Converting waste paper into fuel briquettes might help stop the ongoing destruction of Haiti's remaining trees for charcoal
"We see this, in a sense, as buying time until governance can kick in," said Stephanie Ziebell, a U.S. employee of the CVR section.
Reprinted from Greenwire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
See what we're tweeting about
kahoakes Russian space lizards return to Earth http://t.co/iQ37a28vL8
sciam Chimps in Uganda: Resilience http://t.co/WGChW5IFxI sciam Dear American Consumers: Please don t start eating healthfully. Sincerely, the Food Industry http://t.co/qFOBoDt1A5
Deadline: Jul 25 2013
Reward: Varies
This challenge provides an opportunity for Solvers to build a web-based or mobile “app” to explore data relationships in scholarly conte
Deadline: Jun 29 2013
Reward: $7,000 USD
The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
6 Comments
Add CommentI can't help but wonder if growing industrial hemp would not also have an important impact on this island. It could be used to stabilize soil, provide food - from the seeds, shelter - from cloth (canvas), paper production, and eventually a heating source when burned. Perhaps the hemp crop could even be fertilized with sewage ....
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI sailed past Haiti and you can tell quite clearly the border with the DR because on the Haitian side it looks like a barren desert vs the DR side is a tropical forest. Yet it is the same island.
What the need to do is start growing hemp for fuel as they would get 3 crops/yr and do far more farming as the people there actually eat dirt loafs because they have no food. They have the labor, land, all they need is seed and ag education.
It would be a good place for micro loans for women to start more gardens, other businesses like building better stoves, solar ovens, windgenerators, etc all which would cut demand on the land for electricity. They are in the tradewinds where windgenerators are the most affordable electric source.
Maybe we should be looking at the charcoal industry so as to make it sustainable. The European Iron industry used charcoal for centuries. Trees were not felled, as only large branches were harvested, leaving the tree to regrow its missing branches fast. (pruning trees stimulates growth). Haïti lacks proper forest management. Perhaps with these waste-paper briquettes, trees will have the chance to regrow under good management.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSounds very interesting, I had no idea that Haiti had lost so much of it's forest. Interesting how easy it is to take for granted something like recycling. I don't even give a thought anymore, I just have my <a href="http://www.opsus.com/">paper shredding</a> done by http://www.opsus.com.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for the post. This sounds like a great idea to help fix Haiti's reliance on charcoal. Just imagine what could happen if <a href="http://www.papershredding.com">paper shredding</a> could replace charcoal in other nations!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks for the post. This sounds like a great idea to help fix Haiti's reliance on charcoal. Just imagine what could happen if <a href="http://www.papershredding.com">paper shredding</a> could replace charcoal in other nations!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this