Coconuts replace coal
March 27, 2012
Project goal: Find and employ alternatives to charcoal
Project size: 15 employees, 8 tons of coconut shell coal every month
Project investment: 300,000 euros ($397,200)
CO2 reduction: 1,500 tons a year
The outer shell of the humble coconut has the power to save Cambodia’s forests. Wood remains the main energy source in the country as a result of which the country’s virgin forestland is rapidly disappearing. In the last 40 years, forest cover has shrunk from 70 percent to just 3 percent. Coconut shells can be used as a material to produce briquettes, and no trees have to be felled to access them, either. In addition, they’re cheap and burn longer than wood. Coconut shell briquettes are still in the early phase of development, and the product remains largely unknown. That’s why students are driving through the streets of the capital, Phnom Penh, in rickshaws to get out the word. They introduce the coconut shell briquettes to homes and businesses, like restaurants. And the interest in their product is high - the use of briquettes has quintupled since they started.
A film by Kerstin Schweizer