Coal briquettes, an alternative fuel

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.