Charcoal Production (group Work)

This study examined the production of charcoal from Okpagha (Pentaclethra macrophylla), Fruit Tree (Ebelebor) and Flower tree as common woods in Ekpoma. The method adopted for this study is the Pit method which involved several steps such as tree selection and felling, stacking, covering, firing, monitoring, quenching, cooling and packaging. The total material recovered was found to be about 16%, 12.3% and 16.7% for flower wood, fruit tree and Okpagha (Pentaclethra macrophylla) wood respectively. The wood-charcoals investigated in this study exhibited distinct ranges of ash content at 6.22g (Ebelebor), 6.84g (Flower tree) and 8.38g (Okpagha tree (Pentaclethra macrophylla)). The weight of each charcoal after combustion produced 181.03g (Ebelebor), 210.85g (Flower tree) and 256.18g (Okpagha tree (Pentaclethra macrophylla)). This revealed that the charcoal produced from Okpagha tree (Pentaclethra macrophylla) has the highest quality with 256.18g. Based on the findings, it could be experienced that charcoal production faces significant criticism due to its substantial environmental and social impacts, including deforestation, air and water pollution, and health risks associated with the process and its byproducts. Therefore, the producers must adopt efficient and technology for making charcoal. Lastly, the pit method for charcoal production is labour intensive, therefore Kiln method is more environmental friendly.