We promote and enable widespread adoption of clean-burning technologies, sustainable fuel alternativ Potter’s Briquettes uses waste materials instead of cutting trees (deforestation) that are carbonized to get clean fuel. While briquetting is already done in some parts of Nairobi, most of the producers use charcoal dust, which is not good for breathing and is not sufficient to meet the demand. We
will therefore use the organic waste that is available in large amounts in the project area. Manufacturing and selling charcoal briquettes creates a huge amount of employment in my community. It is important to replace rather than eliminate this employment. We must produce a type of briquette that is friendly to the environment and health. Briquettes have a high heat that lasts longer than normal charcoal or wood. They are cheaper, smokeless, odorless and sparkless. No chemical is found or used in any of them. This means that they do not have the same detrimental effects on health when used for cooking or heat. Women (often the ones cooking) now do not have to worry about their children’s and their own health while making food. When I learned about the deforestation that takes place all over Kenya and the world at large, I determined to do something different from the normal energy sources. The Ngong forest once stretched up to Kibera; now it is no longer a forest due to cutting trees for fuel, construction, and Busaa clubs [alcohol brew] in the area. And so we thought of starting the briquettes project that preserves the natural environment and creation of jobs to the youth. Our briquettes are made primarly from waste materials. Kenya generates about 1.6 million tons of sugar bagasses (Chou 2013, Renewable Energy World). It is well known trash could be found any where in any community to recyle and produce fuel. This sugar bagasse and trash are the basic materials of my briquettes. The resulting briquettes are smokeless, easy to ignite and produce no irritation. Our briquettes are made through a combination of a minimal amount of bagasse, ash, garbage, sugarcane fillings, maize corbs, coffee husks, tea remains and starch, binder, mix with with water as solvent.
