A school in Kakamega has embraced the use of briquettes as its main source of fuel in preparing meals.
The school, St. Anthony Secondary School Kakoi, shifted from using firewood to using briquettes in 2018.
The school acquires the briquettes from a Malava-based supplier who produces them using sugarcane bagasse.
The supplier collects the bagasse from sugar factories in Kakamega. These Factories generate large amounts of bagasse, with the excess being disposed of in landfills.
The school’s head cook, Justus Muthami, said the briquettes are efficient and generate sufficient heat that is enough to prepare meals, just like firewood.
Muthami expressed gratitude to the school management for introducing the 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 noted.
The school’s bursar, Neville Situma, says the school has been searching for eco-friendly fuel alternatives to replace firewood for many years.
He said the kitchen staff had also raised concern about excessive smoke emanating from firewood, especially when the ones supplied were still wet and had to be used at that time.
Situma said the briquettes have proved to be effective motivating other nearby schools, which are interested in transitioning to eco-friendly solutions, to benchmark and learn how to integrate such alternatives.
Most schools in the county are still using firewood as they weigh options of migrating to cleaner sources of fuel, with the alternatives becoming more expensive than the firewood they currently use.
The Principal of Mwihila Boys High School in Khwisero Sub County, Kakamega, Maurice Ajulu, says that the school heavily relies on firewood but is prepared to transition to cost-effective, dependable, and eco-friendly alternatives.
He said a local bank had approached him with a proposal to help the school transition to using Liquefied Petroleum Gas(LPG) through a financing model, but he found it to be too costly.
He noted that they have decided to experiment with briquettes, and if they prove effective, the school will implement them and look for larger burners designed for the same.
The Principal of Lwanda Dudi Secondary School in Khwisero, Dr. Elizabeth Waseka, expressed similar views, stating that the school relies on firewood for cooking but is facing challenges in identifying affordable alternative fuel sources due to high installation costs.
She observed that the school is prepared to stop using the firewood following concerns from the cooks regarding the excess smoke generated in the kitchen, which not only creates a dirty environment but also discolours the floors and walls.
“There are also other effects on the environment. We know that the cooking and the smoke are not environmentally friendly, but as of now, that is what we have. 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,” she pointed out.
This comes as Powerspot Pelletisers, a factory based in Kakamega that deals with the production of pellets from sugarcane bagasse, is set to design and manufacture large Jiko cookers that utilise pellets as fuel.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Powerspot Pelletisers, Alfonso Acebal, says the proposed design of the Jiko is meant for institutions of learning that include schools, colleges, and even companies that are willing to shift from using firewood to more energy-efficient alternatives such as pellets.
He says they have already carried out a pilot test of the Jiko they intend to manufacture at St. Mary’s Secondary School in Kabras, which has proved to be working properly.
The factory currently manufactures 100 tonnes of pellets from 200 tonnes of sugarcane bagasse obtained from West Kenya Sugar Factory.
Acebal says plans are underway to expand the factory with a set capacity to produce over 2000 tonnes of pellets from about 4000 tonnes of sugarcane bagasse to meet the demands of local customers, institutions, and industries.
By Moses Wekesa
