From this year, Mozambique will be able to count on two ecological charcoal factories, the main aim of which is to reduce pressure on forest resources and cut down on urban waste, especially in the big cities, the newspaper Noticias reported on Tuesday (22).
To this end, the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) and a Mozambican company, funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), intend to set up two wood fuel factories in the central and southern areas of the country in the short term.
In the meantime, the consortium is operating, in the pilot phase, in small-scale facilities based in the city of Maputo, where 500 briquettes are produced daily to meet the demand for charcoal in the capital’s bakeries.
According to researcher Adolfo Condo, from the Faculty of Engineering at UEM, one of the aims of the project is to produce charcoal on a large scale, spread the use of renewable energy technology, combat climate change and preserve the environment.
“With the technological financial help we received from the ILO, we will have a factory in the centre and we chose this location because it has a lot of raw material from sawing wood, which has been wasted until now. In the south, specifically in the city of Maputo, we will have another centre that will be responsible for receiving most of the waste collected by the Municipal Council,’ said Condo.
According to Condo, the centres will absorb local labour and will involve engineering students, some of whom will have the opportunity to do an internship and develop their research in these factories.
“When it comes to collecting raw materials, we’ll have the collaboration of waste pickers who will be responsible for supplying the factories with different types of rubbish, as well as loggers and other sources. Our students will have the task of improving and indicating the chemical formulas for obtaining this fuel,’ explained the researcher.
Still according to the source, the briquette will serve as an alternative source to common wood fuels, as it is low cost and high yield, since it is less expensive to obtain and commercialise.
‘This fuel is produced using corn straw, coconut or rice husks, sawdust, sugar cane bagasse, among other materials recycled from the environment, which is why we call it 100 per cent ecological and environmentally friendly,’ he concluded.
