Briquetting of agro-wates in northern Nigeria: Meeting household energy needs and reducing environmental damage

By Abiodun S. Momodu[1] and Garba Bala Magaji[2]

Introduction

Energy is of strategic importance to economic development at both the micro and macro levels as a major driver for economic growth. Makamashi Energy is a business seeking to achieve three core objectives in this sector: making a profit; helping poor households through the provision of briquettes as an affordable energy source; and mitigating the negative impact of deforestation in Northern Nigeria through a reduction in tree-felling.

The Business Innovation Facility (BIF) supported Makamashi Energy by providing an assessment of the briquette market in northern Nigeria and an analysis of the energy efficiency of their product. Specifically the BIF consultants calculated the carbon emission of Makamashi’s briquettes as compared with firewood and developed an inclusive distribution model for the product.

The challenge

Biomass, especially firewood, serves as a major source for providing cooking fuel to the bulk of households in developing countries. In Nigeria, this source of energy provides for over 80 per cent of households and northern Nigeria constitutes a major share in the consumption. Unfortunately, because of the level of exploitation that has not been sustainable, supply sources are becoming thinner by the day. Forest resources are the most exploited as a means of meeting household energy needs. This further contributes to the three environmental challenges of erosion, deforestation and desertification.

Northern Nigeria makes up close to 60 per cent of the land mass in the country, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the estimated 160 million persons in 2011. Northern Nigeria plays dominant role in Nigeria’s agricultural output. Aside from its agricultural base, northern Nigeria is also endowed with abundant unexploited solid minerals deposits. Thus annually, northern Nigeria produces huge quantities of agro-residues that are used inefficiently causing extensive pollution to the environment. Amongst the major residues are rice husk, groundnut shells, cotton, corn and sorghum stalks. Sawdust, a milling residue is also available in huge quantity. Apart from the problems of transportation, storage, and handling, the direct burning of loose biomass in conventional grates is associated with very low thermal efficiency and widespread air pollution, which has been associated with a wide spectrum of health effects ranging from eye irritation to death.

Energy and environment nexus

However, in recent times, it is becoming more and more obvious that a synergy needs to be developed between energy use, particularly household energy use, and a reduction in environmental degradation in northern Nigeria. If trees from the forest (i.e. the prevailing vegetation cover in that region) have to serve the majority of households needing energy for cooking, then firewood exploitation is now a major source of deforestation. This is because, from scarcity to price increase, other sources of meeting household energy needs are now becoming difficult for many to access.

Briquetting as a solution

Overcoming the use of loose biomass materials or inefficient wood-burning for cooking energy is paramount to establishing an enduring synergy between household energy use and environmental degradation. One of the ways this has been achieved is through one of several agglomeration techniques broadly characterised as densification technologies. Briquetting, which is one of the ways densification of biomass has been achieved, can be considered for its economics, reliability and ease of operation. Briquetted biomass has also been used to solve air pollution caused from burning loose biomass as fuels. Densification is the process by which loose organic materials, such as rice husk, sawdust and groundnut shell, are put through varying degrees of pressure with or without heat, to bind them together to improve their handling and combustion characteristics. Briquetted biomass can be used as a substitute for wood and coal, thereby conserving vegetal/natural wealth. Observations indicate the briquettes are very similar to wood although they do burn slower and with less/comparable intensity.

Briquette production technique

Although the importance of biomass briquettes as substitute fuel for wood, coal and lignite is well recognised, the numerous failures of briquetting machines in almost all developing countries have inhibited their extensive exploitation. Briquetting technology is yet to get a strong foothold in many developing countries, such as Nigeria, because of the technical constraints involved and the lack of knowledge to adapt the technology to suit local conditions. This was a pressing challenge for Makamashi Energy and formed a critical component of the support BIF provided the company. Overcoming the many operational problems associated with this technology and ensuring the quality of the raw materials used are crucial factors in determining commercial success. In addition to this commercial aspect, the importance of this technology lies in conserving wood, a commodity extensively used in northern Nigeria that has led to the widespread destruction of forests.

The briquette market in northern Nigeria

Currently, it is safe to say that briquette market in Nigeria is non-existent. Thus with present near energy crisis, particularly in the north, there is high potential of biomass/coal briquette becoming a preferred substitute fuel for nearly all energy uses for cooking and commercial process heat. Makamashi Energy strives to provide alternative energy sources, in form of briquettes from agricultural wastes and sawdust, for cooking as its core business activity. The aim is to make available, an affordable cooking energy substitute to consumers that can easily be accessed, and also support a benign environment through stemming deforestation and reduced emission of greenhouse gas (GHG) to the atmosphere. For marketing the produced briquettes, it is imperative that the target markets, especially for urban and peri-urban consumers, be narrowed - based on the briquette's likely degree of price competitiveness. Also, any entrepreneur could leverage on the well-established trade for transporting, stocking, wholesaling, and retailing of charcoal and wood that already exists. This is in addition to tapping into the experiences of individual entrepreneurs who have accumulated the expertise, financial capital, and equipment necessary to participate in the business.

Investment decisions

Setting up briquetting production requires considerable financial outlay as well as good technical know-how, even though it could provide some considerable return-on-investment (ROI) when properly handled. For this reason it is advised that new entrants or already existing practitioners should consider a stepwise approach for either start-up or scale-up of the business for briquette production process. This is to allow such businesses to develop the technical competence required, train staff to increase their technical, administrative and marketing capacity and also have a seamless adjustment to financial implications of establishing and/or expanding the business.

[1] Holds a Ph.D. in Energy Planning, Environmental Management and System Planning with the Centre for Energy Research and Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Email: abiodun.momodu@yahoomail.com

[2] Holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration and is a Lecturer with the Department of Business Administrtation, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Email: gbmagaji@yahoo.com.