African Governments should enhance Chacoal Policies to address Energy Transition.

According to Dr. Willibroad Abongwa Acho, ‘Africans must put on an unusual thinking cap to provide solutions to its numerous energy problems if they must meet up with their developmental challenges.’ He averred that African countries can manage energy transition if they carry out effective domestic resource mobilization to enhance charcoal policies. African countries must not necessarily follow the development path of western countries, he said.?According Zoa Abessolo Eugénie Nina Rixy spouse Bissek of CRADEC, the development of local renewable energy sources could reduce dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels, which could improve trade balances and reduce inflation. Clean energy can improve public health by reducing air pollution and improving access to clean water, which could in turn boost productivity and reduce healthcare costs. Transitioning to renewable energy can help to address the challenge of climate change, which disproportionately affects African countries. To achieve the above objective ‘African countries must invest enormously on charcoal production, she recommended.?

???????????????Charcoal production in tropical regions of the world is often perceived to have devastating ecological and environmental effects and governments, public forestry institutions and non-government organizations have been particularly concerned about these charcoal-related impacts. Using charcoal might not appear to be the most sustainable way to grill your food. However, you may be surprised to learn that charcoal can actually be an eco-friendly product. Traditional charcoal comes from sawdust and wood byproducts, often containing impurities that negatively affect the environment. However, some companies sustainably source organic charcoal as an all-natural alternative to traditional lump charcoal.

???????????????Some businesses also produce additive-and chemical-free charcoal briquettes from coconut shells and bamboo so that the briquettes won’t release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. Charcoal can also come from trees, and when businesses follow the correct procedures, the charcoal can be carbon neutral. What this means is that when companies harvest trees from an area they manage sustainably, they’ll replenish the area with new trees after producing the charcoal. Growing new trees offsets the carbon emissions that come from burning charcoal. Trees can absorb carbon dioxide from other sources as well, making this charcoal the most carbon-neutral option available. Charcoal benefits the soil in the long term just like compost does, except it has the added benefit of sequestering

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carbon. Soil with charcoal in it will retain nutrients more effectively due to the presence of burned organic materials. When you add charcoal to soil, the charcoal offers plants nutrients from the organic matter that helps it grow. Consequently, if you use charcoal for growing crops, you can expect a greater yield than if you decided to forgo it. Overall, using charcoal has more environmental benefits than it seems to be perceived.

???????????????The most commonly cited?negative impact of charcoal production is deforestation-the clearance of forest or woodland. At a small spatial scale, this may indeed be the case but on a larger landscape scale charcoal production most frequently results only in forest degradation. Much of the charcoal in tropical countries is commonly made in traditional earth and pit kilns with a wood-to-charcoal conversion rate of about 20% and in 2009. The contribution of charcoal production to deforestation in tropical countries with the highest rates of deforestation is estimated at less than 7%. There are conflicting reports on the effects of deforestation on catchment hydrology with the majority of small catchment studies indicating increased runoff and low evapotranspiration while studies of large basins have shown no such changes. Emissions of greenhouse gases from charcoal production in tropical ecosystems in 2009 are estimated at 71.2 million t for carbon dioxide and 1.3 million t for methane.

???????????????The good news is that slowly but steadily, many African countries are turning away from cooking over firewood and traditional charcoal, opting instead for green charcoal, a fuel proven to be more environmentally friendly. Green charcoal can also be used to cook for much larger groups in institutions like prisons and schools.?Laden with clay or mud, green biomass charcoal does not release the billows of smoke and carbon dioxide that the conventional briquettes emit when burned. In a large scale, spheres or blocks of green charcoal briquettes are made of agricultural waste such as dry banana peels, coffee husks, plant and tree leaves and can be used as an alternative to other fuels such as coal and oil, both in household uses and in heating boilers in factories, among other uses. In a small scale green or ecological charcoal?is made by?first collecting enough agricultural waste materials, when dry,?you?crush them into small pieces and mix with the wet clay or mud. Then give the individual briquettes their round or block-like shapes with your hands, laying them on the ground to dry up for three days. That is why African governments?must enhance policies to address energy transition instead of hoping against hope for financial support from?rich countries.????????By Livinus Njume Esambe (PhD)