Abstract:

Charcoal production is re-emerging industry. It not only supplies fuel in developing countries, but in recent decades, it has also supplied new multifuctional materials for environmental improvement and agricultural applications  in developed countries. These applications include air dehumidification and deodorisation, water purification and soil improvement using charcoal’s excellent adsoption capacity. Paradoxically, charcoal production might also help curb greenhouse gas emissions. With regards to the carbonisation process towards carbon fixation, a model has been formulated for the computation and the benefits evaluated (Lin and Hwang, 2009). The results showed that the recovered fixed carbon reached 33.2%, i.e, one-third of the biomass residual carbon was conserved as charcoal which if left on the forest ground would decompose and turn into carbon dioxide. Charcoaling thus appears to be a feasible alternative to promote reutilisation of woody residues or biomass which would not only reduce greenhouse gas emisiions, but also provide potential benefits to regional economies in developing countries.

Main Research: Astimar Abdul Aziz