Microfinance and Forest-based Small-scale Enterprises


Book Description

Communities around the world rely on forests for their livelihoods, and the sustainable development of small-scale, often family-run enterprises is increasingly recognised as a key to poverty reduction. This publication examines the needs of such small-scale enterprises for access to microfinance services, given the seasonal and often unpredictable nature of forest-based activities. It looks at different types of financial institutions (such as banks, non-governmental organisations, co-operatives and credit unions) as well as group lending, leasing, insurance and cash transfers. The strengths and weaknesses of different approaches are considered through four case studies which draw on experiences in Nepal, Guatemala, the Sudan and Peru.




Making Charcoal and Biochar


Book Description

Making Charcoal and Biochar is written with the interested amateur in mind, with the certainty that anyone who has a go at making charcoal will soon get the bug. Before you know it, you will be upgrading to a shiny new retort and there will be no looking back! This book gives a wide range of possibilities for making charcoal on a small scale and for commercial production. There are chapters on the heritage skills of earth burns, the enduring popularity of metal kilns and the future represented by the charcoal retort. Biochar - or small particle charcoal - has been heralded as an ancient but rediscovered 'super substance' that can increase soil fertility and productivity whilst locking up carbon into the ground. This book looks at the ongoing discussion and weighs up the evidence. It concludes with a celebration of the myriad ways in which charcoal can be put to use. Covering the essentials for starting a business such as legislation and marketing, there are also chapters on why charcoal is in the ascendency from the ubiquitious barbecue to the most recent research into biochar and carbon sequestration. Fully illustrated with 195 colour photographs.




Handbook of Charcoal Making


Book Description

We are happy to introduce the Handbook of Charcoal-Making, a comprehensive survey written by a competent expert with international experience. The book was prepared by the Commission of the European Communities in the frame of its R + D programme on biomass. In the European Community today the biomass option is only little developed: a huge resource is waiting for use. Actually, there is ample scope for biomass utilisation as it bears promise in some of the vital sectors of modern society. Development of indigenous and renewable energy sources, creation of new employment, recycling of wastes and improvement of the environment, restructuring of European agriculture, development of the Third World, they are all concerned. It is important to note that the exploitation of the biomass resource is largely related to its conversion into a marketable product. However, as many of the conversion technologies are not yet well established or need improvement, R + D is more than ever the critical pathway to get access to the benefits of biomass utilisation. In the European Communities I R + D programme, thermal conversion of biomass is developed with priority. Gasification as well as pyrolysis development projects are being supported by the Commission in European industry and universities. Pyrolysis is particularly attractive because the conversion products charcoal and pyrolytic oil are very convenient in use, technologies are relatively simple and projected pay-back times favourable. -v- Charcoal making is just the simplest and oldest form of pyrolysis.




Simple Technologies for Charcoal Making


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Small-scale Forest-based Processing Enterprises


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Unasylva


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A review on production, marketing and use of fuel briquettes


Book Description

Where modern heating and cooking fuels for domestic, institutional, commercial and industrial use are not readily available, briquettes made from biomass residues could contribute to the sustainable supply of energy. This study reviews the briquette making process, looking at the entire value chain starting from the type and characteristics of feedstock used for briquette making to the potential market for briquettes in developing countries. It also analyzes the role that gender plays in briquette production. Depending on the raw materials used and technologies applied during production, fuel briquettes come in different qualities and dimensions, and thus require appropriate targeting of different market segments. Key drivers of success in briquette production and marketing include ensuring consistent supply of raw materials with good energy qualities, appropriate technologies, and consistency in the quality and supply of the briquettes. Creating strong partnerships with key stakeholders, such as the municipality, financiers and other actors within the briquette value chain, and enabling policy are important drivers for the success of briquette businesses.




Bioenergy for Sustainable Development in Africa


Book Description

The work builds on the results of the COMPETE Bioenergy Competence Platform for Africa, which was supported by the European Commission and coordinated by WIP Renewable Energies, Germany. The five sections cover biomass production and use, biomass technologies and markets in Africa, biomass policies, sustainability, and financial and socio-economic issues. This valuable work is, in effect, a single-source treatment of a key energy sector in a part of the world which still has a lot of unrealised potential for development.




Philippine Development


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