LGUs PRESSED TO ADOPT ‘CARBON CREDIT-ELIGIBLE’ CHARCOAL BRIQUETTING AS A SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT APPROACH
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) have been pressed by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) to adopt a solid waste management system through charcoal briquetting that can earn for them equivalent “carbon credits.” Charcoal briquetting will also enable many LGUs to comply with the Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA) or Republic Act 9003. Many LGUs have not yet complied with RA 9003 almost 20 years since it was ratified.
Intensive training and a possible supply chain linkage is being offered by the ERDB to LGUs through a charcoal briquetting program. This produces charcoal without having to cut trees. Thus, it can earn for LGUs equivalent “carbon credits” under possible new carbon finance schemes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC.
ERDB charcoal is more cost-efficient than ordinary charcoal and emits a steady heat with low clean flame. The charcoal is easy to ignite.
ERDB executive director Dr. Henry A. Adornado expressed satisfaction that the ERDB’s research on the production of charcoal briquette has reached a success level for small communities, including one in Barangay Lower Bicutan C6, Taguig City.
“We are open to sharing the technology to any sector interested in learning from us. We provide [training sessions] and free [demonstrations] as part of our collaborative program in technology transfer and extension,” said Adornado.
LGUs can also raise funding from this program, which fits under a potential new UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) financing incentive for reducing deforestation called “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD Plus).” It is expected to be approved by the end of 2015.
The need for fuelwood in many Filipino households has led charcoal-fuelwood producers to cut trees. They destroy forests, including virgin forests, and emit carbon dioxiode in their operations.
The ERDB initiated training for a program on charcoal briquetting in Brgy. Lower Bicutan C6 that has generated jobs for persons with disability (PWDs).
Members of the Samahan ng May Kapansanan sa Taguig (SAMAKAT) are using ERDB’s charcoal briquetting technology as an environment friendly way to supply wood for cooking in Taguig parish communities.
After intensive skills training, the SAMAKAT PWDs acquired the ERDB-developed machinery through the financial assistance of Pondo Pinoy of a Taguig Catholic parish.