From training to practical action

10 Apr 20

Further to an FAO/GBEP event in Togo, a private national entrepreneur has initiated local production of a micro-gasifier for clean cooking and heating water in the household by using alternative biomass, such as pellet, palm oil kernel shells, cashew shells and other forestry or agricultural waste and residues as feedstock, instead of woodfuel.                                                                                                                                                                                  Just a couple of months have passed since the "National dialogue on Wood Energy and Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)", organized by FAO/GBEP in Lomé on 20 and 21 January 2020, and we have already received such positive feedback from Togo!

 

Picture of the micro-gasifier built by Mr. Dzotsi following his participation at the “National dialogue on wood energy and Forest Landscape Restoration” held in Togo in January 2020. 

The micro-gasifier represents a good practice in the replacement of woodfuel for cooking and heating water in the household. It was demonstrated during the Lomé event by Ms. Veronica Agodoa KittiManaging Director of Asa Initiative, a Ghanaian NGO based in Cape Coast. Ms. Agodoa shared her valuable knowledge and experience on micro-gasification with the Togolese bioenergy and FLR stakeholders. Since 2012, she has been working to develop, produce and sell at local level a Top-Lit UpDraft (TLUD) micro-gasifier, able to use a wide range of feedstock  such as wood chips, pellet, forest and agricultural solid wastes and residues  as fuel to produce energy for cooking meals and heating water at household level. Furthermore, this micro-gasifier allows for the simultaneous production of biochar, a carbon-rich by product that can be buried into agricultural and forest soils to serve as soil amendment, fertilizer and as a means for carbon capture and storage. 

 

Practical demonstration of a micro-gasifier during the “National dialogue on wood energy and Forest Landscape Restoration” held in Ghana in January 2020. 

Mr. Dzotsi Koffi Elom demonstrated his strong interest during the event and the FAO/GBEP expert provided him with additional technical explanations and drawings to build the micro-gasifier using locally available raw materials and a very limited set of tools. Just recently Mr Dzotsi informed us about the construction of the innovative burner we suggested and he is now in the process of selecting the most suitable locally available biomass to feed it. We look forward to receiving his updates!

We strongly hope that the great passion of Mr. Dzotsi will mark the beginning of a new modern bioenergy pathway in Togo, which will serve as a concrete alternative to the traditional use of woodfuel that currently constitute the main source of energy for 76 percent of households nationally and for 99 percent of rural households.

We believe fiscal incentives or tax exemption policies, both at the national and regional level, are needed to support the initiative of private entrepreneurs, like Mr. Dzotsi, who are ready to engage in the production of innovative bioenergy technologies able to reduce the burden on forest landscape due to the uncontrolled use of woodfuel for energy purposes, both at household scale and in the productive sector. 

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