By Gift Briton
A Kenyan researcher has invented a smoke-free cooking fuel from eggshells and fruit peelings that can cook twice as fast as liquid petroleum gas (LPG). The fuel is an air freshener and repels malaria-causing mosquitos when lit.
The innovation by Bonface Jiveri, a researcher at Kaimosi Friends University, has received several local and global recognition. The microbiologist says the bio-alkanol gel fuel aims to prevent malaria and minimize reliance on wood-based fuel and paraffin, especially in rural households.
Malaria and air pollution-related ailments remain major causes of death and suffering in Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria kills a child every minute in the continent, with emerging resistance of mosquitos to insecticides further complicating efforts to combat the disease.
“We have developed an environment-friendly fuel to keep away malaria-causing mosquitos and replace the use of charcoal, firewood and expensive LPG. Most households in the rural areas use firewood and paraffin for their primary cooking needs. The smoke from firewood and paraffin use is a major source of indoor air pollution and are known to cause numerous deadly ailments such as pneumonia,” Jiveri told ScienceAfrica during Kenya’s National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) third multisectoral conference and exhibition happening in Nairobi between 7th-10th April 2024.
Jiveri’s bio gel fuel is a thick liquid mixture of ethanol and calcium carbonate. The ethanol is derived from the fermentation of fruit peelings on one part. The other part involves grinding eggshells to produce calcium carbonate, which is fermented to produce a gelling agent called calcium acetate. The ethanol and calcium acetate are mixed to get the bio gel fuel.
Calcium acetate makes the fuel viscous and prevents ethanol from evaporating quickly. The bio gel fuel is used in special stoves and a litre can burn continuously for 10 hours with clear smoke-free flame. The fuel can repel mosquitos because it emits a chemical called D-limonene that makes mosquitos unconscious.
D-limonene is obtained from orange peels used as a raw material in the fuel. Orange fruits contain a sweet fragrance chemical called monoterpene limonene which gives the fuel its air-freshening property.
“We collect fruit peelings and eggshells from marketplaces. This has contributed to improved sanitation of several marketplaces in Kaimosi and has created jobs because we buy the waste materials from those who collect them for us at Ksh.1000 per ten kilograms of fruit peelings,” Jiveri noted.
Piloting of the product has been conducted among 1000 households in western Kenya. Jiveri says the bio gel fuel will be available for public purchase in July 2024, at Ksh. 90 per litre of the fuel. Researchers have tested that 1 litre of the gel fuel can be used for approximately 4 days for a family of 5 persons. The gel has also been shown to reduce carbon emissions by about 80 percent.
