Biomass Green Briquette Fuel Production (BGBFP)
Turning waste into bio- fuel briquettes and fertilizer creating an environmental cycle of
energy
The project aims to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the pressure on local forests
through the substitution of non-renewable charcoal with an efficient and renewable
alternative.
Project Objective
The project objective is to support low income groups by providing them access to a sustainable
and economically feasible source of energy. The project aims to mitigate carbon dioxide
emissions and reduce the pressure on local forests through the substitution of non-renewable
charcoal with an efficient and renewable alternative.
What is the problem?
Our environment was as clean in the early 1950's. Waste disposal was organized and organic
wastes were easily converted into usable products such as manure. In 2015 we have garbage all
over and the environment will get worse with population pressure in urban areas majority
settling in informal areas.
Data on urban solid waste management is as follows:
Global
 1.3 billion tonnes per year
 1.2 kg per person per day
Africa
 520Million tonnes a year
 Organic waste is 57%
 Recycled waste is 4%
Uganda
 2000 Tonnes of organic waste/day
 City council about 1,200-1,500 tonnes
Soroti Municipal Council
 80-96.1 tonnes of solid waste (10% of total urban waste)
 Only 10% Soroti town has access to waste collection services
The problem according to the World Bank 2012, current global municipal solid waste (MSW)
generation levels are approximately 1.3 billion tonnes per years, and are expected to increase
to approximately 2.2 billion tonnes per year by 2025. Ten years ago there were 2.9 billion urban
residents who generated about 0.6kg of MSW per person per day (0.68 billion tonnes per year)
An analysis of municipal global waste composition shows that 46% of waste generated is
organic waste paper is 17% and plastic makes up 10%, while glass and metal constitute 5% and
4% respectively of the global waste generation.
According to the Soroti Municipal Council (SMC) the municipality generates about 80-90 tonnes
of solid waste daily while it has a workforce 35 of devoted to cleaning up the environment.
Going by the government’s projection by the end 2040 the total solid refuse will rise to 1,500
tons per day due to changing lifestyle and consumer patterns. Those in the informal
settlements suffer the most from these environmental eyesores as they not able to pay for the
services. The poor have more pressing needs for their income while the rich can afford to pay
private contractors to haul their garbage away.
What are Bio- fuel Briquettes?
Biomass briquetting is the process of converting low bulk density biomass such as organic
wastes into high density and energy concentrated fuel briquettes. Briquettes are ready
substitute of Coal/wood in industrial boiler and brick kiln for thermal application as well as
domestic consumption in place of wood fuel. Biomass briquettes are Non-conventional Source
of energy, Renewable in nature, Eco friendly, non-polluting and economical. Process of
converting biomass to solid fuel is also non-polluting. No addition of any binder / chemicals is
required so it is 100 % natural.
Wood fuel has been used extensively in Uganda for domestic and commercial use resulting in
massive deforestation. Women have suffered using firewood as a cooking fuel resulting in eye
infections and chest infections
The Solution
The project will install a biomass briquetting plant to supply a substitute for traditional wood
fuels. The plant will produce carbonised and uncarbonised biomass briquettes from agriculture
and forestry residuals, which would otherwise be disposed of or incinerated. There is an
abundance of waste biomass - sawdust, rice hulls, Groundnuts shells, maize cobs and millet
stalks - that can be used to produce biomass briquettes. During production, the agricultural
residues are compressed to create a dense product that requires less volume for a given
weight. The briquettes can be produced in different shapes for different stoves. They are more
energy efficient and produce less smoke than traditional wood fuels such as charcoal and
firewood. Local sales agents will be trained to promote and distribute the briquettes. The
project plans to organise cooking demonstrations and product presentations on a communityto-community basis to disseminate knowledge on biomass briquettes and to showcase their
burning properties and energy efficiency. Cooperation with women’s associations, local
governments, NGOs, local churches and other associations at the local level will ensure a high
uptake and sustain the educational element of the distribution strategy. The installed biomass
briquette plant aims to provide up to 740,000 people with a renewable energy resource.
Briquettes are a household and institutional fuel made by compacting/solidifying biomass
waste. We wish to use Briquetting Technology which employs the piston press hydraulic
technique. The Process:
Our working business model employed the participatory development model. As illustrated in
the picture below:
Relevance for Climate Change
The project will mitigate greenhouse gas emission by substituting traditional firewood and
charcoal with biomass briquettes. Waste biomass is traditionally disposed of or burnt on site,
which creates unnecessary CO2 and methane emissions. The briquette production will have
positive environmental impacts since the energy content in the waste is being utilised and
because of more efficient combustion, which induces less GHG emissions. The project will avoid
the use of 460,000 tonnes of non-renewable biomass with considerable CO2 mitigation
potential. The conserved forest will have adaptive impacts through ecosystem services, reduced
soil erosion and higher water retention capacity.
Innovation and Knowledge Transfer
Currently, charcoal is mainly produced with methods that involve high GHG emissions and the
land is degraded as production is carried out in the same areas over and over again. The project
innovatively utilises the abundant waste biomass to reduce the pressure on natural forests. The
biomass briquetting plant uses efficient production techniques that avoid methane emissions
during the carbonisation process, in contrast to traditional carbonisation methods or the direct
use of firewood. The project will serve as a template for similar initiatives, enabling the
replication and adoption of the knowledge base for entrepreneurs in Uganda and elsewhere in
the region.
Target market
The target market for the briquettes produced by IYAU include school institutions which is
composed of primary and secondary schools, restaurants, prison department, hotels, hospitals,
and general community based organisation in informal settlement. This is because such and
institutions are heavy consumers of firewood & institutions are heavy consumers of firewood &
charcoal which are affordable and easy to use however the health hazards associated with their
consumption have been seen to be increasing daily.
We intend to capture the firewood market share by securing 50% supply to schools, 20% to
restaurants, 20% to prisons, 15% to community based organisation, 10% organisation to hotels
and 15% to hospitals.
The competition
There are few organisations that support entrepreneurship in the production of briquettes in
Soroti in which a few are only engaged in making briquettes out of charcoal remains. In Soroti,
this will be the first enterprise of its kind to be established in Soroti.
The leverage for IYAU under AWT is that they come with the ability to marshal large scale
production, create jobs and develop enterprises of organic waste to supply to consumers who
need cheap and affordable sources of fuel which is also safe.
Value Proposition
Briquettes produced from briquetting of biomass are fairly good substitute for coal, lignite,
firewood and offer numerous advantages:
Product Features: the Finished Product – Briquettes:
1. Sustainable:
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
Made from refined and densified leftover agri & forest residues
Sustainable and Eco Friendly Renewable Fuel
Replacement to Conventional Fossil Fuels
2. Efficient:


Remarkable Consistency and Burning Efficiency
High Calorific Value
3. User Friendly:




Highly Safe, Non Inflammable, No Risk of Explosion during transport
Widely used in different types of Boilers & Furnaces
Better compatibility with multiple technologies
Varied Applications
4. Most Clean & Economical:


Better & Clean Fuel with higher combustion efficiency
Results in clean and local environment as well as lesser human exploitation
5. Corporate Social Responsibility:
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

Better Carbon Footprint
Enhancing green and sustainable culture
Improved Workplace
Long term impact of the project




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Establishment of a replicable and scalable business model for large scale briquetting in
Uganda
Replacement of non-sustainable fuels with briquettes
Reduced pressure on forests: estimated 65,000 trees saved per briquetting plant
Creation of market for previously worthless agricultural waste
Integration of approx., 6000 rural low income households into the feedstock supply
chain
Creation of employment opportunities at the plant
Enhanced fuel security from indigenous renewable sources
Release of follow on investment from commercial sources for scale up and replication of
the business model
Budget
Activity
Land purchase where
the plant will be
established
Consultancy services
Conduct baseline
survey on
environmental impact
assessment
Design and
commission
installation of
briquetting plant
Conduct 2 days’
workshop with
selected district and
community leaders
about the project
Conduct interactive
live radio talk shows
Number of units
3 acres
Unit cost
10,000,000
Total
30,000,000
01
1 month
3,000,000
7,500,000
3,000,000
7,500,000
5,500,000
30 selected
3,000,000
participants for 2 days
3,000,000
Monthly x 12 for 30
minutes
4,800,000
400,000
to inform the public
about the project
Recruit sales agents
of the project
organise cooking
demonstrations and
product presentations
on a community-tocommunity basis to
disseminate
knowledge on
biomass briquettes
and to showcase their
burning properties
and energy efficiency
Train sales agents on
Sales marketing and
customer care
Purchase of crusher
and dryer
Purchase of
briquetting plantjumbo-9075
Payment of water and
electricity bills and
installation
Construction of
building for plant
Purchase of garbage
bins in which garbage
is sorted
Purchase on
generator in case of
electricity cuts off and
load shedding
Fuel
Purchase of two
tipper lorries for
collecting waste
Protective gear,
empty bags
polythene, shades,
wheel barrows,
spades
Motorcycles for
coordination
50 for 3 days
200,000
600,000
Monthly x 12 months
500,000
6,000,000
50 for 5 days
4,500,000
4,500,000
02
10,000,000
20,000,000
01
55,000,000
55,000,000
For startup for one
year (02) @ 250,000
500,000
6,000,000
01
220,000,000
220,000,000
100
250,000
2,500,000
01
30,000,000
30,000,000
02
80,000,000
160,000,000
assorted
Assorted
7,500,000
02
9,000,000
18,000,000
Grand total
USD
1USD = 3,000 Uganda shillings
583,900,000
194,634