The Benefits Of Using Briquettees As Energy Sources Over The Use Of Wood Fuel At Household Level. A Case Study Of Busimbi Sue-County Mityana District-Uganda

Biomass which is by far the most important energy carrier is used in a highly inefficient way primarily for cooking, leading to a considerable overuse of Uganda’s forestry resources for the last 15 years. The research was about the benefits of using briquettes as energy sources over the use of wood fuel at household level. The objectives of this study were, to determine the energy conservation values and the extent of briquettes usage at household level with regard to use of wood fuel as a general objective, specific objectives 1) to identify the extent of use of wood fuel and briquettes at household level, 2) to detennine the necessity of using briquettes as energy conservation technique in comparison to the use of traditional fuel energy, and 3) to asses challenges faced and the effort put in place from briquette user promoters in enhancing energy conservation projects. And all these were achieved through methods of qualitative research design and instruments such as questionnaires and interview schedules, photo-cameras, validity and reliability tests were used as data collection tools. With the increasing scarcity of forest resources, costs for cooking increase and people are forced to spend more time on collecting firewood. Respondents according to the research revealed that it is still new technology to their communities, but some people had adopted this technology especially women since they are more responsible for cooking at home. In addition, the widely popular traditional 3-stone-fire characterized by its highly inefficient combustion of firewood does not only waste a lot of energy but also causes widespread and potentially fatal lung diseases among the rural population. Briquettes are found cheap in terms cooking since they are smokeless, bum for long time and so forth of briquette necessity. Though briquettes have a lot of necessity but there are challenges such as being new to the Ugandan’s market, availability of raw materials and others. All issues from the respondents on the briquettes usage are found to be realistic and achievable; if these communities get help from the govemment, NGOs to sensitize them on the energy conservation projects, and give them a hand in terms of giving support financially. This will xi encourage them to continue involving themselves in energy conservation projects like briquetting, to save our environment.