The Business of Making Charcoal

Charcoal is a form of renewable energy that can be made from biomass, or anything that was once alive. The fuel can be made using both primitive and modern technologies.

Charcoal is a much cleaner fuel than firewood because it produces no smoke when it is burned, which eliminates air pollution and contributes to climate change mitigation efforts. Cooking with charcoal produces no soot, eliminating the need to scrub the bottom of saucepans and pots after cooking. The heat produced by charcoal is consistent and lasts longer than firewood. Compared to firewood, charcoal is less bulky and not heavy to transport.

In order to obtain a high charcoal to biomass ratio (>33%), the most efficient materials for making charcoal are wood, coconut shell, galip nut shell, karuka nut shell and okari nut shell. Agriculture residues, grass clippings, animal biomass, insect biomass, leaf litter, sawdust, rice husk, coffee husk and animal dung (like cattle dung) can also be used for making charcoal, but the charcoal to biomass ratio for these materials will be low (<33%).

Charcoal can be produced in the presence oxygen, but the quality of charcoal produced may not be that good. Therefore, in order to produce high quality charcoal, the process of pyrolysis - where biomass is burned at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen - is used. With pyrolysis, gases contained within the wood cells or the cells of other biomass are also burned off as a result of the intense heat generated within the system, in the absence of oxygen. This method produces high quality charcoal for making briquettes if the pyrolysis process has been successfully completed.

Charcoal is now used for Regenerative Agriculture, where charcoal is used as a soil amendment to improved soil fertility, increase nutrient uptake by plants, reduce soil acidity, increase ion exchange, and mitigate climate change.

Charcoal is also traded on carbon markets for income due to its ability to capture carbon and store it for hundreds or thousands of years in the soil. Instead of letting biomass rot and being re-emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, biomass can be turned into charcoal and stored in the soil for hundreds or thousands of years when used for Regenerative Agriculture. Farmers or companies that produce charcoal or use it for Regenerative Agriculture can use the carbon credits generated to trade them on carbon markets so that companies and governments that cannot reduce their emissions can pay them for mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions.

Many methods exist for making charcoal, depending on circumstances and the type of biomass available to the charcoal producer. Simple and low-cost methods exist for farmers to produce charcoal for their own use and for sale, but modern and more complex methods are available that can be used by corporations to mass-produce charcoal for commercial purposes.

One of the most efficient methods for small-scale making of charcoal by farmers is a method invented in Thailand. The method uses two 55-gallon drums for charcoal making. One of the 55-gallon drum is to be used as the burn-barrel and the other one is to be used as the chimney barrel.

Materials Needed for Charring Wood

The materials for charring wood include:

• 3 cement bricks

• 2 square metal beams (10cm in width and height and 70cm in length)

• 2 metal drums (55 gallons US or 44 gallons British), empty oil drums)

• 1 metal cutter

For the burn-barrel, one of the capped ends of the drum is totally cut out using a metal cutter; the capped end is cut 1 inch away from rim of the drum. Then 1 - 2 cm perforations are evenly made in the capped end of the drum, which will allow airflow through the bottom of the burn-barrel during the burning process.

For the chimney, one of the capped ends of the 55 - gallon drum is totally cut out using a metal cutter; the capped end is cut as close as possible to the rim of the drum. Then a hole of 10cm diameter is centrally cut out in the capped end of the drum, which will allow hot air to flow out during the burning process.

Two square metal beams, 10cm in width and height and 70cm in length, are needed to be placed between the burn barrel and the chimney barrel when burning wood to make charcoal. The metal beams will create space for airflow into the chimney barrel when burning wood.

Three cement bricks are needed to be placed under the burn barrel when burning wood. The bricks are needed to lift the burn barrel off the ground to allow air flow into the burn barrel when burning wood.

Method for Charring Wood

1. Lay the 3 cement bricks on some flat ground.

2. Place the burn barrel on top of the 3 bricks laid out on the ground. Shake the burn barrel to check for its steadiness. If the burn barrel is not steady, make adjustments to the 3 bricks laid on the ground to ensure they are all level.

3. Start to fill the burn barrel with wood. Ensure wood in the burn barrel are evenly spaced out to allow for smooth burning and easier airflow through the burn barrel. Fill the burn barrel to the brim.

4. Once the burn barrel is filled with wood, use dry leaves, paper, or small sticks to start a fire at the top of the heap of firewood.

5. Allow the fire to burn for a while until firewood in the burn barrel starts to burn profusely.

6. Take the two metal beams and place them at equidistance apart on top of the burn barrel.

7. Place the chimney barrel on top of the two metal beams.

8. Allow wood in the burn barrel to burn for some hours while you keep a lookout for the intensity of the fire. The flames from the burn barrel should reach right up into the top of the chimney barrel.

9. Once the flames subside, that is fall below the bottom of the chimney barrel, remove the chimney barrel by pushing it off with a metal or timber beam. Move the hot chimney barrel away from the burn barrel to allow enough working space and to ensure there is less risk of people being burned.

10. Cover the top of the burn barrel with its lid. Then place sufficient clay or wet soil on top of the lid of the burn barrel to keep out oxygen.

11. Lift up the burn barrel and its content off the 3 bricks using timber beams and

place it in a pre-dug hole made for burying the bottom end of the barrel.

12. Cover the buried end of the burn barrel with clay or wet soil to shut out oxygen.

13. Allow the burn barrel and its content to burn without oxygen through the day and into the night.

14. The next day, remove the lid of the burn barrel and pour out all the charcoal from inside the barrel.

15. Collect all the charcoal and stow them away for making charcoal briquettes at a later date.

Making of charcoal is now a lucrative business venture due to its potential to be used for Regenerative Agriculture, as a source of renewable energy, climate change mitigation, and carbon trading. It is a lucrative business venture for both small farmers and large commercial entities.