Saturday, June 05, 2010

Green Charcoal-makers

Cody and Perla show off charcoal briquettes made out of leaves, twigs, and rice hulls at the KASAMA Bakhawan Eco-Park charcoal-producing shop.

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"Green Charcoal" from Leaves, Twigs, Rice Hulls


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Leaves as Feedstock


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SRE and "Green Charcoal"

After demonstrating how to make high-efficiency charcoal out of coconut shells, SRE realized that in many rural areas where coconuts are not available, there are other, plentiful feedstock that can be made into equally high-efficiency, clean-burning charcoal: leaves, twigs, rice hulls.

To this end, SRE is currently working with an Aklan-based organization, KALIBO SAVE THE MANGROVES FOUNDATION (KASAMA), that pioneered the conversion of mangrove cuttings into high-efficiency charcoal. The feedstock source has been expanded to include leaves, twigs, and rice hulls. These are first carbonized, then mixed with cassava or corn starch as binder, molded into briquettes, and dried. In a test-run, briquettes burn three times longer than the traditional wood charcoal, and twice longer than the cocoshell charcoal. Smokeless, too. Most important, all the processing is done manually.

SRE and KASAMA collaborated in bringing to Aklan an American volunteer, Mr. Cody McMillian, a Business/Enterprise Development Graduate of Baylor University (Waco, Texas), to work primarily on the modifications of the manually-operated equipment. Cody also helps to develop the business model, particularly on marketing. He also gives presentations to schools and universities, as well as to environment-focused groups and organizations.

This "green charcoal" initiative is designed for replication in tropical countries where deforestation is rampant.

Coconut Sugar


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SRE Now into Coconut Sugar

SRE is now collaborating with a California-based SME, Coconut World, (http://www.coconutworld.biz/) to market coconut sugar in health food stores in the U.S.

The coco sugar is sourced from production facilities under the auspices of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in the Visayas (Aklan) and Mindanao (Cotabato). These facilities provide livelihood for several coconut farmers and their families. Majority of the workers are women.

Coconut sugar has a glycemic index (GI) of 35, and sucrose content of 80 - making it an excellent, healthy alternative to cane sugar. (And it tastes great!)

In addition, coco sugar comes from the sap of the flower of organically-grown coconut trees that is then processed with no preservatives and chemicals
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