HOW CAN THE PRODUCTION OF PYROCOAL PREVENT FOREST DENUDATION, REDUCE POVERTY AND INCREASE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE?

HOW CAN THE PRODUCTION OF PYROCOAL PREVENT FOREST DENUDATION, REDUCE POVERTY AND INCREASE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE?

There is an ugly reality behind the problem of charcoal making in the Philippines. For as long as the so-called kaingeros do not have an alternative source of livelihood, they will continue cutting down trees and burning them to produce charcoal.

We can lecture them all day about environmental protection, but hunger often speaks louder than conservation.

The obvious alternative is farming by teaching them to grow grains, rootcrops, fruits and vegetables. Thankfully, there is now a less obvious but perhaps more lucrative alternative: the production of pyrocoal.

Pyrocoal is essentially charcoal produced from agricultural waste such as rice husks, coconut shells, corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse, and other biomass materials. Instead of cutting trees, we convert farm waste into fuel.

This technology addresses three national problems simultaneously: forest denudation, poverty, and energy dependence.

First, it can prevent further destruction of our forests. The demand for charcoal remains high because millions of Filipinos still rely on it for cooking and many businesses—from barbecue stalls to restaurants—continue to use it. If that demand can be satisfied using agricultural waste instead of wood, the economic incentive to cut down trees disappears.

Every ton of pyrocoal produced potentially saves several trees from being converted into traditional charcoal. More importantly, it reduces human encroachment into critical watersheds and wildlife habitats, including the remaining forests that shelter our national bird, the Philippine Eagle.

Second, pyrocoal can reduce poverty.

Those who engage in kaingin are often indigenous peoples and upland settlers who have few livelihood options. Why not transform them into "agripreneurs" and green energy producers?

Agricultural residues that are usually burned or discarded can become raw materials with monetary value. The collection, sorting, carbonization, and briquetting processes are labor-intensive and could create thousands of jobs in rural communities.

I believe the lead implementing agency should be the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), with assistance from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in engaging indigenous communities. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) could assist in organizing non-indigenous settlers.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Energy (DOE) should then work together to develop markets for pyrocoal. DTI could promote its use among commercial establishments, while DOE could encourage industrial users and power plants to adopt biomass briquettes as partial substitutes for coal.

Third, pyrocoal can increase our energy independence.

The Philippines imports most of its coal and petroleum requirements, making us vulnerable to international price fluctuations and geopolitical conflicts. Every ton of locally produced pyrocoal is a ton of imported fuel that we do not have to buy.

Imagine if rice husks from Central Luzon, coconut shells from Southern Tagalog, and sugarcane residues from Negros could be transformed into domestic energy resources. We would be keeping wealth within our local economies instead of sending billions of pesos abroad.

The beauty of pyrocoal is that it does not require massive changes in infrastructure. Existing cooking stoves, furnaces, and industrial boilers can often use calibrated biomass briquettes with minimal modifications.

This is not merely an environmental project. It is a structural reform.

Instead of policing forests endlessly to stop kaingin, perhaps we should remove the economic incentive to destroy forests in the first place. When poor communities are given a profitable and sustainable alternative, forest denudation could decline dramatically.

The survival of our only planet depends on our ability to align economic necessity with environmental responsibility. Pyrocoal does exactly that. It transforms waste into wealth, farmers into energy producers, and environmental liabilities into national assets.

Perhaps the time has come to stop looking at agricultural waste as garbage and start seeing it as the fuel that could protect our forests, uplift our people, and strengthen our energy security.

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

www.facebook.com/ike.seneres  iseneres@yahoo.com  senseneres.blogspot.com  09088877282/07-21-2027

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