Coal briquettes, an alternative fuel

Antara, Semarang

The unprecedented kerosene shortage has not only baffled Semarang residents but also led to the closure of many businesses. Banana ice cream seller, Samsul, found that his business was hit hard by the kerosene shortage. As kerosene has been difficult to find in the city, Samsul has been seeking firewood to replace kerosene in order to keep his business afloat.

A similar situation was faced by Agus, 36, a resident of Meteseh. Agus closed his foodstall for three days last week due to the fuel scarcity. The situation is tough for Agus, a father of two children, as he makes a living through the foodstall.

But, he has already found a solution. With the help of a lecturer with Semarang State University, Sucipto, Agus is now using coal briquettes to replace kerosene.

He said that using briquettes was more complicated, but quickly added that it was much more efficient than kerosene.

The price of coal briquette was Rp 1,750 a kilogram, which consists of 16 briquettes. For household use, one charcoal stove can be filled with six or eight briquettes or about half a kilogram of coal. The briquettes stay alight for about four to five hours, which is the usual time a household would need to cook for a day. From that figure, it can be calculated that each day, a housewife would spend less than Rp 1,000 on fuel.

For the price coal briquettes are more energy efficient. Normally, a household uses two liters of kerosene a day and if the price of kerosene is Rp 1,000 a liter, it means that the household will spend Rp 2,000 a day, making it twice as expensive to use kerosene for fuel compared to coal briquette.

Another advantage is that coal briquette has a better quality of flame compared to the kerosene. The flame from the coal briquette is blue, which indicates that the heat quality is good. The heat from the coal briquette also does not leave a carbon deposit on the kitchen utensils.

Agus acknowledged, though, that getting the coal briquette to burn was quite tough and required patience. A coal briquette is placed on top of an ember until the briquettes are burning well and ready for use.

"But I am used to it. I have decided to use coal briquettes for my household and foodstall needs," said Agus.

Coal briquettes were introduced to the public as a fuel source in 1993. However, it has not been very popular as people considered kerosene more practical and cheap. But, as the price of kerosene continues to rise, compounded by the scarcity, the use of coal briquettes is worth considering. The coal briquette has the potential to replace kerosene, as the kerosene subsidy is set to be phased out by the government by 2007.

Domestic coal consumption is projected to reach 45.5 million tons this year, while coal production is projected to reach 155 million tons. Most of coal output is absorbed by industries, such as power plants, while households and small factories absorb a much smaller portion.

With the skyrocketing price of fuel, including kerosene, coal has provided an answer to the imminent fuel crisis.