A Tunisian company says it is transforming the country's olive waste into an eco-friendly and efficient energy source, that is catching on with business owners. 'BIOHEAT' says it is also solving a 1.5 million ton environmental problem, as the waste is currently discharged into nature. - REUTERS
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00:01In Tunisia's olive groves, an innovative company is addressing environmental challenges
00:09by transforming agricultural waste into valuable energy resources.
00:15Tunisian company BioHeat says it has developed technology that compacts olive residue,
00:21locally known as Futura, into efficient fuel briquettes.
00:25Here's the company's founder, engineer Yassin Khalifi.
00:28So, one kilogram from us replaces four kilograms of firewood,
00:35and also reduces CO2 emissions during combustion.
00:39In addition to that, the carbon footprint of its production is minimal.
00:44We don't use dryers, we use air drying.
00:47We use minimal resources for compaction.
00:50So carbon footprint during production is minimal.
00:52In addition, the carbon footprint during combustion is 30% lower than that of wood.
00:59This is based on analysis we have conducted.
01:02The innovation claims to solve a giant problem for the industry.
01:06According to Harimela oil company manager Hakim Salmi, Tunisia is one of the largest producers of olive oil.
01:17He says it generates around 1.5 million tonnes of olive residue waste,
01:24which is currently being dumped into the environment.
01:26And that projects like BioHeat add value to and prevent a large portion of waste being discharged into nature.
01:35The briquettes have caught on among restaurants, guest houses and schools throughout Tunisia,
01:42particularly in underdeveloped regions where winter temperatures can drop below freezing.
01:46Business owners like Mohamed Harar have embraced this eco-friendly alternative.
01:56Futura has replaced firewood for us.
01:59Whereas we used to buy a load or a load and a half of firewood,
02:03now we use much less.
02:05And the product is better than firewood.
02:07It gives us better results and saves us money.
02:10So financially we've gained a lot from using Futura, especially with BioHeat.
02:14BioHeat doesn't plan to stop at olive waste hoping to turn all agricultural waste into fuel or other usable forms.
02:26ô