Fuel from the Fields: Charcoal from agricultural waste
Practical Action
Further information
For more information, contact charcoal@mit.edu
Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqI63IEg3MM
For more information on the health impact of indoor air pollution, see:
Smoke – the Killer in the Kitchen. Practical Action (2003)
http://practicalaction.org/smoke/report_home#Download
For more information on the use of biomass as a cooking fuel, see:
Biomass as a Solid Fuel. Practical Action Technical Brief: (2009)
http://practicalaction.org/practicalanswers/product_info.php?cPath=21_64&products_id=417&att
rib=1
This document was written by Manpreet Singh, Ryan Stanley, Jessica Vechakul, Amy Smith,
Amy Banzaert, and Shawn Frayne in February 2010. With thanks to the rest of the FftF team,
and our partners in Haiti, Rwanda, and elsewhere.
The Fuel from the Fields project was set up in 2002, by D-Lab at MIT, to create a way for rural
farmers to make charcoal from agricultural waste. The technology has been designed
developed in collaboration with Haitian technicians. In 2007, the team won a World Bank
Development Marketplace grant, which has been used to create a sustainable training
programme in Haiti. To date, over 1000 farmers have been trained in Haiti, with a secondary
focus in Rwanda, and additional trainings in more than 10 other countries.
Practical Action
The Schumacher Centre
Bourton-on-Dunsmore
Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1926 634400
Fax: +44 (0)1926 634401
E-mail: inforserv@practicalaction.org.uk
Website: http://www.practicalaction.org/
Practical Action is a development charity with a difference. We know the simplest ideas can have the most profound,
life-changing effect on poor people across the world. For over 40 years, we have been working closely with some of the
world’s poorest people - using simple technology to fight poverty and transform their lives for the better. We currently
work in 15 countries in Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
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