Handover summary - res.cloudinary.com€¦ · Web viewThe idea of making charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste was discussed and was chosen as the focus for this month's prototyping

Handover summary

Fuel Assessment

February, 2017

Team Leader: Polina PashkovGroup Leader: Georgina Scott

Trekkers:Alexander WiniarskiKristen BartellVincent KostionoMavis HeMatherine Xu

© XYZ For Good Pty Ltd T/A Project Everest 2016

Contents Page

Abstract: 3

Introduction: 4

Context: 5Electricity 5Cooking Fuels 5

The Problem: 6

Developing your Solutions: 7Study Area： 7Empathy Summary: 7

Potential Solutions: 8Charcoal Briquettes 8Cooking Stoves 9

Future Actions: 10

Referencing: 10


Abstract:

The January team focused on the emphasis and define phase of the design thinking process

and began to ideate. They found that inland villages were the most in need due to their lack

of access to electricity, the use of traditional cooking methods and fuels and limited

employment opportunities. Inland villages had no access to main electrical grid, although

they have access to solar lighting and were expecting the Fiji Electricity Authority to install

power grids over the coming years. Furthermore, it was discussed that focusing on

electricity may create a divide of trust between villages and government and the

government of Project Everest. This narrowed down the January's fuel assessment to be

focus on cooking methods and fuels used.1

The February Fuel Assessment team continued to empathise with inland rural villages as

well as began the ideate and prototype stages of the design thinking process. The team

stayed in Keiyasi village during weeks 2 (2 nights) and week 3 (1 night) and visited 7 villages

across this time. There was limited access to the villages due to the wet seasonal weather,

where vital bridges were either flooded and/or broken. The villages visited were Keiyasi,

Wauosi, Tuvu, Nasaucoko, Draiba, Wema and Nukuilau. The team learned about the

villagers’ daily life, electricity usage, cooking methods and fuel preference. The four basic

criteria required for a solution to meet the needs for inland Fijian villages are that the

solution is cheap, allows the villagers to cook quicker, minimises health risks and has the

ability to cook in any weather.2

These findings directed the project to focus on two areas, the first looking into a solution

that used a sustainable cooking fuel and the second being a sustainable clean stove. The

idea of making charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste was discussed and was chosen

as the focus for this month's prototyping.

1 My drive → I. Project Everest Work Hub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Archives (January’s work) → Handover Files → Copy of 170103 Handover Document 01 DP2 My drive → I. Project Everest Work Hub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Research → Village Related information →170131 Village Interview Collation PP 01


The February team’s recommendation is that the next team moves forward by delving

deeper into the different solutions and avenues we could take as well as continuing to

prototype and further develop the idea of the charcoal briquettes.

Introduction:

The February Fuel Assessment’s initial task was to understand and comprehend the

previous team’s data and information. December and January both conducted numerous

interviews across over 10 villages. From their research the February team identified the two

main issues with fuel in Fiji as electricity and cooking fuels. The Fiji Electricity Authority has

began to roll out electricity to inland villages and intends on continuing this process in the

next few years, there is no set timeline for this process and there has been issues with

installation and communication of this. As the government have begun to implement this

process the focus will be on cooking methods and finding possible alternative fuels. The

February team continued to emphasis with inland villages and built upon the January team's

‘how we might statement’ to come up with the following:

How might we develop and implement a clean and sustainable

approach to cooking in rural fiji.

The first step that was taken was to continue the empathy phase by visiting seven inland

villages, two of these villages Project Everest had not been to before. We had intended on

visiting more but were unable to due to bad weather and broken bridges. The second step

was conducting research into cooking stoves suggested by the January team this included

the Envirofit Stove and the Nazareth Stove. We continued research and found the Mpower

stove, Justa Stove and Changu Changu Moto cookstove. The third step that was undertaken

was prototyping - we created charcoal briquette by burning agricultural waste. Several

experiments were undertaken to see if this was a viable option. 3

There is a big emphasis placed on the solution needing to be cheap and easy to use. The

3 My drive → I.Project Everest Work Hub → H.Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Handover Files → Research → 170220 Summary of February KB 01


inland villages have strong traditional cultural but are open to new ideas. Designing a

solution that is cost effective will involve making a solution that is fuel efficient and long

lasting.

Context:

Two main issues with Fuel in Fiji

1. Electricity

2. Cooking Fuels

Electricity

The Fiji Electricity Authority is a statutory government body that has a monopoly on the

electricity market in Fiji. The Fiji Electricity Authority has established electrical grid systems

but access is limited by geographic location and power supply can be disrupted, unreliable

and expensive. Inland villages do not have access to the grid but the Fiji Electricity Authority

plans on extending access to 100% by 2030. There are issues with the Fiji Electricity

Authority’s grid but as the government is planning to extend the grid, the January team

decided to focus on cooking fuels as the direction of the project as it was lower risk. 3

Cooking Fuels

Clean cooking stove and fuel alternatives are essential in achieving United Nations

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for child mortality, maternal health, poverty

eradication, gender equality, and environmental sustainability. Over 3 billion people

(approximately half of the world's population) in the world use polluting inefficient stoves to

cook their food each day. 3,4

4 United Nations Foundation (2016) Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. http://cleancookstoves.org © XYZ For Good Pty Ltd T/A Project Everest 2016

Three main fuels used for cooking in Fiji

1. Firewood is the most widely used method, it is embedded in the Fijian culture and

the villagers enjoy the taste the firewood adds to the food. The process of collecting

and cooking with firewood is very labour intensive and has numerous health risks

associated with carry the heavy loads as well as the smoke produced. 1, 2

2. Kerosene can be used one of two ways. The first way kerosene can be used is

poured onto firewood to help light the wood when it is wet, the second way is as fuel

for kerosene stoves. Kerosene speeds up the cooking process but it can be

expensive and villagers often have to go into Sigatoka town to buy it. Kerosene can

also be given as a gift for weddings and funerals. 1,2

3. Gas can be very expensive and is the least used cooking fuel across the inland

villages. Gas stoves were often used for baking and the women using the stoves

enjoyed using the stoves. 1,2

The Problem:

The use of traditional stoves is associated with many health risks that mainly affect women

and children. The women who collecting the firewood are prone to head and spinal injuries

and increase risk of problem pregnancies. The toxic smoke that is produced whilst burning

the wood is estimated to be the 5th biggest risk for disease in developing countries. (United

Nations Foundation, 2016) Collecting firewood is a very time consuming task, the time taken

to collect firewood could better spent on other tasks relating to their everyday lives such as

farming, which presents itself to be an opportunity cost, in the long run. Based on research

and data collected, the need for a clean sustainable cooking source is evident with the

majority of women in the villages using traditional open fire for cooking. 3,4


Developing your Solutions:

Study Area：The January team defined the study area for this venture to be limited to the inland villages.

This decision was made for several reasons; their location, limited accessibility, and limited

income. The torrential rain prevented the February team from making much progress

towards visiting the remaining nine villages, as such, the team visited seven villages. 1

After experiencing the difficulty of reaching the villages first hand, it was obvious that the life

in rural Fiji is extremely difficult, especially during the wet season which lasted from

November to April. The rain causes the river to flood and frequently washes away bridges,

cutting off access between the rural villages and town. The rain also frequently wets the

firewood, making it harder to cook, so the villagers resort to using kerosene stoves or using

kerosene to kindle the firewood, which raises further health concerns. Whilst the main focus

is developing new alternative for cooking fuel and improved stove, this does not mean that

there are no other alternatives. 2

Empathy Summary:

The inland villages are usually relatively poor and to earn an income they are required to go

into Sigatoka or Nadi town to sell their farm produce which can be both financially and

physically difficult. The rainy season makes this exponentially harder as the bridges are

often broken and flooded cutting off their access to the market. The weather is a huge

challenge in the inland villages as often when it is rains the children are unable to go to

school and others are unable to go to the farms.2

The FEA plans to roll out electricity for the rural villages, however only Keiyasi have stable

access to it at this point. The villagers are very receptive towards having access to the FEA

electrical grid although they are often unsure how they will afford to pay for it. The villages

currently rely on solar panels to charge their solar light and phone. Nukuila village had five

houses that had large solar panels, costing $30005 each that are paid back through monthly

5 I. Project Everest WorkHub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Research → Village Related Infor© XYZ For Good Pty Ltd T/A Project Everest 2016

instalments. Some of the villages visited had generators although some of the generators

had broken and the villagers had no way to repair the generators themselves. The

generators ran on premixed fuel which was another strain on their limited income.

A lot of the households we visited had numerous stoves and cooking options but the women

still preferred to using firewood as it is free and they like the flavour it adds to the food.

Some of villagers are aware of some of the health risks associated with using traditional

open fire cooking methods and kerosene but there is a huge education gap in how

dangerous this method of cooking is. 2

The main factors that need to be considered when developing a solution is that it is cheap

and easy to use, the health risks are significantly decrease, the time taken to collect fuel and

cook is reduced and that the solution can be used in all weather conditions.


Potential Solutions:

Charcoal Briquettes

During the rural village visits it was identified that the majority of villagers own and run their

own farms. Meaning there is a lot of farmland surrounding these inland villages and there is

a large amount of agricultural waste. This waste is either replanted to grow more crops, feed

to livestock or left at the farms and burnt. The agricultural waste can potentially be used to

make biomass charcoal that can be used as a cooking fuel.

Using biomass charcoal (biochar) as cooking fuel is better than wood because it is efficient,

compact, and it is cleaner. The ash remains of biochar can also be used as fertilizer in the

farm. Charcoal is efficient because when compared to burning the same amount of wood,

charcoal produces almost twice as much heat. Biochar produces much less smoke than

wood, and its compact size makes it easy to transport and store.

In order to produce charcoal from agricultural waste, the agricultural waste must undergo a

carbonization process. Carbonization refers to the conversion of organic substance into

carbon. This is done by allowing the agricultural waste to be consumed in a process called

Pyrolysis. Pyro means “fire” and lysis means “break down”, therefore pyrolysis is a thermal

decomposition of organic materials at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. Once

the charcoal has finished burning, it will be crushed and then mixed with cassava porridge

(any starchy porridge will do, but cassava is best). The porridge serves as a natural adhesive

to bind the charcoal together. The mixture is then pressed to remove excess water and then

left to dry for 3-5 days. If the briquette is still a little soft, we can place it on top of a wire

mesh and then dry during the production of the next batch of charcoal.

Biochar briquette, theoretically, is an ideal cooking fuel because charcoal burns hotter than

wood, which means that cooking process is faster. Their compact size makes it easy to

transport and store. When properly dried (i.e. the moisture content is approximately <15%),

the biochar briquette produces very little smoke. © XYZ For Good Pty Ltd T/A Project Everest 2016

Cooking Stoves Cooking stoves were also researched to complement the charcoal briquettes or to be a stand alone solution. Time was spent looking into options that would be suitable for the Fiji. The January team started with a rocket stove idea and the February team looked into incorporated elements from Just A Stove (from Honduras) and Patsari Stove (from Mexico) into the design. The Mpower Stove and Changu Changu Moto cookstove were also researched. Materials needed for the stove need to be readily available to the inland villages to minimize the production and maintenance cost. If the stove option is chosen as the direction of future teams it will also be important to consider pre and post sales training and monitoring. 3


Future Actions:

What should YOU do in country this month. First priority should be to visit the remaining

inland villages. This will complement the information in this handover document and give

you a more holistic understanding of the task at hand. When visiting villages, it is advised to

make use of some of the contacts we have developed. Firstly Save. He is the town councillor

for the inland villages and he is located at Keiyasi Village. Secondly, since the villages are so

far from HQ we recommend staying in Keiyasi Village at the Village Headman’s house

making it easier to travel further inland.

In the meantime you should be conducting further experimentation and prototyping. At this

stage we have not yet gathered enough statistical data to present an MVP. Some things to

look for throughout experiments include; conversion rates of biomass to briquettes, the

optimal ratios between charcoal/water/cassava and how different biomass products affect

the end result. After an MVP has been created, possibly think about taking them with you on

the village visits and give them to village people to see how they interact with them. This will

give valuable observations and insights into what must be taught when future

implementation is explored.

Furthermore, it is vital that this group tries to implement the Stanford Design School model of

design thinking practices and loop back as many times as possible. For example, get the

MVP into the hands of inland villages and see how they interact. Gather feedback and

insights then go back and re-evaluate the solution, improve it, prototype it then take it back

to the villages. Repetition of this loop will be crucial in the development of a solution that

works for the people, is able to be scaled and can be turned into a social enterprise.



Referencing: 1 My drive → I. Project Everest Work Hub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702

February → Archives (January’s work) → Handover Files → Copy of 170103

Handover Document 01 DP

2 My drive → I. Project Everest Work Hub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Research → Village Related information →170131 Village

Interview Collation PP 01

3 My drive → I.Project Everest Work Hub → H.Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Handover Files → Research → 170220 Summary of February KB 014 United Nations Foundation (2016) Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

http://cleancookstoves.org

5 My drive → I. Project Everest WorkHub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702

February → Research → Village Related Information

AppendixThe Journey Document: My drive → I. Project Everest Workhub → H. Fuel Assessment → 1702 February → Handover Files → Research → Charcoal Briquettes → 170222 The Journey VK.doc


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Handover summary - res.cloudinary.com€¦ · Web viewThe idea of making charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste was discussed and was chosen as the focus for this month's prototyping