Chad Hopes ‘Green Charcoal’ Can Save Vanishing Forests

In the scorching sun of Chad, a country threatened by desertification, workers are producing a new type of charcoal that could help save the country’s vanishing forests. The “green charcoal” is made from discarded plant waste such as millet and sesame stalks or palm fronds, which are carbonized and mixed with gum arabic and clay to facilitate ignition and slow down combustion.

Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people, has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s due to climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking. The production of green charcoal is a promising initiative that aims to protect what forest is left.

According to Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, technical director of the Raikina Association for Socioeconomic Development (Adser), the product “releases fewer emissions than traditional charcoal, it doesn’t blacken your pots, it has high energy content, and it lasts up to three times longer than ordinary charcoal.”

The use of green charcoal can also help reduce deforestation. “Using one kilo of green charcoal saves six kilos of wood,” Oumarou said. The Adser group has installed a production facility in Pont Belile, north of the capital, N’Djamena, where workers grind up burnt plant waste and mix it with gum arabic and clay. The resulting black nuggets look like ordinary charcoal but emit less CO2 when burned.

The project has received backing from the World Bank, which buys the charcoal for 750 CFA francs a kilo. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, distributes the charcoal in refugee camps in eastern Chad, where over 800,000 Sudanese refugees have sought shelter since 2023. Adser’s director, Ismael Hamid, hopes to expand production and slash prices to make green charcoal available and affordable nationwide.

Environment Minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous said the government is working on a policy to promote such projects. “We need to bet on green charcoal as an energy source for the future of our country,” he said.

With the current production capacity of seven to nine tons a day, Adser aims to increase output by at least a factor of 10 to meet the country’s needs. Hamid is calling for subsidies to support the budding sector and make green charcoal a viable alternative to traditional charcoal.