Fuel from the fields

One D-Lab initiative is the Fuel From the Fields Charcoal Project developed for Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. In many areas of Haiti, the primary cooking fuel is wood charcoal. At 70 Haitian dollars a bag, it is beyond the reach of many families. In addition, the fumes from indoor wood fires kill many children each year in developing countries. Also, Haiti is 98% deforested - so when the wood is gone, the people will face an uncertain future.

The charcoal project created a process for producing charcoal that uses bagasse - the fibers from sugar cane stalks that remain after the juice has been extracted - instead of wood. The goal was to create an alternative charcoal briquette with the same density as one made with wood, that burns more cleanly, and is less costly and environmentally damaging to produce. Pilot testing in Petite Anse, a small fishing village in northern Haiti, showed promising results using locally available skills and materials. Further research in El Salvador has refined the technique, and large-scale implementation is due to start in summer 2006.

According to Amy, "The Charcoal Project is a good model of what we want to accomplish in D-Lab: solutions that are simple, cheap, and easy to produce and distribute; that deliver health, environmental, and economic benefits; and that serve an urgent need." In many ways, Amy is able to provide her students with the undergraduate experience she was looking for at MIT more than 20 years ago. In making her work relevant to her life, Amy is having an impact on many other lives around the world.