Building a better briq
Conservation students improve charcoal In Kenya, a country where one in four people lacks access to electricity, charcoal is a staple fuel source. It’s light, small, easy to store, burns longer and hotter than wood, and is nearly smokeless. It’s also speeding up the country’s deforestation. “So, (we wanted) to see if there was a difference in charcoal yield from different species of trees that they were growing in the area,” said Jacob Rankin. “We were trying to determine if there was a significant difference in yield – if Kenyans can make charcoal more efficiently with a particular tree versus another.” Rankin and his research partner, Emily Ruder, graduated from UWM this spring with majors in conservation and environmental science. Last summer, though, the pair spent two months in Kenya experimenting with charcoal productions techniques at the Drylands Natural Resource Center, an NGO in Mbunbuni, Kenya that promotes sustainability practices in agriculture and land management. “Hopefully our research provides them with some more knowledge of their local resources to improve the way they do things – more sustainably,” Rankin said.
UWM conservation and environmental science major Emily Ruder (left) analyzes a piece of wood with a f Center. Ruder and her research partner, Jacob Rankin, were trying to improve charcoal production in Keny
Baking a briquette Most Americans thinking about charcoal will envision a Kingsford bag next to a Weber grill. “In Kenya, it’s a little bit more rugged,” Ruder said. “To make charcoal, you need an organic material, and you need to cut it off from any access to oxygen, and then put it under super-high heat. You can make charcoal out of any kind of organic material, as long as it’s thick enough.” Traditionally, Kenyans and other cultures around the world have made charcoal using earth mounds – piles of dirt where they bury branches and logs to prevent exposure to oxygen. Then, they light a fire beneath the mound and wait for the high heat to carbonize the buried wood. Finished charcoal sits in a bag, ready for use. Photo by Jacob Rankin.
