- Briquettes are efficient as they generate sufficient heat that is enough to prepare meals - just like firewood
- Most schools in the county still use firewood, as they weigh options of migrating to cleaner sources of fuel
Image: KNA
Image: KNA
A school in Kakamega has embraced briquettes as an eco-friendly alternative source of fuel.
St Anthony Secondary School Kakoi, shifted from firewood for cooking to using briquettes in 2018.
Head cook Justus Muthami said the briquettes are efficient as they generate sufficient heat that is enough to prepare meals - just like firewood.
Muthami thanked the school management for introducing briquettes, which emit less smoke.
“When I was employed at St Anthony Kakoi Secondary school, we were using firewood to prepare meals for students and the staff. We were facing many challenges in the kitchen due to too much smoke produced by the firewood; it became a great concern for us,” he said.
The briquettes are acquired from a Malava-based supplier who produces them using sugarcane bagasse, which is the waste after extracting juice from cane.
The supplier collects the bagasse from sugar factories in Kakamega which generate large amounts of the waste.
The excess is disposed off in landfills.
Neville Situma, the bursar, said they searched for eco-friendly fuel alternatives to replace firewood for many years.
The kitchen staff had also raised concern of excessive smoke especially when the firewood was still wet.
Situma said the briquettes have proved to be effective, motivating nearby schools to benchmark and learn how to integrate such alternatives.
Most schools in the county still use firewood, as they weigh options of migrating to cleaner sources of fuel.
But the alternatives are more expensive, deterring the transition.
Maurice Ajulu, principal of Mwihila Boys High School in Khwisero said they rely heavily on firewood.
Nonetheless, the school is prepared to transition to cost-effective, dependable and eco-friendly alternatives.
A local bank had approached them with a proposal to transition to using cooking gas through a financing model, but that was found to be costly.
They are now trying out the briquettes and should they prove suitable, will implement this alternative and look for larger burners designed for the same.
Similar views were expressed by Elizabeth Waseka, principal of Lwanda Dudi Secondary School.
The challenge lies in identifying affordable alternative fuel sources due to high installation costs, Waseka said.
The cooks were also concerned about the excess smoke generated in the kitchen which affects the environment and discolours floors and walls.
“There are also other effects to the environment. We know that the cooking and the smoke is not environment friendly but as for now that is what we have,” she said.
“We have been given quotations of biogas and other alternatives which we have seen are even more expensive to install than the firewood. But if there is a way we could install an alternative cooking fuel, it would really go a long way to help us.”
To support schools in the transition, Powerspot Pelletizers is set to design and manufacture large cookers that utilise pellets as fuel.
The Kakamega-based factory deals with the production of pellets from sugarcane bagasse.
CEO Alfonso Acebal said the proposed design of the jiko is meant for learning institutions and companies that are willing to shift from using firewood to more energy-efficient alternatives such as pellets.
A pilot test of the jiko has been conducted at St Mary’s Secondary School in Kabras and has proved to be working properly.
The factory manufactures 100 tonnes of pellets from 200 tonnes of sugarcane bagasse obtained from West Kenya Sugar Factory.
Plans are underway to expand the factory to produce over 2,000 tonnes of pellets from about 4,000 tonnes of bagasse to meet the demands of locals, institutions and industries.