Analysis, Synthesis and Design of plants for making briquettes (original) (raw)

The household cooking sector in Nigeria is the largest consumer of energy. According to International Energy Agency, about 73% of cooking energy is mainly derived from biomass (67% fuel wood and 6% charcoal). Women, being the chief cooks, spend more than 6 hours each day collecting and preparing fuel wood to make meals. Significant time is lost in the process and this results in low production in agriculture, low incomes and household food insecurity. The unsustainable consumption rate of fuel wood requires interventions to increase the efficiency of use. Apart from fuel wood and charcoal, agricultural residues also provide cooking energy option particularly in the rural communities. However, a major issue with the use of these fuels in their traditional form for cooking is indoor air pollution from burning in open fires and usually in poorly ventilated kitchens. The exposure to health damaging pollutants has been hypothesized to contribute to elevated blood pressure which leads to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke and kidney diseases, pneumonia amongst children of less than five years of age and premature deaths. Globally, deaths from indoor air pollution caused by biomass burning are estimated to be about 3.8 million deaths annually. In Nigeria, about 79,000 deaths were recorded in the year 2002 but an estimated 106,900 to cooking a burden because of the long hours spent and the likelihood of indoor air pollution from incomplete combustion. Charcoal and firewood, being major sources of domestic cooking fuel in the state are acquired from a diminishing forest resource. The alternative fuels such as LPG (cooking gas) and kerosene are seldom used due to their cost and inaccessibility. Therefore, it is necessary to resolve the persistent need for an eco-friendly, sustainable, affordable and readily available cooking energy source to decrease the consumption of fuel wood. Densification of agricultural residues by briquetting can produce energy in the form of solid fuel for cooking at the household level in rural settings. The use of these materials as alternative sources of energy is desirable because it could tackle problems of waste disposal, energy shortages as well as mitigate against indoor air pollution. Therefore, this paper offers a perspective on the potentials of agricultural residues in Enugu state to produce briquettes as an alternative clean and sustainable domestic cooking fuel.