Charcoal

Charcoal is a product of wood carbonisation (absense of air). By burning around 5 tonn of firewood, 1 tonn of charcoal is produced. Chracoal offers twice as much as heat produced by wood. Energy lost during the conversion of wood to charcoal can be compensated by using efficient charocal oven or cookstove. Unlike firewood, it burns slowly and does not produce any smoke

Good quality charcoal does not contain any tar, hence it is quite feasible for all kinds of gasifiers. Charcoal is also low in mineral matter and does not disintegrate easliy. Compared to other biomass fuels, charcoal is costly. Important disadvantage is that during conversion of wood into charcoal, more than 50% of energy is lost. This is notable factor for those developing countries which suffer in energy crisis.