Economic Viability Investigation of Mixed Biomass Briquettes Made from Agricultural Residues for Household Cooking Use

This paper presents a theoretical evaluation of the prices of mixed briquettes produced from co-conut shells (CCS), banana peels (BNP), rattan waste (RWT), and sugarcane bagasse (SGC), and, on the other hand, an analysis of the economic viability of their use as a replacement for conventional household fuels (Liquefied Petroleum Gas, fuelwood, and wood charcoal) in house-holds in Cameroon. The investigation was carried out using the Life Cycle Cost method on a typical household over a ten-year period with annual cooking energy requirements of 950 kWhth. The SGC-CCS and SGC-RWT mixed briquettes with a ratio higher than 7.75% and 11.1%, respectively, have prices lower than 0.063 €/kWhth. The Present Value of the Net Benefit is posi-tive for the use of SGC-CCS and SGC-RWT mixed briquettes. The results show that by making the right mixes of residues, it is possible to obtain biomass briquettes that are less expensive than conventional fuels.