The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)
is promoting the production of bamboo charcoal and briquette as an alternative
source of energy in Ghana.
The ‘Bamboo as Sustainable Biomass Energy’ initiative involves
the transfer of technologies from China to Ghana to produce sustainable green
biofuels, using locally available bamboo resources.
“Bamboo, the perfect biomass grass, grows naturally
across Africa and presents a viable, cleaner and sustainable alternative to
wood fuel,” says Michael Kwaku, Country Director for INBAR Ghana. “Without such
an alternative, wood charcoal will remain the primary household energy source
for decades to come—with disastrous consequences”.
Trees are cut usually for livestock
pasture, farming and industrial purposes and burnt for charcoal. Lack of
modern and affordable fuels and energy, such as LPG, electricity and solar
power makes firewood and wood charcoal the preferred and most important source of
household energy.
Scientists predict that the burning of wood fuel by
African households including will release the equivalent of 6.7 billion tonnes
of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere by 2050, resulting in further climate change
through clearing of tropical forests.
In Ghana, about 65 percent of the rural population
depends on the forest for fuel needs. Driven by growing concerns about energy,
health and food security, the bamboo plant may be the key to combating soil
degradation, massive deforestation and climate change mitigation.
"Ensuring food security in a changing climate is
one of the major challenges of our era. It is well known that the destruction
of Ghana’s forests has negative repercussions on livelihoods and sustainable
agriculture as it feeds into a cycle of climate change, drought and
poverty," states Gloria Asare Adu,
Executive Director of Global Bamboo Product Limited.
According to researchers from the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), years of tree-clearing for charcoal
in some parts of Ghana’s Northern regions, particularly in the Upper West and
Upper East Regions, have eliminated fragile forests that stood at the last line
of defence against the conversion of sparsely forested dry lands and pastures
into useless desert.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) also predicts
that if business continues as usual, by 2030 biomass energy in sub-Saharan
Africa including Ghana will still account for about three-quarters of total
residential energy, underscoring the urgency of coming up with a sustainable alternative
biomass to replace wood.
“Rural communities need access to sustainable
approaches that will keep trees in the ground and the environment safe,” stated
Professor Karanja M. Njoroge, Executive Director of Green Belt Movement.
The entire bamboo plant, including the stem, branch and
its rhizome, can be used to produce charcoal and briquette, making it highly
resource-efficient, with limited wastage.
Its high heating value also makes it an efficient fuel –
charcoal is made through the controlled burning of bamboo in kilns, whether
traditional, metal or brick.
INBAR is adapting the bamboo charcoal technology in
Ghana to produce larger quantities of charcoal to serve a larger number of
rural and urban communities as well as to produce bamboo charcoal briquettes
that are ideal for cooking – they burn longer and produce less smoke and air
pollution than ‘natural’ or traditional wood charcoal.
"Feeding people in decades to come will require
ingenuity and innovation to produce more food on less land in more sustainable
ways", Gloria observed.
Communities in the Western Region are under a pilot of
the bamboo charcoal project – a partnership among the Forestry Research
Institute of Ghana (FORIG), the Bamboo and Rattan Development Programme (BARADEP)
at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Africa and INBAR.
Chinese partners, including the Nanjing Forestry
University and WENZHAO Bamboo Charcoal Co., are helping to adapt equipment like
brick kilns, grinders and briquette machines for bamboo charcoal and briquette production
using local materials.
The initiative has the funding support of the European
Union and the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC).
Tropical bamboos such as the species found in Ghana can
be harvested after just three years, rather than the two to six decades needed
to generate a timber forest.
INBAR Ghana therefore wants the government and the business
community to invest in the country’s emerging bamboo charcoal and briquette
market.
“With further investment and policy reform, community
kiln technologies could be upscaled to reach thousands of communities in Ghana,”
says Michael.
China is a global leader in the production and use of
bamboo charcoal, with a sector worth an annual estimate of $1billion and
employs over 60,000 people in more than 1,000 businesses.
In addition to charcoal, bamboo offers many new
opportunities for income generation – it can be processed into a vast range of
wood products, from floorboards to furniture and edible shoots.
The world bamboo export was estimated at $1.6billion in
2009.
Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh
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