Webinar: Charcoal Briquette Enterprise Development: Lessons from the Harvest Fuel Initiative
March 5, 2014
10:00 a.m – 11:30 a.m Eastern Standard Time (EST)
15:00 – 16:30 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)/Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
Charcoal briquettes made from various types of biomass feedstock have the potential to displace unsustainably produced charcoal and significantly reduce biomass consumption, but there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration before scaling up briquetting enterprises. Both the business and technology aspects need to be fully developed and tested before any attempt at reaching scale is made. Some of the questions to consider include:
• How do we ensure that the briquettes produced are quality, clean burning products?
• How do we determine which cookstove technologies are most appropriate to use with charcoal briquettes?
• What are the consumer’s needs and how can we produce briquettes that people want to use?
• What are some potential business models that can be applied to briquette enterprises, and what tools and resources are needed for them to be sustainable?
Join the Winrock and U.S. EPA ‘Charcoal Briquette Enterprise Development’ webinar on Wednesday, March 5th to hear lessons learned from the Harvest Fuel Initiative’s business- and technology-driven partnership approach for scaling up carbonized briquettes as quality, sustainable, and viable alternatives to charcoal in East Africa. The Harvest Fuel Initiative is a collaboration between The Charcoal Project and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s D-Lab to promote biomass fuel alternatives and clean combustion technologies in the developing world.
Webinar participation is free. For the web portion, a high-speed internet connection is required. Please note the webinar technology has changed and you can now listen to audio through your computer. Additional log-in information will be provided upon registration.
For more information on this webinar, please contact: moderator@cookstovesandindoorair.org
REGISTER today for the March 5th Webinar
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Time: 15:00 – 16:30 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)/Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
About the speakers:
Mr. Jean Kim Chaix
Kim co-founded The Charcoal Project (TCP) in 2009 in response to the lack of energy efficient solutions available for the 3 billion people who depend on solid fuels as their primary fuel source. Before TCP, Kim spent two decades as a television reporter documenting international current events and the intersection between population and the environment. In 2004 Kim joined The Nature Conservancy where he ran the organization’s strategic marketing and communications division. Kim holds a degree in biology and is a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Ms. Sylvia Herzog
Sylvia joined TCP as the Chief Operating Officer in 2010 because of a strong interest in finding renewable energy solutions to combat global warming and deforestation. She manages TCP’s on-the-ground projects and develops new projects, like the Harvest Fuel Initiative. Sylvia oversees the day-to-day operations of TCP and contributes to policy work. Previously Sylvia worked in banking and finance. She has an MBA, a Masters of Public Policy and a BA in Economics, all from the University of Michigan.
Ms. Saida Benhayoune
Saida is the Program Director for ‘Scale-Ups’ at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) D-Lab. Captivated by D-Lab’s mission of poverty alleviation through technology design and dissemination, Saida joined in 2011 to launch Scale-Ups: an acceleration platform for MIT social innovators and entrepreneurs bringing technologies to market for large-scale social impact in the developing world. Saida holds a biochemical engineering degree and an MBA, and has 10 years of experience in manufacturing, sourcing and sustainability for the food industry.
Ms. Kendra Leith
Kendra is an Assessment Coordinator at the MIT D-Lab. She first came to D-Lab in 2006 before earning a master’s degree in City Planning from MIT. Kendra returned to D-Lab in 2011 to help shape and oversee market research for individual D-Lab Scale-Ups projects and establish an overall evaluation strategy for D-Lab. Her goal is to document D-Lab’s impact and provide accurate information to help D-Lab make informed decisions.
Dr. Dan Sweeney
Dan is a Solid Biomass Fuel Research Associate at the MIT D-Lab. Dan provides technical assistance to Scale-Ups partners and performs lab and field-based research and development on biomass and waste conversion processes. After finishing a PhD at the University of Utah, he moved to Sweden for a Fulbright Fellowship focused on the development of advanced processes for converting biomass residues to energy and fuels.