General De Jesus College

San Isidro, Nueva Ecija

Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country

Paper Charcoal as a Source of Biomass Fuel

I. Introduction

Paper is considered as one of the greatest inventions that made a significant role in the world. It

has been the building blocks of human's daily lives and its duty is definitely never ending. Paper was

introduced through generations and was enhanced each day.

From past until now, paper has been the medium of communication and learning for people all

over the world. It has shaped the education throughout the years. Paper has been used in books and

providing modules for learners. It has been used in personal letters and as well as in international

newspapers.

It is unquestionably that paper is the cell of our economy. Paper is significantly used to make

money which is a key to raise the economy of country or even the whole world. Thus, paper’s essence

does not just revolve around education and communication, it is also act in economic growth or rather in

different fields of life and continue to bring purpose and difference.

However, despite of its contribution and essence to society, people has been reaching their limits

and continue to do unethical acts. Lots of paper everywhere has been scattered and was not put in their

right places. People are reckless of their actions not knowing the consequences of their acts. Due to

insufficient supply of paper, several trees are being cut down in order to be used by manufacturers in

producing new papers.

On the other hand, coal is also beneficial in human way of living. It is considered the cheapest

way of obtaining energy. Coal has a great significance in generating electricity, production of steel,
 General De Jesus College
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country

industries, gasification and liquefaction, and as well as in domestic use. At first, old trees are being cut

down to supply charcoals but because of the large number of people in the world, these old trees are

lacking and people need to cut excess number of trees just to supply the needs of the many.

The researcher has thought of something that could end the problem. This study can bring a great

contribution in the field of science and engineering. The study proposes a charcoal that is made up of used

papers that could help lessen deforestation or stop it for the betterment. The researcher also came up with

an idea on where those scattered papers stand. Instead of being trash and polluting the environment, it can

now serve a purpose. The researcher has finalized his thinking into how this research can brought a

difference to the nature and the world. It made a significant impact in the field of engineering as it could

help different industries and machineries to use alternative source of biomass fuel which is cheap and

environmental-friendly.

II. Background/ Review of Related Literature

Paper is a useful material in human’s daily life. Humans know how to use papers but don’t know

the right way of disposing it (John, 2013). Paper waste leads to paper pollution which is considered as

one of the serious problems that the world is facing right now (TheWorldCounts, 2020). People who

are living in too unequal societies are said to consume too much resources that will produce

unnecessary amount of waste (Baula, 2010). More than 361 million of paper are produced annually.

In fact, 26 percent of total waste in the world are made up of paper (TheWorldCounts, 2020).
 General De Jesus College
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country

In order to supply sufficient amount of paper, deforestation occurs. Deforestation is a permanent

removal of trees in the forest (Resource Center, 2020). According to World Wildlife Fund, forests

occupy 30% of the Earth’s land surface. These forested areas are expected to provide food, medicine

and fuel for more than a billion of people (Derouin, 2019). As stated by Capital Document Solutions

(2018), out of 17 billion cubic feet of trees deforested every year, over 60% are used for making

papers.

Charcoal on the other hand is a major use for outdoor cooking and heating (Afework et al.,2020).

Also, it has been greatly used in industrial applications. Charcoal plays an essence in instrument-

making and printing wherein it is frequently used for grinding and polishing of details and forms.

Moreover, as being a great source of biomass fuel, it is used by different industries in their

machineries for the production of goods (GreenPower, 2018). However, as stated by Sousa (2017),

high rates of deforestation are caused by logging of trees for charcoal production.

Finding the hole in the past studies made the researcher push the study in order to supply enough

information to the field. The researcher found out facts, conclusions and recommendations in the past

study. Through observing and reading it, the researcher conclude that it was lacking. The facts and

reviews presented by the past researchers are not enough for the conclusions and recommendations to

be reliable and convincing to the people. Thus, the researcher in the study wanted to add sufficient

facts and provide a new set of conclusions and recommendations that will add to the reliability of the

research study. In conducting the research, questions tackling the contributions and effectivity will be

furtherly answered after the study has been conducted. Furthermore, the researcher wanted to test

paper charcoal and compare it to the traditional one. Questions like, “Which of the two is an effective

source of biomass fuel?” is going to be answered.

 General De Jesus College
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country

III. Rationale

The study’s focus is to answer the following questions:

1. How effective is paper charcoal to the traditional one in terms of:

1.1 Speed;

1.2 Reliability;

1.3 Reusability and;

1.4 Value for money;

2. What contributions can a paper charcoal give in the field of science and engineering?

2.1 In science, how will it provide solution to paper waste disposal and deforestation?

2.2 In engineering, what it can contribute to the production?

3. What are the reasons that prove paper charcoal as a great source of biomass fuel?

3.1 How the materials contribute on making paper charcoal a good source?

The questions presented elaborated the aim of the research that was discussed in the introduction

of the study. The questions lead to substantial findings that will be a great help to furtherly discuss the

large issue presented. The researcher arrived at the hypothesis that paper charcoal is better than the

traditional one. Since it was not that expensive, paper charcoals can be a great help to lessen the expenses

in the industrial production. As being made of paper, people will get an idea on how they will recycle

their paper waste. Paper is a product of trees same as to the traditional charcoal which is also product of

trees. Therefore, the researcher hypothesized that paper charcoals can be an alternative to the traditional

charcoal in providing biomass fuel. However, this is just a hypothesis and the researcher wanted to

conduct the study to prove the claims.

General De Jesus College
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country
 General De Jesus College
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country

References:

Afework, B. (2020). Charcoal. Retrieved from https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Charcoal

Capital Document Solutions (2018). Cutting down paper, not trees. Retrieved from

https://www.capital-solutions.co.uk/cutting-down-paper-not-trees/#:~:text=Out%20of%20the

%2017%20billion,world's%20annual%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions.

Derouin, S. (2019). Deforestation: facts, cause & effects. Retrieved from livescience.com/27692-

deforestation.html

GreenPower (2018). Charcoal applications. Retrieved from http://piroliz.org/clients/articles/2014-

05-27-11-39-20/eng/#:~:text=The%20charcoal%20finds%20some%20use,used%20solid

%20lubricant%2C%20mainly%20graphite

Resource Center (2020). Deforestation. Retrieved from https://www.buschsystems.com/resource-

center/knowledgeBase/glossary/what-is-deforestation

Senas, E. & Victoria, D.M. (2014). Papel ko, uling mo. Retrieved from

https://www.seameo.org/img/Programmes_Projects/Competition/SEAMEOJapanESD_Award/2014_

SEAMEOJapanESD_Award/Submission/Philippines/PH4_Florentina/att3.pdf

Sousa, G. (2017). Deforestation triggered by charcoal production around the world. Retrieved

from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/world-regions-with-the-highestdeforestation-triggered-by-

unsustainable-charcoal-production.html#:~:text=High%20rates%20of%20deforestation%20is,can

%20be%20recovered%20as%20charcoal.

TheWorldCounts (2020). Paper comes from trees. Retrieved from

https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/paper-waste-facts
General De Jesus College
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
Discipline – Integrity – Excellence
for God and Country