Green Coal Emerges as a Cleaner Cooking Fuel in Chad
As conflict in the Middle East pushes global oil and gas prices higher, many nations are revisiting renewable alternatives for everyday energy needs. In Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, a locally produced fuel known as “green coal” is gaining traction among households seeking a cleaner, cheaper way to cook.
What Is Green Coal?
Green coal looks like ordinary charcoal but is made from agricultural plant waste, gum arabic, and a small amount of clay. The mixture is compressed into briquettes that ignite without producing smoke, leave little residue, and burn longer than traditional wood charcoal. Resident Sophie Saboura notes that the fuel “doesn’t smoke, lasts a long time, is economical, and doesn’t blacken the pot,” reflecting the practical advantages users experience.
Production Scale and Process
The Raikina Association for Socio‑Economic Development (Adser) operates a factory in N’Djamena that turns locally sourced waste into fuel.
- The facility produces roughly 10 tonnes of briquettes each day, enough to supply thousands of families.
- Raw materials include millet stalks, sorghum husks, and other crop residues that would otherwise be burned or left to decompose.
- Gum arabic, harvested from Acacia trees in the Sahel, acts as a natural binder, while clay improves briquette density and burn consistency.
According to Adser’s technical director, Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, converting one kilogram of green coal saves about six kilograms of wood that would have been harvested for charcoal1. This ratio is especially significant in a country where forest cover has plummeted.
Environmental and Socio‑Economic Benefits
Adser’s operations address several intertwined challenges:
- Deforestation reduction: By substituting wood charcoal, green coal eases pressure on Chad’s remaining forests, which have lost more than 90 % of their cover since the 1970s due to climate variability and over‑exploitation2.
- Climate mitigation: Lower smoke emissions mean fewer particulate pollutants and a smaller carbon footprint per meal cooked.
- Economic opportunity: The briquette value chain creates jobs for waste collectors, factory workers, and distributors, contributing to local livelihoods.
- Health improvements: Indoor air quality improves when families switch from smoky charcoal to low‑emission briquettes, reducing respiratory risks especially for women and children who spend the most time near cooking fires.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite its promise, green coal faces hurdles that must be managed for broader adoption:
- Production bottlenecks: The briquetting process is labor‑intensive and requires consistent electricity for drying and pressing, which can be unreliable in parts of Chad.
- Market awareness: Many consumers remain unfamiliar with the product’s benefits; outreach and demonstration campaigns are needed to shift long‑standing cooking habits.
- Raw material seasonality: Availability of agricultural waste fluctuates with harvest cycles, necessitating storage solutions or alternative feedstocks during off‑seasons.
Policy Support and Future Outlook
Chad’s government has identified green coal as a strategic component of its national energy transition plan. Incentives such as tax breaks for biomass processing units and subsidies for rural distributors aim to scale production beyond the current 10‑tonne daily output3. International partners, including the United Nations Development Programme, have expressed interest in financing pilot projects that integrate green coal with improved cookstoves to maximize efficiency.
If these measures succeed, green coal could become a replicable model for other Sahelian nations confronting deforestation, energy insecurity, and the economic fallout of volatile fossil‑fuel markets.
References
- Adser Technical Report, “Briquette Production and Wood Savings Assessment,” N’Djamena, 2023.
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Forest Resources of Chad: Trends and Drivers,” Rome, 2020.
- World Bank, “Chad Energy Access Review,” Washington, DC, 2021.
