Emissions testing of loose biomass in Limpopo Province of South Africa

Southern Africa depends on wood for energy. This affects deforestation and global warming. Loose biomass briquettes can replace round wood and mitigate such problems. Loose biomass derived from agricultural and forestry waste has chemicals like pesticides which can cause unsafe emissions. This paper studies emissions resulting from combustion of such loose biomass collected from Limpopo, a province of South Africa. Twelve loose biomass samples were tested for gases emitted from domestic stove combustion. Exhaust gases were sampled and tested to determine composition and quantities of emitted elements. Both element identification and particulate analysis are reported.