The report on the feasibility of wood based charcoal in industrial processes
The approach of the study contains the brief literature review on the industrial consumption and production of charcoal in India. Based on this and the pre-set objectives, the study problems were formulated. The report further identifies the 32 international criteria and blends it with the existing questionnaires available in the literature of sustainable management of charcoal, for assessing technical, economical, and environmental feasibility of the charcoal production and use. Based on these inputs, a different set of the questionnaire is developed for the six types of respondents including major/organized producers of charcoal, captive manufacturer/charcoal user industries, forest department officials, pollution board/EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) officials, various experts and recognized local civil society members/NGOs. The study being exploratory in nature identifies the sites where charcoal production units are concentrated. Eight sites of India (Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Rajkot, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai) covering different agro-climate zones of India, where most of the charcoal production is concentrated, are part of the sample.