The first Ethiopian briquette factory, the African Briquette Factory, was inaugurated. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Wondemu Tekle, State Minister for Water and Energy and Dr. Tewoldeberhan Geberegziabher, Director General of the Federal Environmental Protection Authority as well as other guests.
The factory is producing 120 quintals of briquette, in one work shift, and is marketing the product in 10 and 50 kilogram packages according to Gerd Ladstatter, General Manager of the factory.
The briquettes are an important alternative to firewood in light of urbanization and population growth he said. It helps combat deforestation and environmental pollution by using recycled material explained Ladstatter.
The factory can make use of the more than one million quintals of agricultural waste established by research to produce biomass briquettes he added.Plans to enhance agricultural production will only increase the available byproducts and support the productivity of the factory, said Ladstatter.
The factory producing briquettes from byproducts as an alternative of charcoal and firewood is significant in countering environmental pollution said Dr. Tewolde Berhan at the inaugural event. The briquettes also offer better economic value as compared to other fuel sources according to Dr. Tewolde Berhan.
The African Briquette Factory launched operations in January of this year. The factory is joint Ethio-German venture founded as a plc in 2011 with the African Social Investment Fund based in Munich Germany as major shareholder.
Source: Ethiopian Press Agency
