Sustainable Green Fuel Enterprise (SGF) is the first of its kind in Cambodia. It produces environmentally friendly charcoal made from used coconut shells from around the city of Phnom Penh. The company employs 14 people who all receive a good wage and they are also provided with health insurance.
The charcoal is used by restaurants around Phnom Penh, and is popular with street vendors also. People who work around charcoal for a living prefer to use this charcoal because it burns longer, produces no smoke and no sparks, and it is therefore burns cleaner and safer.
On the 8th of February at 8am there was a demonstration given to the people of the village on the eco-charcoal. Over 70 people from the village came to see the demo and to learn about this new charcoal that burns for longer and has no sparks or no smoke. These are the points that the charcoal sells on and not the environmentally friendly aspect. At the demo there was 150kgs of charcoal sold in one hour.
We are now in the phase of getting feedback from the people who bought the charcoal and to see their first-hand experience with it. It is hoped in the future that S.C.A.O. and work in collaboration with SGF and the Som Roung community to provide environmentally friendly charcoal to the households that could benefit from it. This would then hopefully in the future make Som Roung Village a more environmentally friendly place to live.
