Activity Description: Although illegal, using charcoal for fuel in Kenya is cheap ($150 per tonne) and therefore popular: more than two million tons of charcoal are used for fuel per year. Chardust Ltd. was founded in 2000 with the aim of producing viable substitutes for charcoal on a commercially sustainable basis. Chardust developed techniques to convert biomass wastes into low-cost charcoal briquettes.

Chardust creates local employment and sells over 200 tonnes per month into institutional and domestic markets in Kenya, displacing an equivalent amount of unsustainably harvested lumpwood charcoal. While providing a cheaper energy alternative to traditional charcoal, Chardust sales contribute to job creation, waste recycling and environmental conservation.

Chardust also manufactures water heaters that use Chardust briquettes, which reduce energy consumption by 70% compared to electrically-heated water.