Charcoal briquettes cheaper than LPG

Help beat the energy crisis: Use charcoal briquettes.

Charcoal briquettes are a mixture of charcoal powder recycled from charcoal wastes and starch solded under pressure.

“Briquettes are 50 percent cheaper than liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). They are also more cost-effective than wood charcoal as they burn longer and more steadily while emitting very little smoke,” pointed out Felix Tamolang, officer-in-charge of the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDX).

Citing studies done by the institute, Tamolong said briquettes are ideal fuel for many Filipinos as, unlike LPG, they do not have to be bought in bulk. They come in small packs well within the daily wage earner’s budget.

“Aside from homes and restaurants,” he added, “charcoal briquettes may also be used in poultries and bakeries. Quality briquettes sell well abroad, especially in Europe, the United States, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia.”

For cooperatives and businessmen who want to go into charcoal briquetting, FPRDI has developed a simple, manually operated machine that can make 2,400 kilos of briquettes a month.

FPRDI engineer Belen B. Bisana computed that producing 2,400 kilos of coconut shell briquettes a month needs an investment of P61,000. This covers equipment and tools, raw materials, labor, and packaging materials.

“Our studies show that charcoal briquetting is a profitable enterprise,” said Bisana, whose other team members in the charcoal briquetting project are engineers Dante Pulmano and Allan Bondad and Norma Toretta.

The FPRDI team sad that locally, the best material to use are coconut shell charcoal waste, as they have the highest heating value, although sawdust, sugarcane bagasse, coconut husk, and pili shell charcoal waste are also good alternatives.

“For several years now, a family corporation in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, has successfully been producing charcoal briquettes which are exported to Japan,” Bisana also reported.

In a recent Cabinet meeting, President Arroyo ordered the DOST, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and National Housing Authority (NHA) to implement a charcoal briquetting program that will showcase the FPRDI project’s viability, especially in the provinces. – Rudy A. Fernandez