Project produced ‘green’ charcoal from the invasive tree Prosopis juliflora, which is classified by the Government of Kenya as a noxious weed (ie. invasive species). It causes environmental damage, hurts dryland economies, threatens the health of livestock and deepens poverty. Tinder Ltd, a social enterprise established by Startle, has developed high-efficiency mobile carbonisers and a community-friendly harvesting model, allowing Prosopis wood to be carbonised ‘in situ’. The units produce three times more charcoal from the same amount of wood compared to traditional methods. The charcoal is packaged cleanly, transported and sold in towns like Nairobi.

Outcome and Impact:

This project reduced emission of 1950 tCO2eq per rig per year. 400 households were reached by this project and 11 full-time and 17 part time jobs created. 1,667 MWh per year energy has been saved through energy efficient charcoal.