Briketi Energy Saving Solutions - Uganda

Briketi Energy Saving Solutions offers low-income Ugandan families cost-saving, safe and eco-friendly energy solutions such as energy efficient cookstoves and briquettes made out of biomass.

Key facts:

Briketi briquettes are made from 100% organic waste and residues;
The briquettes are designed to be long burning (up to four hours) and reduce customer’s cooking costs by 20-40%;
It is estimated that 0.8 kilograms of briquettes is equivalent to one kilogram of traditional charcoal of average quality;
Each time a Briketi improved cookstove is used, USD 107 is saved and 4,905 kilograms of carbon dioxide are offset.

The problem

In East Africa, wood-charcoal is the most commonly used fuel source by households in urban settings. This dependence on wood-fuels is partly responsible for prevailing deforestation and soil degradation.

The solution

Briketi™briquettes and improved cookstoves are produced using locally developed machines and processes. A team of Briketi products experts are ready to transfer all the tools and knowledge necessary to set up a small scale production unit of carbonized and non-carbonized briquettes and ways to commercialize them. This activity trains individuals, schools and groups to fully understand the process of creating and marketing high quality charcoal briquettes. The training not only focuses on the technical part of briquette production, but also on running a business, which includes sourcing, marketing, management and bookkeeping.

Helping the planet

Countless trees have been preserved since the energy-saving cook stoves use pruned branches for fuel-wood instead of entire felled trees. The use of energy-saving cook stoves leads to less fuel-wood usage, less trees cut down, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. This is helping mitigate climate change and reduce deforestation. The stoves can also use charcoal briquettes made from dry leaves and agricultural waste like coffee husks and rice husks, which are recycled into cooking fuel.

Helping people

This activity is providing sustained and prolonged assistance to the communities, guiding them at various stages along the path toward project implementation. The first stage is to train and sensitize communities on the waste management process of “conversion of organic waste into char.” The emphasis is put on cleaning communities by an intensive organic waste collection. Training includes how to carbonize organic waste (organic waste selection, sorting waste with different temperature levels, drying waste and carbonizing process), the basics of a small business management, the use of modern technology and the provision of the equipment required for the activity.

The second stage is to buy them the biochar produced to make Briketi™, so as to generate income. In this phase, this activity equips the groups with skills on determining the price for the produced Biochar, by explaining basic accountability. The third step is to monitor and evaluate the communities’ evolution using monitoring tools that are used to collect data. During the monitoring, this activity helps the groups overcome the different challenges they face. The last step is to encourage them to become “B-points”, which are micro entrepreneurs who sell Briketi products to increase their income. People showing interest have interviews with the activity to assess his/her commitment and motivation. This activity then helps the micro entrepreneurs create their business by providing trainings and helping with credit facilities.

Scaling Up

This activity envisions a world where everyone can access affordable, clean and safe energy. To reach this, this activity needs to leverage the whole industry’s strengths to diversify its activities, optimize and scale-up its production, to progressively make the East-African population – starting with Ugandans, shift towards energy-saving solutions.