Rice husk briquette as a sustainable energy solution and climate change mitigation strategy in Nigeria

Abstract

The findings show that fuel briquettes with optimum quality for domestic use (Figure 2) can be produced under low pressure using the hydraulic piston press. Similarly, potato peel and African locust bean husk and pulp have shown good performance as binders in comparison to cassava starch. Hence, validating their use in fuel briquette production, especially when employing low-pressure machines. The briquettes developed have energy content between 13.54 to 18.74 MJ/kg (Figure 3), conforming with the European Norm (ENplus) limit of 16.56 MJ/kg and the ISO 17225-7 (2021) limit of 14.5 MJ/kg. The findings further prove that the briquettes have adequate energy densities and can be considered a cooking energy source (Muazu & Stegemann, 2017). Figure 3 shows the result of the environmental impact assessment. From the findings, producing and using rice husk briquette has more environmental benefits than charcoal. This implies a climate change mitigation potential of 33.3% and a land use impact reduction of 99.6% for briquette produced and used in place of charcoal. For example, 50% of the rice husk generated in Nigeria (i.e., around 1.2 million tonnes) can yield about 1.6 million tonnes of fuel briquettes. This quantity of briquette can sustainably serve a many households relying on charcoal and fuelwood in the country and can mitigate climate change by 261 million kg CO2 eq per year. The findings therefore prove that fuel briquette has the potential to mitigate climate change