Bio Energy

The concept of the Bio-energy Program is one that works on reducing the reliance of wood fuel and charcoal which accounts for close to 90% of the fuel energy used in most Zambian households. The program will focus on using a more environmentally friendly and sustainable fuel.

Unfortunately for Zambia, the continued reliance on wood fuel and charcoal has lead to the loss of large tracks of forest at the rate of 62,000 hectares of standing forest a year.

The Bio-energy Programme seeks to mitigate this destruction and rely on all combustible biomass and convert this into household bio-energy. The crucial advantage of this is that biomass exists all around us and can provide a key energy resource that will drastically reduce the amount of forest that are being felled and converted for energy.

Bio energy relies on the existence sufficient combustible biomass; fortunately there is a lot of this around. Amongst the biomass that can be used for energy are, (and not limited to:

• Grass, reeds and straw
• Trees, twigs, sawdust and slabs
• Rice husks. Coffee husks
• All types of shells and peels
• Sugar bagasse
• Agriculture related waste such as weeds, maize cobs and stalks,
All these can be converted into excellent household fuel.

Action: Have look around.