Evaluation of Briquette Acceptability in Niger

By Roland Louvel, Association Bois de Feu

Translated from the original French by L. Anderson-Bellamy

To what extent are agro-waste briquettes acceptable to women as a substitute for fuelwood?

The Conseil de l'Entente (which is composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger and Togo) undertook a series of studies concerning agricultural residue valorization. One of these studies was a pilot project for the domestic use of briquettes in Niger, entrusted to the Association Bois de Feu and financed by the French Aid and Cooperation Fund.

In the Republic of Niger the project was supervised by the Energy Department and the Ministry and Mines and Industries. It was actively supported by the authorities because it conformed to the goals laid out in the "Maradi agreement on the struggle against the encroachment of the desert" (May 1984) which expressly advocates the use of substitutional fuels, preferably those that are available within the country and that are renewable.

The mission was supervised by the Association Bois de Feu and took place from September 1984 until August 1985. It was composed of four principle phases. The final phase, in June and July 1985, was devoted to the final evaluation of briquette acceptability.

The evaluation was carried out by grouping all of the information gathered by the six different tests and surveys used at different stages of the experiment.

In two socio-economic surveys allowed a sample group of families, representative of the town of Dosso, to be selected and followed regularly. In Dosso, SONARA has been producing briquettes made of compacted peanut shells since 1979.

Three consumption surveys successively measured the wood consumption of 96 families in November 1984. Then briquettes were distributed to 70 of the families (55 of these used the BRINI cookstove) and their average consumption over 6 months was calculated together with the rate at which they substituted briquettes for wood in July 1985.

12 controlled cooking tests compared the performances of wood and briquettes, in a traditional cookstove and in a BRINI briquette cookstove. A traditional dish, called "to" was prepared.

After 6 months of receiving the briquettes free of charge, two selling rounds were made to put the womens' interest in the briquettes to the test in a financial manner.

Use of the cookstove briquettes was systematically written down as well as observations made during visits. These facts completed the statistical data.

A tests comparing briquettes made of peanut shells and others made of millet stalks brought out which aspects of a fuel are thought to be essential by women.

What Parameters condition the acceptability :- briquettes for domestic use?

The water boiling and controlled cooking tests show that in a traditional stove or fire, briquettes are less efficient than wood es far as the amount of fuel consumed is concerned. Their inferior calorific power does not entirely account for this diffference. Their lighting is show as is temperature increase and briquettes require a stronger draught which leads to excess fuel consumption - approximately 20% more or the preparation of the traditional dish. Briquettes present a few more drawbacks.

- lighting is difficult
- the fire requires greater attention
- they are less flexible as it is difficult to take them out of the fire for later use
- water damages them therefore they must be kept protected during the rainy season.

However, the women do not seem to have noticed an excess consumption and do not attach much importance to the other drawbacks. This is due to the fact that they rarely use briquettes alone and most of these flaws become less evident when the briquettes are used in combination with wood .

The women show a marked preference for the wood + briquette combination.

One of the most obvious lessons which was confirmed throughout the experiment was that most of the families spontaneously began using the wood + briquette combination which proved to be efficient in all stove types. Wood is helpful lighting; its flames speed up the ignition of the briquettes. The wood also stops the briquettes from lying flat and blocking the holes in the grate. Later, one piece of wood is enough to maintain a lively flame which is especially appreciable when the stove is being refueled with briquettes. This is a critical moment when the fire may go out.

Several other arguments combination:

- defend this

- whatever positive qualities the briquettes may have, it is unrealistic to think that wood can be completely abandoned overnight.

- using the wood + briquette combination allows for a progressive transition period from one fuel to the other. During the 6 months we observed that some families progressively increased their briquette consumption.

- the combined use of these two fuels allows for a possible briquette supply problem to be compensated for

The BRINI briquette stove is well-liked as an improved stove but is not thought to be a prerequisite for using briquettes.

The families liked the BRINI briquette stove as they thought it saved fuel. The laboratory and controlled cooking tests confirm its efficiency as 30-40% less fuel was used. But as far as the women are concerned, the importance of the BRINI stove is not linked to the briquettes. For the same reason, the families that did not receive BRINI stoves did not refuse to use the briquettes, and when they were sold at the end of the project instead of being distributed free of charge, 7 out of 13 families continued to buy them.

- The briquettes have the image of a modern Two product which increases the buyer's par standing.

Their positive image constitutes their main commercial asset. Therefore, briquettes should not be presented as a substitute, as a simple,stop gap measure imposed by a crisis. The briquette is an appealing product.

In this respect, there is no reason to exaggerate the conservatism and traditionalism of the rural populations. Many industrially-produced products have rapidly replaced those locally produced, and the smallest shop in the poorest neighborhood carried - and sells - products which are not absolute necessities. Here as elsewhere, limited resources do not discourage the taste for spending and the attraction of novelty which allows one to stand out from the ordinary. Apart from the usefulness, briquettes may benefit from this additional motivation which must not be ignored during publicity campaigns.

The price of briquettes must be comparable to the price of wood.

Briquettes are considered as more or less equivalent to wood. They are not superior to the point where much higher prices could be justified. During our two selling rounds we offered briquettes at the same price as wood, that is 10FCFA/kg and 82% of the families bought some. This price was considered reasonable because it was comparable to the price of wood.

- People must be able to obtain briquettes as easily as wood.

It is certain that people will not cross the entire city to get their supplies at the compacting unit when wood is sold in every neighbourhood, almost at every street corner. In order to be competitive, the briquette distribution network must be as extensive as the wood distribution network. Moreover, home delivery would greatly facilitate sales.

- Social prestige and using briquettes as an additional fuel are the two major factors that could motivate people to buy briquettes.

The survey results, related to the socio-economic characteristics of the familes, enabled two unequal groups to be distinguished from our group:

- a small pioneer group (about 15% of sample group) who use mainly briquettes, with a substitution rate greater than 70%.

- a group consisting of the majority (53 out of 62 families) who seem to only use briquettes when combined with wood. Their average substitution rate was 43%.

The civil servants and employees, who form the majority in the pioneer group, are culturally sensitive to progress and to the social prestige of new products. Most prominent people are found in the group, and thus a dissemination strategy should concentrate on this pilot group in order to bring about the adhesion of the rest of the people.

The farmers bought the largest quantity of briquettes.

This seems paradoxical if one considers that they can easily get their supply of wood in the bush. But these farmers usually have the largest families, therefore they use relatively large quantities of wood which their family farms cannot entirely supply them with. These families do not consider complete substitution a possibility, but briquettes seem a good complementary fuel to them, which they especially appreciate at certain seasons.

Recommendations for a briquette dissemination strategy

What lessons should be retained from the experiments carried out in Dosso in order to define a briquette dissemination strategy that would work in other Sahelian countries?

1. The production method must ensure that the briquettes be competitive with wood.

The choice of a compacting technique and a press model must take into account three economic factors:

- the press capacity must correspond to the amount of agricultural residues available in the surrounding areas, taking the cost of collection and transportation into account as they limit how far it is viable to collect.

- the initial investment must be payed off. The presses with the highest production capacities are also the most expensive to buy and run.

- the level of solvent demand on the market and the local selling price of wood determines how competitive the briquettes are.

These three limiting factors condition the profitability or production and make a choice necessary between the -three principal densification procedures (industrial, intermediate, and manual). The one best adapted to each given situation must be chosen.

An extensive and well-supplied distribution network must allow the housewife to obtain briquettes as easily as wood.

3. The status-giving image of the product must be maintained by publicity campaigns .

4. A strategy must be briquettes in relation improved cookstoves.

CONCLUSION: What prospects for briquettes?

Widespread use of briquettes could partly remedy the problem of wood shortage and work towards the preservation of the plant cover by relieving the strain placed on the environment by fuelwood collection. The authorities in charge of energy policies have two additional means at their disposal to encourage briquette dissemination. On one hand, a stricter control of wood exploitation and an increase in the price of acutting permit could increase the price of wood. At the moment its price is well below

Its real value or the price of its replacement through tree plantations. On the other hand, the authorities could encourage the setting-up of compacting units, subsidize publicity campaigns and prompt public organisations to use briquettes.

It is reasonable to think that time will work in favour of briquettes. The price of wood will necessarily rise due to its increasingly short supply or following stringent regulatory measures. Foreseeable progress in the adaptation of compacting equipment to local conditions will enable the cost price to decrease. Under these circumstances, the competitiveness of briquettes, which is minimal at the moment and limited to the big cities where wood is more expensive, should progressively increase thus improving the prospects of briquette marketing.

Briquetting Press

Nahud Groundnut Shell Cooker - Sudan

By W. Siemers, GTZ/GATE

This is a short gaper - 4 pages - by W. femers (GTZ/GATE) working in 1985 with 'he national Energy Administration of Sudan in which he describes a single pot chimneyless-cove designee to burn groundnut shells and helling powder. In Sudan, the shells a-e ready used as fuel for small commercial or industrial activities but are sometimes unvailable for domestic cooking. This means at the special stove can only be used as a econd'' stove and so must be very cheap - : $ 4-5. The efficiency is quoted at about % with spells, and 11% with powder so the must be virtually free.

As will be seen from the figure, the stove is a simple, uninsulated metal cylinder with the shells packed round a central stick about 2" diameter which is removed when the stove is full. The fuel is lit at the bottom of the hole left which acts as a chimney and burns with a smokeless, blue flame for about 2 hours. There is no control of the burning rate. The design is typical of stoves designed to burn materials such as sawdust and -ice husks (see Boiling Point No. 3). The project is seeking support for a further 6 months work to optimize the design and conduct field tests.

The test results a-e quoted below but the author does not describe the test procedure or calculations or say whether they are comparable with Wolfheze figures. The efficiency figures appear rather low but they may not be derived from the standard PHU formula.

Figure

Table 1: Results of efficiency tests

fuel	density	boil	power	efficiency
	glcx3	min	kW	%
shells	0.41	8	8.9	13.0 a
		4.25	14.8 b
		4.75	14.0 c
powder	0.43	10	7.0	11.0
shells	0.27	19	3.4/4.4	9.7+-1.5

a) for bringing to boil
b) for 1 hour cooking only
c) for the whole procedure

With this exception, the paper is clear and concise and would be a useful starting point for anyone wishing to experiment with this type of stove. Further details are available from ITDG.

A Preliminary Investigation of Alcohol-Fuelled Stoves

This is a technical report of tests on 3 portable alcohol stoves (using methylated spirits), one pressure and two non-pressure types. Although the stoves are marketed in he UK for camping use (similar to camping as or primus-kerosine stoves) and so are too expensive and unnecessarily sophisticated for Third World cooking, the non-pressure types (see Fig.) are basically simple, and could be made relatively cheaply in countries which already have light industries making articles such as aluminium pots and lanterns etc.

They may be appropriate for countries which produce alcohol from suitable biomass as a substitute for charcoal, imported kerosine or bottle gas. This would be in better off urban homes, perhaps to compliment a wood stove for making tea. There are safety Problems involved - the alcohol flame is almost invisible and so can cause burns or fires, particularly if fuel is spilt. It is also very volatile and must be kept in a closed container. As with any use of alcohol, there are problems with its diversion for use as an intoxicant and with contamination making it poisonous. Such illegal use may involve high prices and possible stealing.

The tests used are to bring 2 litres of water to boil in aluminium pans. The 2 similar, non-pressure stoves gave the best results - PHUs around 60% with continuously variable power outputs of 400-1400 W i.e. a ratio of almost l:4, by simple movement of a lever controlling the air intake. Performance was strongly affected by wind although the flame was not blown out. A wind shield (supplied with stove) is necessary.

Figure