[Stoves] [biochar] Where to discuss STOVES AND CARBON offsets and drawdown

Crispin Pemberton-Pigott crispinpigott at outlook.com
Sun Sep 10 18:56:04 CDT 2017


Dear Paul and All

"...the Uga Stove in  Uganda that received great praise for being the first carbon credit / Gold Standard project for stoves) earn 1 or 1.5 carbon   credits per year for using LESS charcoal, but that charcoal  is STILL produced very poorly via traditional char-making methods."

While it is 'de rigeur' to repeat the ‎'inefficient charcoal production' mantra each time money is being chased I would like to point out that in Rwanda, in a period of only a few years, the sector has modernised to such an extent that all charcoal is now produced from sustainable sources, none of it from original forest reserves. It has become a 'grow and process' business. 

CDM carbon offsets are available for 'unsustainable' biomass use, meaning that there is net clearing of forest reserve as happened around Lusaka for domestic charcoal and for brick making around Lubumbashi‎. 

In order to attract funding for a char-producing stove one has to consider the scale involved. If the input fuel is sustainably ‎sourced, the only credit is for the mass produced. It may be best to seek displacement instead of sequestration. This is what Sujatha has done. The char is collected and used in a foundry instead of coal. 

The foundry can take a huge amount, and the effect on the fuel source directly measured. ‎It is also not as dependent on the price of carbon credits which low and falling. 

Seeking sequestration as biochar the with an additional argument that there is universal benefit for agriculture just adds another hurdle of proof. I think it is unnecessary in the present market. The immediate challenge is product development, production and use, with a demonstration on the scale of Sujatha's product and linkage. 

As theoretically attractive as it may be, selling an agricultural benefit without 'draw' from agriculture workers will add a burden, not an opportunity. 

The production of biodynamic gardening fertilizers that contain a fraction of char is a complex and carefully managed process. If you can link to a group that is 'pulling' (creating demand) it would be great. Pushing requires more energy and organisation. 

Where can the stove producers place their efforts most effectively?

Regards 
Crispin


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