The Youth in Africa are Turning Waste into Energy

Waste management is one of the environmental challenges that hasn’t been easy to hack. It is a global problem; rampant in developing nations.

Waste generation is inevitable for as long as people continue to produce and consume products. It doesn’t matter whether it is organic, municipal waste, domestic, or hazardous wastes. The main issue here is how to ensure that the wastes generated don’t cause more harm to people’s health, animals, and the environment.

Credit: Reuters

Plastic ban policy by several countries is one of the strategies being implemented to curb the issue; however, waste management remains a huge problem.

Turning wastes into energy sources such as briquettes is another approach that is becoming popular due to the rising demand, especially among the urban folks who do not want to use the normal charcoal because of the health and aesthetic implications associated

I spoke to a few youths during a Renewable Energy Leadership Program for young in Africa held in Arusha Tanzania and facilitated by Hivos East Africa about their involvement in managing wastes through the generation of energy sources. Untapped potential in Rural Africa

Kefas Okaka, an ecopreneur, and Co-founder at Biomakaa Company Ltd, a startup enterprise in Kenya producing charcoal briquettes from sawdust had the following to say;

“charcoal briquettes are one of the renewable energy solutions and are effective compared to normal charcoal. Our major motivation was the environmental aspect and trying to make a change. The money aspect was not in question.”

“Our main raw materials are carbonized sawdust and charcoal dust recycled from charcoal vendors across the city.”

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Kefas and his co-founders used online resources to educate themselves on the production of briquettes. So far, the demand is high, especially for domestic use. The company has been in operation since 2017 and is currently serving over 2000 homes. Biomakaa emerged the winner during the 254 Young Entrepreneurship Awards 2019 Ecopreneur Category.

Biomakaa

Biomakaa not only produces briquettes but also offers briquette training programs for youths, women, and marginalized communities.

“Our main aim is to promote sustainable renewable energy through clean cooking solutions.”

The greatest challenge faced by Biomakaa is trying to introduce people to briquettes. Most people are still skeptical, although with time they start appreciating the product.

Briquettes do not produce smoke hence considered a clean source of energy. However, debates have emerged that briquettes emit carbon particles into the atmosphere, but since it does not produce any smoke, it becomes hard to detect.

“Our main raw materials are carbonized sawdust and charcoal dust recycled from charcoal vendors across the city.”

I also had a chat with Gratitude Jaji from Zimbabwe. A Master’s student involved in community service through her group called  We Choose Green Group championed by post-graduate students in the environmental field. They are currently focused on environmental protection activities but are in the process of generating electricity from community wastes, particularly biomass from farms. The project is themed “waste to energy project.”

Biomass is considered a renewable source of energy which could come from different types of waste; garbage, wood, landfill, crops, and alcohol fuels.

Read Biomass Explained EIA