Belay Biruk, Diriba Dawit, Senbeta Feyera
Department of Economics, College of Business and Economics, Aksum University, Aksum, Ethiopia, P.O.Box 1010, Aksum, Ethiopia.
Center of Environment and Development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, P.O.Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Heliyon. 2024 Dec 7;10(24):e41015. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e41015. eCollection 2024 Dec 30.
Rural areas in Ethiopia serve as the primary source of charcoal for urban populations, mainly produced using traditional kilns. However, this traditional method significantly contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, exacerbating climate change and deforestation. While banning charcoal production is not currently feasible in Ethiopia because of the lack of affordable alternative energy sources (fuel), improving the efficiency of the traditional production system can mitigate the climate impact caused by charcoal production. This study assessed GHG emissions from traditional charcoal production in Awi zone, northwestern Ethiopia, using primary data from 18 sample kilns and secondary data from literature values. Employing a carbon balance approach, we estimated that, on average, 63 % of the original wood carbon was lost as gaseous products, resulting in 1671 g of carbon released per kg of charcoal produced in Awi zone. Our results also indicate that the average primary global warming impact (PGWI) for the 18 sample kilns was found to be 7.6 kg CO2-eq per kg of charcoal produced. Within this, the less efficient kiln production system, constituting 6 out of the sample, contributed 1.5 times more to global warming (9.43 kg CO-eq per kg of charcoal produced) compared to the more efficient kiln system (6.25 kg CO-eq per kg of charcoal produced for the same number of kilns). The policy implication of our finding is that any interventions aiming at mitigating climate change through reduction of GHG emissions from charcoal production must focus on improving the conversion efficiency of the traditional kiln currently used in addition to promoting the use of sustainably harvested wood.
埃塞俄比亚的农村地区是城市人口木炭的主要来源，主要使用传统窑炉生产。然而，这种传统方法显著导致温室气体（GHG）排放，加剧气候变化和森林砍伐。由于缺乏负担得起的替代能源（燃料），目前在埃塞俄比亚禁止木炭生产不可行，但提高传统生产系统的效率可以减轻木炭生产对气候的影响。本研究利用来自18个样本窑炉的原始数据和文献值中的二手数据，评估了埃塞俄比亚西北部阿维地区传统木炭生产的温室气体排放。采用碳平衡方法，我们估计，平均而言，63%的原始木材碳以气态产物形式损失，导致阿维地区每生产1千克木炭释放1671克碳。我们的结果还表明，18个样本窑炉的平均初级全球变暖影响（PGWI）为每生产1千克木炭7.6千克二氧化碳当量。其中，效率较低的窑炉生产系统（占样本的6个）对全球变暖的贡献是效率较高的窑炉系统（相同数量的窑炉每生产1千克木炭6.25千克二氧化碳当量）的1.5倍。我们研究结果的政策含义是，任何旨在通过减少木炭生产的温室气体排放来缓解气候变化的干预措施，除了推广使用可持续采伐的木材外，还必须专注于提高目前使用的传统窑炉的转化效率。
