Eco-friendly coal: Burkina Faso's way of tackling climate crisis

Long before jumbo jets shrunk the world and climate crisis became a global concern, there was something quaintly romantic about locomotive pilots hauling coal into the firebox of a steam engine as the whistling train chugged along through pastoral landscapes, billowing smoke into verdant skies.

The truth is that coal, one of the world's oldest energy sources, is also among the main emitters of carbon dioxide, accounting for 40% of emissions responsible for global warming.

Conversely, its accessibility and usefulness in industry make coal seemingly difficult to do without. Enter eco-friendly or green coal, an alternative energy source that is powering an ecological and economic revolution in parts of Africa.

Whether of sedimentary origin or acquired by burning wood, coal has been among the most commonly utilised energy sources for domestic and industrial uses since early humans discovered fire.

Ousmane Doumbia, who likes to rustle up a nice meal on weekends, often uses charcoal, which costs an average of 2,500 CFA franc a bag in his native Mali. "I use charcoal to infuse flavour, a smell that reminds me of the fish I used to eat on certain occasions in my village," he tells TRT Afrika.

Like Ousmane, a resident of the Malian capital of Bamako, 850 million Africans use charcoal.

Worldwide problem

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the annual consumption of firewood or charcoal is close to one cubic metre per person in Southeast Asia, Africa, countries south of the Sahara, and South America. The figure drops in countries where forests are becoming sparser.

In terms of industrial coal consumption — often the sedimentary kind — the electricity sector is the leading user. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that by 2023, global demand for coal rose to 8.53 billion tonnes.

The scale of consumption is growing despite industry and scientists agreeing that coal consumption is responsible for almost 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.

Against this backdrop, Burkina Faso-based agriculture consultant Armel Kabore is convinced about green coal's economic and environmental potential.

"You can't talk about green coal or ecological coal without talking about biochar because green coal briquettes are produced from biochar. After the pyrolysis of these raw materials, the result is biochar, which can be used in agroecology as a fertiliser," he tells TRT Afrika.

Multiple benefits

Biochar has more than seven functions in soil, including regulating the pH level, a measure of acidity or alkalinity. It also increases water retention in the soil and provides the plant with the required mineral elements.

Green charcoal or eco-friendly coal, is the culmination of work done by Kenyan entrepreneur Tom Osborn.

"The idea of creating this came from him observing the health hazards faced by people in his community while cooking with charcoal," says Kabore, who experienced the same while growing up in the village of Koudiere, a few kilometres from the capital city of Ouagadougou.

"Osborn was concerned about his mother inhaling smoke every day and ending up with respiratory infections caused by burning wood particles."

Kabore believes the production of eco-friendly coal at scale hasn't come a day too soon. The sources are biodegradable waste such as straw, paper, cardboard, cellulose, wood, and algae, all of which undergo pyrolysis or thermolysis (decomposition by heat).

When exposed to high temperatures, this biodegradable waste undergoes decomposition, forming organic residues that are then moulded, often using water, before drying.

The process requires time and is highly temperature-dependent. Even after moulding is completed, a single rainstorm can transform everything back into ash. Despite this, eco-friendly coal is an idea whose time has come.

''Ecological charcoal is better than conventional charcoal. Period. It's charcoal that doesn't give off smoke. It lights up faster than ordinary charcoal and is more economical," says Kabore.

Battle for acceptance

Every year, Burkina Faso holds national reforestation days to ensure the country has decent tree cover. These are the same woods that are cut down to produce charcoal.

"For people to be able to cook, there has to be rain to produce crops and cereals. So, if we cut down trees, we may not have rain. We will have our ordinary charcoal, but we won't have any meals to cook," Kabore tells TRT Afrika.

Since 2019, Kabore has been doing his bit through awareness campaigns and the training he provides in green charcoal-making techniques. With a vision beyond Burkina Faso, he founded "Nature Afrique" to drive the change.

"It's a team effort. We conduct training in situ: in a field, on the road, and with the target populations, including rural households and farmers," explains Kabore.