Biochar the new Black Gold - Event Update!

Dear All, 

Writing after a long time, this is my first blog of 2021. Hope all are fine and taking all the safety precautions in this difficult times. As we try and settle after almost a yearlong lockdown with the most awaited ‘VACCINE’ having a lot of speculations, we are adapting to the NEW normal. 

The NEW normal is all about working cohesively and in collaboration for fighting towards the biggest challenges posed by climate change. Samuchit Enviro Tech, OrjaBox and Rupa Rahul Baja Centre for Environment and Arts (RRBCEA) are committed towards the same cause and working towards user friendly innovative solutions based on using renewable sources of energy that will help reduce the impacts of climate change happening directly or indirectly.  

 

One such innovative solution introduced by Samuchit Enviro Tech is biochar, where dried leaves (garden waste) are turned to char which can be used as renewable fuel (termed as new black gold that is climate friendly) and other applications like deodorizers and charcoal soaps. OrjaBox is an initiative run by Vishakha Chandhere which provides Sustainable cooking options using solar cookers and biochar fueled steam cookers based on service model. RRBCEA is a facility located in Empress garden for conducting environment and arts focused initiatives. Samuchit Enviro Tech along with OrjaBox has been conducting regular sessions at RRBCEA on processing biochar and experiencing cooking with renewable energy, namely, solar and biochar.

 

Its a pleasure to know that this initiative has been received well with corporate leaders like Mrs. Arti Kirloskar and a few government officers who are leading to promote environmental causes. Here's an update on the latest happenings. 

 

The first demonstration was conducted on the 10th of Feb, 2021 by Ravindra Deshmukh and Prashant Borate from Samuchit Enviro Tech and Vishakha Chandhere and Sujata. This event was focused on showing how to convert waste biomass into biochar using Samuchit's trashflasher kiln, followed by a meal cooked by the OrjaBox team using Solar cookers and Samuchit steam cooker fueled by biochar briquettes. Mrs. Arti Kirloskar and a team of ten members attended this session. Here are some of the photos of this event. 

 

 

 

The second event was conducted on the 13th February for a group of four people along with Mr. Pramod Jadhav, Upaayukt, Samaj Kalyan Vibhag, Sindhudurg. The focus of this event was a demonstration of the trashflasher kiln. Mr. Pramod Jadhav was so impressed by this, that he purchased a kiln for his own farm in Alibaug. The visitors also could experience the flavour of solar cooking thanks to OrjaBox. Here are some of the photos of this event.

  

 

 

 

  

Both the demonstrations were focused on environment and climate friendly ways of managing garden and farm waste and using renewable energy for household cooking. 

 

We will soon be announcing our next session which would include training on use of biochar for various other applications. Curious to know more? Write to us at samuchit@samuchit.com for more information. 

  Pournima Agarkar and Vishakha Chandhere.

www.samuchit.com

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Additional links:

https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/biochar-new-way-to-fight-pollution/articleshow/67799076.cms

https://samuchitenvirotech.blogspot.com/2019/02/my-city-my-responsibility-climate-friendly-garden-waste-management.html

https://samuchitenvirotech.blogspot.com/2019/02/my-city-my-responsibility-climate-friendly-workshops.html

https://samuchitenvirotech.blogspot.com/2020/10/RethinkingCookingstyles.html

Sustainable Cooking – an imperative solution for the food security challenge

 For thousands of years, cooking has been an integral part of our existence since we learned the application of fire. Over these countless years, cooking has evolved to define our culture, health, and agriculture. In this age of digitization and automation cooking remains one of our core activities -either as a food processing industry or restaurant or cloud kitchen or home cooking. Thus, cooking is a core activity of our existence. It is also one of the most effective ways to address climate change impacts related to food security, fuel availability, nutrition, water management, and agriculture. Cooking is central to numerous aspects of sustainability. It is one single human activity which gives a tremendous opportunity to every individual- rich or poor, educated or uneducated to contribute positively towards achieving sustainability.

Food Security Challenge:

Nearly 800[1] million people go hungry every day around the world, more than 2 billion lack the nutrients required for a healthy life, and one-third of the global population is expected to be overweight or obese by 2030, according to the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. By 2050 the world population will rise to 9 billion people.

Here is a comprehensive picture of the challenge that we face regarding access to clean cooking. 

Access to Clean Cooking

Climate change will make the task of feeding this large population challenging. Unpredictable droughts and floods, erratic temperature changes will largely impact agricultural produce.

With growing urbanization, arable land will reduce largely. Increased air, water, and soil pollution will adversely impact the quality and quantity of arable land.

Cooking is an important decision-making step between the production and consumption of food. This important step can help us address the food security challenge.

The following elements of sustainable cooking help us to address climate change with our individual efforts. When each one who cooks and consumes food, consciously integrates these elements then collectively we can address one of the most urgent challenges i.e Food Security.

 

• ·       Giving preference to green fuels like bioenergy and solar energy for cooking, drying, and even cooling whenever possible.
• ·       Selection of efficient cookstoves as per buying capacity
• ·       Keeping the right balance between plant-based and animal-based diet. Overindulgence of both or total abstinence from either would have impending consequences on food availability and health.
• ·       Using as many as locally grown food ingredients. The travel and growth emissions of food ingredients have to be minimum. Growing a few vegetables and fruits would be an added advantage considering the health and hygiene aspects as well.
• ·       Cooking traditional and seasonal cuisines is an important step towards reducing storage and preservation-related energy emissions.
• ·       Keeping a check on food wastage is quantitatively the most impactful ways of addressing the food security challenge. Processing leftovers by composting or converting into new dishes is one effective way everyone can contribute towards this step. Sharing food and food ingredients will be an added advantage.
• ·       Judiciously use the ready to eat and ready to cook food items, while keeping a check on the food budget and consumption balance.

 Let us start our sustainable cooking journey by integrating these elements into our cooking styles. Write to us at pournima@samuchit.com for more information on sustainable cooking activities.

Vishakha Chandhere

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[1] Source: https://intelligence.weforum.org/topics/a1Gb0000000pTDPEA2?tab=publications

My City My Responsibility - Rethinking Cooking Styles!!!

 Dear All,

Solar cooked food

Its been a long time since we interacted, lockdown and the whole Work from Home (WFH) mode has made our lives much more busier than the Precovid19 times. Nevertheless, now is THE time for all resetting and reforming of our lifestyles for better from the perspective of quality of life.   

Food is an essential component of our lives since ages, during the pandemic we witnessed that its our home cooked food that literally kept us going when all the restaurants and fast food joints were locked. I believe that the way we COOK our food matters a lot from health and nutrition perspective, I would like to share a recent experience where I had food that was cooked on renewable sources like solar  and biochar briquettes. 

Vishakha Chandhere an entrepreneur and owner of OrjaBox has been experimenting with various cooking methods using different solar cooking devices for promoting Sustainable cooking. I was invited by her to experience slow cooked food prepared on various different solar devices and biochar briquettes. The menu for the day was vegetable pulao, muffins, veg sandwich and tomato soup. All this was cooked using solar energy, everything was flavorful, cooked well and for preparing all this it took not more than an hour, if we leave the preliminary prep time. This is one of the major benefits of solar cooking, once the preliminary arrangements are done, then we simply can do whatever we want while the food gets cooked on its own, unlike cooking on LPG or PNG where we tend to wait and watch over the food being cooked.  

I used to often feel that preparing food on solar cooking devices is time consuming. However this is not true anymore, effectively it takes almost the same time to cook food on the LPG or PNG burner if we consider the preparation time as well. There are several other benefits too of using renewable energy for cooking. 

So, slow cooked food is not only flavorful but also nutritious. In this fast paced life, where we were busy looking at fast food alternatives that are quick and easy to grab, the pandemic taught us to pause a bit, look back and reflect. I think this also applies to our food preparing habits. Health has been the top priority now, having nutritious food is the key to a good health. Additional benefit of using such alternate cooking device is, that its carbon neutral. It means if you are cooking your entire food using renewable energy like solar or biomass or biogas, then you are NOT contributing to the carbon emissions happening due to cooking. Thus effectively contributing to reduction in global carbon emissions.   

Vishakha Chandhere has organized a face to face interactive session titled Taste the Sun on this Sunday from 11 am to 2.30 pm. Here you will be able to see all the solar cooking devices that she has been using, enjoy solar cooked nutritious food along with interesting games and discussions.  

To experience a glimpse of this lifestyle, register here: https://forms.gle/QiSKdjFqL5m2D3wR9

 

Poster of the event

 Pournima Agarkar.

www.samuchit.com