This publication presents the key findings from a preliminary assessment of the policies of African countries relevant to charcoal value chains. The main objective of this study is to assess the extent to which national energy and environmental policies and strategies in Africa have the potential to provide enabling conditions …
This document reflects the current state of the art in the growing topic of generating cooking energy by using dry biomass for gasification. It includes the technical background, together with project examples, as well as more recent developments in gasifier stove technologies. The publication concludes with a look into biochar, …
Woodfuels (firewood and charcoal) are the dominant energy source and the leading forest product for most developing countries. Representing 60 to 80 percent of total wood consumption in these nations, woodfuels often account for 50 to 90 percent of all energy used. Although woodfuels are widely perceived as cheap and …
GUWAHATI, Oct 5 – The present day students are becoming more concerned with the growing need of the society they are living in. This is reflected in their activities, particularly in the projects they develop for various purposes. One such project developed by two Class-VIII students of the city-based St …
A 200-year period covering the heyday of both the Roman Empire and China's Han dynasty saw a big rise in greenhouse gases, according to a study that challenges the U.N. view that man-made climate change only began around 1800. A record of the atmosphere trapped in Greenland's ice found the …
Bill Gates has awarded Loughborough University $60,000 for developing a toilet that produces biological charcoal, minerals and clean water. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation set up a competition called 'Reinvent the Toilet Challenge' asking universities to develop innovative ways to manage human waste. The challenge, announced last year, was …
The temperature in the city is rising and the matter is of grave concern. If not attended to now, it will lead to some irreversible damage and leave us with no natural resources for the next generation. According to a study by the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, …
SHILLONG: With each passing day, the thick lush forest cover in West Khasi Hills district is fast thinning presenting a very worrisome sight. While the primary reason for the loss of forest cover points towards the rampant burning of firewood to generate charcoal, what is worrying is that even persons …
The nature and scale of pre-Columbian land use and the consequences of the 1492 “Columbian Encounter” (CE) on Amazonia are among the more debated topics in New World archaeology and paleoecology. However, pre-Columbian human impact in Amazonian savannas remains poorly understood. Most paleoecological studies have been conducted in neotropical forest …
Brazil's Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner, said on Thursday it had suspended its business with an Amazon-based pig-iron producer accused by the government of illegal deforestation. Brazil's environment agency said in a report that pig-iron maker Sidepar was using charcoal made from illegally cleared trees in Para state …
The Maitshaphrang Movement, a social organisation, today warned of approaching the judiciary if the Meghalaya government failed to address the issue of deforestation to meet charcoal requirement for ferro-alloy industries in the state. Addressing reporters after the first meeting of the expert committee to study the ongoing deforestation to meet …
Environmental hazards sicken or kill millions of people — soot or smog in the air, for example, or pollutants in drinking water. But the most dangerous stuff happens where the food is made — in peoples' kitchens. That's according to the World Health Organization, which says that the smoke and …
As the impacts of climate change escalate, efforts to develop new technologies and new approaches to reducing emissions are promoted. One proposal is to sequester carbon in soils using biochar. Biochar is essentially fine grained charcoal. Advocates claim that adding biochar to soils will store carbon safely away from the …
Efficient cookstoves and better crop seeds could play a key role in saving forests in sub-Saharan Africa, helping to cut emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide, environmental experts reported on Sunday. This is important, since deforestation and forest degradation are the second-largest source of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions after the burning …
LUCKNOW: Charcoal making units will now come under the strict monitoring of the state. The new set of rules makes it mandatory to obtain a licence to set up a furnace. This will not only keep a tab on the illegal units, but also check illegal consumption of timber. The …
Charcoal is perhaps the best example of biochar. Considering the interest that has been generated by Jha et al. many readers would be interested in knowing how actually charcoal is made. During one of our recent field surveys to Kasera locality in Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, (Correspondence)
Close to two-thirds of the world's poorest people live in rural areas. Eradication of rural poverty depends on increased access to goods, services, and information, targets detailed in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. However, alleviating poverty is hindered by two interlinked phenomena: lack of access to improved energy services …
A new paper by Dr N C Saxena on how to improve production, access, and incomes from MFPs for forest dwellers. Whereas 70 per cent of India’s population lives in rural areas, for tribals this is as high as 90 percent. It is well established that most tribals live in …
Climate change can be mitigated in several ways, but most strategies emphasize reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reducing energy use and switching to energy sources that are less carbon intensive than fossil fuels. This publication explores the scope, potential and implications for using woodfuels to replace fossil fuels and thereby …
A new guide on the sustainable use of woodfuel resources and sustainable production of charcoal published by FAO. It outlines global woodfuel use and supply, reviews existing criteria & indicators systems and highlights institutional frameworks needed to ensure sustainable woodfuel use.
BETWA SHARMA UNITED NATIONS Gorillas may disappear from large parts of Africa's Congo Basin if urgent action is not taken immediately, a new report has warned. The report, prepared jointly by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Interpol, said main reasons for the threat to their existence is a greater …
