The charcoal initiative was  inspired by the Texas A&M Bonfire tradition where volunteers gather wood and supply it for the Texas A&M bonfire tradition. This project, on the other hand, allows volunteers to clear land for small, independent landowners and transform the biomass into small charcoal pieces and fire starters for shipment to Nairobi, Kenya. In Nairobi and other parts of Africa, energy sources such as wood are scarce, bulky, and expensive. However, they are in great demand for applications such as cooking, cleaning, water purification, sanitization, and heating.

 

The Charcoal Initiative will be based around a large, nonprofit organization that guides the acquisition of volunteers, the processing of lumber, and shipping of the resulting charcoal and firestarters to deserving areas. The detailed plan involves volunteers who gain the benefit of community, networking and community service clearing land for small, independent landowners who may not have the funds to pay workers to do so. Furthermore, wood chippers and wood shredders will be provided by The Charcoal Initiative onsite at the clearing area to reduce shipping costs, since it is easier to ship sawdust and wood chips instead of logs. The Charcoal Initiative will then ship these biomass products to a nonprofit, associated facility to convert these products into compact fire starters and charcoal. After finding the areas with the direst fuel shortages, the initiative will then ship these compact fuel sources to needy areas in Nairobi and other areas. This will benefit the communities of both America and Kenya, and has future potential to expand to other communities around the world.