Fuel wood being the main source of cooking and heating especially in the developing country like Bhutan, is a major concern world wide because of its direct impact on forest degradation. As an alternative to cutting down trees for wood energy, the National Women's Association of Bhutan (NWAB) implemented a "Biomass Wastes Briquetting Project" to make use of the biological wastes such as sawdurst and lemon grass that are currently underutilized. The underutilized biological wastes have also been one of the polluters of water bodies as the waterbodies are often used as sawdust disposal yard.

The project aimed to conserve trees by finding an alternative to cutting down trees for wood energy. This project made use of the biological wastes such as sawdust and lemon grass which had been underutilized and which are being dumped in the rivers, hence polluting the water bodies.

Objectives: The main objective of the project is to utilize the biological wastes such as sawdust and lemongrass which are the polluters of water bodies and the surroundings of the sawmills and turn them into briquettes and use as fuel wood and reduce the huge consumption of firewood. The objectives of the project were:
1. To install and operate a biomass briquetting unit;
2. To strengthen the capacity of NWAB in managing the biodiversity conservation activities;
3. To contribute to Climate Change mitigation; and
4. To contribute to the objectives of the RGOB's policy of natural resources conservation.

Activities: To achieve the above objectives, following activities had been carried out by the project:
1. Procurement of the Briquetting Machine;
2. Use of the machine;
3. Collection of Saw Dust;
4. Production of Briquettes.

The above activities had been carried out in Haa, Paro and Thimphu. In addition to the saw dust, waste papers and pine leaves had also been used in making briquettes after mixing them with the sawdust.

The outcome of the project, as per the project's evaluation carried out during the Biennial Programme Review Report (BPR) was that the project demonstrated immense potential for producing environmental benefit on a wide scale. A trial was conducted from the representatives of Drugyel Higher Secondary School, Education Division (Thimphu), National Women's Association of Bhutan (NWAB) and the Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI) to compare the efficiency of sawdust briquette with that of fuel wood (soft wood). The result was that radiation of heat from burning of briquette was more than firewood burning and that the water boiled at 45 minutes whereas the water tool 1 hour 50 minutes to boil from fire wood at the same quantity of water used.

As a demonstration project, it has proven well as per the demonstration evaluation report collected from the participants who attended the demonstration site at Haa. The project was also demonstrated in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, where all kinds of governmental institutions were invited, as well as various donors and visitors. At one point of time, the National Environment Commission Secretariat (NECS) was interested regarding the information dessimination of the project, and therefore, the Project Coordinator was invited to make a presentation on Biomass Wastes Briquetting Project.

The project was successful in making use of the solid wastes such as sawdust, not only in cleaning the sawdust from sawmills and saving rivers from pollution, but also by using them as an alternative energy efficiency fuel - the briquettes.

There was an opportunity to keeping the local environment more clean through this project.

Weakness of the Project:
1. The project is confined to sawdust briquette production on an experimental basis. A more comprehensive strategy will be necessary to make briquetting a tangible and economically viable conservation venture;
2. The heat generated by the briquettes is high, thus not suitable for the existing stoves of the Bhutanese households. If briquette is promoted widely as an alternative fuel, more durable stoves - such as the iron-cast tyes needs to be promoted simultaneously. Therefore, it is costly for the common consumers;
3. The briquetting unit is too small to produce briquettes in a larger scale;
4. No marketing strategy.