse, into ash. A perfectly composted mix will feel woody and granular, not muddy. It’s all in the feel. There is no setting a timer. Once the compost is ready, it’s time to make the briquette “slop”. Getting the proportions right is again, by feel. Once sawdust and small amounts of shredded and soaked paper have been added (if available), it’s time to test the mixture. Here are the steps:

Squeeze the mix

Open the hand: the mix should form into a mass and leave the imprint of your hand.

Hold the squeezed mass vertically and gently shake it. It should not fall apart. It’s easier to see the imprint of my fingers in this shot.

Press the material. A good mix will hold its shape perfectly. The corners will be sharp and the briquette will come out of the mold without breaking apart.

The beauty in these briquettes is that they are made from what has been considered, up to this point, waste. Furthermore, the material is available locally, so there are virtually no transportation costs. And, once the burn characteristics of the briquettes are understood, they burn very similarly to charcoal. If introduced to the marketplace properly, the presence of biomass briquettes should dramatically reduce the consumption of illegal forest charcoal. That’s good for mountain gorillas and people alike.

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Category: Stoves | Date: May 22 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

We shared experience in briquette technology with Virginia in Bukavu in order to learn more before implemeting a full programme in Goma. Virginia is working with 2 groups of women from IFRADE and from the nuns of Dorotee di Cemmo at the General Hospital of Bukavu. With abused women using the wooden press , she is making briquettes from different biomass: fresh leaves, grass, shaving, charcoal residue, fermented leaves, etc.

View of different Kinds of biomass 

Making briquettes with Eucaliptus fresh leaves

By the colour, there are three different kinds of biomass : fresh Eucaliptus leaves at the right, charcoal residue with fermented Eucalyptus leaves (dark colour) and tea residue (4 brown colour).

We tried also to burn some dryied briquettes comparing its combustion to charcoal.

We heated 1 liter of water with the same quantity of biomass (briquettes and charcoal). What did we learn?

1. Charcaol is still more energetic than briquettes, water boiled before.

2. Stove’s quality is very critic. With  bad stove, briquette’s combustion can make smokes with few energy.

Therefore we tried to make an ameliorated stove with recycled USA oil cans.

Briquettes burnt well but when we tried to boil water, it made smokes because of a lack of air. The pan was directly on the flame.

This smoke deasapered when removed the pan on the stove.

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: May 15 2008 | By: endingcharcoal

Robert here.

I want to share some more about the discovery process that has been going on with alternative fuels program. Our network of contacts in the world of alternative fuel and stove technologies has grown exponentially thanks to an international group of great people who are openly sharing their ideas, in hopes of ending deforestation, helping the rest of the species that share the planet with us — and helping people. The Legacy Foundation has been the common denominator in all of this. They have graciously welcomed us into their community and as a result, we have been in touch with some incredibly helpful people.

Last week started with an hour Skype conversation with Crispin, the head of New Dawn Engineering in Swaziland. Richard at the Legacy Foundation had alerted the alternative fuels community to the problems Virginia was having with smoking briquettes and Crispin jumped right in with suggestions. He, in turn, passed the alert on to an even larger group. As a result of that email, later in the day, I had three exchanges with George in Gambia who offered his advice, too. Then on Monday, Richard of the Legacy Foundation invited me to come to Portland, Oregon for three days of training. He went to the trouble of contacting the two groups that hired him to do the seminar and asked if “a guy who is trying to help the mountain gorillas” could join them. Both groups gave a resounding “yes”. My tuition? Cook a meal for the group. Being a foodie, it feels like they are letting me off easy. Come May 22-24, I’ll be hanging out with these folks and learning all that I possibly can.

So, instead of being all alone in our search for new technologies, we have a global community of experts willing to help. The importance of this support can’t be overstated. Aside from the obvious benefits of so much intellectual capital (and new friends), personally, it makes me feel as though I am living up to my fiduciary responsibility to those of you who have donated funds to this program. You can rest assured that we are not shooting from hip, but rather carefully researching the best ways to invest your hard earned money. And, through all of this research and collaboration, the way forward is beginning to come into focus.

Donations: Thank you Alex P. for your $50.00 contribution!

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Category: Alternative energy | Date: May 06 2008 | By: admin

Hello all, this is Robert.

Amidst all the terribly disturbing news about the elephant massacre in the park and the continued burning of the Virunga forests for illegal charcoal, there actually is some good news. First off, I want to thank those of you that donated your hard earned money to help us this month: Carrie A. $100, Carmen E. $40 and our anonymous donor who contributed $50. Thank you!!

BSH - WildlifeDirect Alliance
We have finalized and signed an agreement with Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) to bring 100 of their Protos plant oil stoves to Goma for a pilot test. We are working hard to get the shipping from Nanjing, China to Mombasa/Goma in order. As you might imagine, there is a lot of paperwork required to get our shipment successfully through customs. The BIVAC certificate, our biggest hurdle, should be issued soon, and once it has, the shipment will be on its way to Goma.

Protos Stove Training
In the beginning of June, we plan to attend an intensive one-week training at Visayas State University in Cebu, Philippines. The Philippines are the site of BSH’s largest Protos project, and as such, the best place for training. Our training will include operation and maintenance of the Protos plant oil stove, fabrication of Protos parts, strategy of marketing the Protos plant oil stove, Jatropha seedling production and plantation establishment, and process & equipment for the production of plant oils from coconut, and Jatropha, and other oil plants.

We will also be spending a significant amount of time with the local villagers using the stoves on a day-to-day basis, in hopes of getting those critical pieces of advice that only come from those who are using the stoves in a real-world, rural setting.

Biomass Briquettes as a Charcoal Alternative
As reported a few weeks ago, I put together my own briquette with the help of the Legacy Foundation. Virginia and I had several back-and-forth Skype sessions (her building a press in Bukavu and me building mine in Boulder), in an effort to make sure that we both ended up with a briquette press and not a go-kart. As many of you know, she got her press back from the wood shop, and they did a great job — true craftsmen. She and the abused women that she is working with are making great headway. See for yourself. The press I made came out fine, but I wouldn’t put myself in the same league as the Congolese wood workers.

Laying out the grid for the piston cylinder holes which let water exit during pressing

Drilling the first holes. Only 210 to go…

The finished press. The piston and cylinder gets placed on the bottom beam.

The Briquette Challenges Ahead
Creating biomass briquettes that fully combust and don’t create too much smoke is one of the big challenges. Scrap paper, which acts as a binder, makes for easy briquette making, but the downside is excess smoke. Briquettes made of grass and leaves tends to burn cleaner, but require up to a few weeks of composting before the feedstock can be pressed. None of these issues are unsurmountable, but it will take time to get the hang of making the perfect briquette.

Another issue is output. Although a single press with 6 workers can put out 1000 briquettes per day, we will have to find a way to increase production to the point of being able to compete with charcoal. I have been sending out all sorts of inquiries and doing Google searches, trying to find a more automated way to produce the briquettes. And, although I haven’t found anyone mass producing briquettes yet, the inquiries have led me to many of the experts in the field of briquetting and high-efficiency stoves.

Today, for example, I spoke with people at the University of Colorado Engineering School who are working in this area. In fact, a group of them is leaving for Nepal tomorrow to head up a briquette and stove project in Eastern Nepal. I also spoke with someone at Colorado State University’s Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory. Among projects like creating biofuel from algae, they are also working on high-efficiency stoves for developing countries. And, of course, the Legacy Foundation and it’s network of briquetters and stove makers continues to provide invaluable guidance. With minds like this working the issue, I can’t help but be optimistic amidst the recent rash of bad news.

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