On my last trip to Kenya in February 2023, I had the pleasure of meeting Carol Wangu Wachira, who had just started making briquettes and decided to turn it into a business. She joined the United Briquette Producers Association and has made tremendous strides in getting her business up and running. We decided to interview […]
Kikopey Cleaning Up Cooking in Kenya Read More »
In this article posted in The Medium, Ayuengineer interviews Sylvia Herzog, Director of The Charcoal Project: An interview with Sylvia Herzog, Director of The Charcoal Project University of California Berkeley professors Melvin Webber and Horst Rittel published a seminal paper in 1973 describing ‘wicked problems’. They theorized that these are complex and challenging issues that defy
Banker Turned Changemaker Solving the Wicked Problem of Charcoal for Cooking Read More »
TCP Seeking to Fill Board Vacancy The Charcoal Project is a 10-year old US-based non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that facilitates the adoption of clean burning technologies, sustainable fuel alternatives, and policies for communities that depend on wood and charcoal as their primary source of fuel in the global south. Our work is presently focused on sub-Saharan
Looking to Make an Impact on Climate Change? Read More »
The Opportunity Clean burning charcoal briquettes have started to gain traction recently as viable clean alternatives to traditional charcoal or other biofuels. The feedstocks used to create briquettes vary, but include agricultural residues and other raw materials, most commonly bagasse and sawdust. However, coconut waste (shells and husks) also provide a viable alternative feedstock, which
Leveraging Coconut Waste to Maximize Impact Read More »
The Charcoal Project is seeking to expand its relationships with social impact investors to help facilitate funding for participants in the renewable biomass fuel sector, who are often unable to access traditional capital markets. We recently helped arrange a loan between Betty Zizinga Kaddu at Best of Waste Ltd (BOW) in Uganda and the 3rd Creek
Providing Social Capital to a Ugandan Entrepreneur Read More »
Join the United Briquette Producers Association‘s (UBPA) Annual General Membership Meeting on Nov. 10th, 3:30pm-5pm EAT. The guest speaker this year is Mary Ngotho, Standards Officer, KEBS, who will discuss the current state of briquette standard initiative in Kenya. This year’s event will be held online – please register here on EventBrite. UBPA was formed
UBPA General Membership Meeting 2020 Read More »
By Fatin El-Kabashi Abdullah Ibrahim Fatin volunteered with TCP this summer providing pro bono legal advice, researching and blogging about TCP’s work in East Africa. She is a recent Georgetown Law graduate. Fatin previously worked as a finance lawyer in London, UK. She is passionate about supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in developing countries and is
Clean Fuel, Charcoal Briquettes and COVID-19 Read More »
Rogério Carneiro de Miranda, a forest engineer, has dedicated nearly 30 years of his professional life to woodenergy, from mastering the development, production and commercialization of ecostoves (improved wood stoves) in Latin America, to promoting forest replacement associations among small fuelwood consuming enterprises in Central America, alternative cooking with ethanol in Africa, and supporting the
Does Charcoal Have a Future in Africa? Read More »
Amin is a Ghanian entrepreneur who used his school fees to start Zaacoal Energy in Accra, Ghana, and built the largest charcoal factory in Ghana. Zaacoal uses waste from coconut vendors in the Greater Accra municipality to make charcoal briquettes. These vendors have a big challenge disposing of their waste, at it creates a huge problem
Inspiring Ghanian builds charcoal factory Read More »
The Charcoal Project and MIT D-Lab co-hosted a webinar for charcoal briquette producers on adapting to COVID-19 restrictions. The webinar covered operational spacing, automating payments and orders and provided resources for more information on these topics. Dan Sweeney, MIT D-Lab, presented information on the spread of coronavirus and steps business could take to limit the
Adapting Business to Social Distancing – Webinar Read More »
The Charcoal Project Secures New Grant to Relaunch Harvest Fuel Initiative in Kenya Building on the prior success of the Harvest Fuel Initiative (HFI) Pilot and the Advancing Sustainable Charcoal Enterprises at Scale (AScHES) Convening in 2018, The Charcoal Project (TCP) is relaunching HFI with a program in Kenya, supported by Mennonite Economic Development Associates
TCP to Relaunch Harvest Fuel Initiative in Kenya Read More »
Emergency Funds for Fuel Providers The Charcoal Project (TCP) is raising funds to provide micro grants to fuel providers struggling with COVID 19 restrictions. TCP will dedicate all funds raised in conjunction with the Giving Tuesday Now campaign to help entrepreneurs with payroll and other necessary expenditures. The travel and transportation bans in East Africa
Emergency Funds for Fuel Providers Read More »
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