Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
20
Project title
SMOKELESS BRIQS
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Smokeless Briqs is a cleantech social project that transforms agricultural waste into eco-friendly briquettes and pellets while developing innovative, energy-efficient cookstoves that deliver cleaner, faster, and more affordable cooking. Our solutions reduce dependence on firewood and charcoal, minimize harmful cooking smoke, and turn waste into valuable energy, creating healthier households and a more sustainable environment.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
The spark behind Smokeless Briqs was deeply personal. After my father died in 2021, my family could no longer afford cooking gas, and my mother had to return to cooking with firewood. Watching her struggle with the smoke, cough, and chest discomfort opened my eyes to a problem millions of low-income households face every day: the daily choice between affordable cooking fuel and their health. My “Aha!” moment came when I realised that the agricultural waste littering our communities—coconut husks, palm kernel shells and rice husks—could become a valuable source of cleaner, affordable cooking energy rather than being discarded or burned openly. What if we could turn this waste into biomass briquettes and combine them with an improved cookstove that uses less fuel, produces less smoke and cooks faster? That realisation became the foundation of Smokeless Briqs Project. We are developing an integrated clean-cooking solution that transforms agricultural waste into affordable fuel while helping households reduce cooking costs and exposure to harmful smoke. Our TEG technology also converts stove heat into electricity for mobile phone charging and lighting. What began as a desire to protect my mother has grown into a mission to help families cook safely and affordably while creating value from agricultural waste and building a cleaner energy future for underserved communities
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
PROBLEM According to the National Bureau of Statistics, over 73% of households in Nigeria rely on solid fuels like firewood and charcoal for cooking, contributing to severe indoor air pollution. On the other hand, Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that over 98,000 Nigerian women die annually from smokes inhaled while cooking with firewood. This is now the 3rd leading killer after Malaria and HIV. And Kerosene usage is the leading cause of Lung Cancer and Leukemia globally. Our Mothers must NOT continue to sacrifice their lives just because they want to cook the food we are going to eat. NO WAY! PROBLEM WE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE 1. IN-DOOR AIR POLLUTION Toxic smoke from traditional cooking fuels causes respiratory diseases and contributes to over 4 million deaths annually worldwide. 2. ENERGY POVERTY Over 92 million Nigerians live without access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), hindering education, livelihoods, and quality of life. 3. CLIMATE CHANGE Burning fossil fuels and deforestation for energy release greenhouse gases, accelerating global warming and its devastating effects. 4. ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION Unsustainable energy practices lead to deforestation, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity, harming ecosystems and livelihoods.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
The SMOKELESS BRIQS project is a social project aimed at solving three major problems: Energy Poverty, indoor air pollution, and Climate Change in underserved communities in Nigeria. We produce eco-friendly smokeless Pellets and briquettes, made from post-agricultural waste. Our briquettes are made from 100% agricultural waste, mostly coconut husks, Palm kernel shells, Corn cobs, and Rice husks. We selected these agricultural wastes because they have Higher Calorific Value and Low Moisture & Ash Content making them burn longer and hotter. They also burn cleaner than ordinary charcoal with minimal smoke, helping to reduce deforestation and indoor air pollution. And our game-changing eco-friendly smokeless stoves, built from locally sourced recycled metals, feature a stainless steel burn chamber that heats up to 200 degrees in less than 10 minutes, allowing for twice as fast cooking compared to traditional stoves. These stoves integrates our patented T.E.G Technology which converts heat from the stove into approximately 30 watts of electricity, providing essential power for mobile phone charging and lighting which is crucial for communities with limited access to electricity. Additionally, we are working on integrating our IoT technology to track carbon offsets and earn carbon credits, further enhancing their environmental impact.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Smokeless Briqs Energy Solutions is advancing clean cooking and economic empowerment through a pilot serving 300 households across 13 underserved communities in Ondo State, Nigeria. We transform agricultural waste into affordable biomass briquettes and combine them with improved cookstoves to reduce dependence on firewood, lower cooking costs, and minimise harmful smoke. Our mission is personal. After my father died in 2021, my family could no longer afford cooking gas, forcing my mother to return to firewood and endure coughing and chest discomfort from cooking smoke. Her experience inspired me to develop a solution that makes cleaner cooking accessible to low-income households. Our pilot is laying the foundation for measurable impact. We aim to track household fuel expenditure, firewood consumption, cooking efficiency, and smoke exposure to assess benefits and strengthen our solution. By converting agricultural residues into useful fuel, we also create value from waste that might otherwise be discarded or burned. As we scale, we aim to reach thousands more households, create green jobs for young people, equip women with production and distribution skills, and reduce pressure on forests. Our long-term vision is to make clean cooking more affordable, healthier, and environmentally sustainable for underserved communities across Nigeria.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Smokeless Briqs Project goes beyond conventional clean-cooking solutions by integrating agricultural-waste briquettes, an improved energy-efficient cookstove, thermoelectric power generation, and digital carbon tracking into one locally adaptable model. Unlike solutions that depend on expensive LPG, imported fuels, or distributing improved cookstoves alone, we convert locally available agricultural residues—including coconut husks, palm kernel shells, corn cobs, and rice husks—into affordable cooking fuel. This creates value from waste while reducing dependence on firewood and charcoal. Our improved stove design combines a recycled-metal construction with a redesigned combustion chamber and precision airflow to improve heat utilisation, accelerate cooking, and reduce smoke. A key innovation is our thermoelectric generator (TEG), designed to convert a portion of cooking heat into electricity for basic needs such as phone charging and lighting, particularly in off-grid communities. This links clean cooking with decentralised energy access. We are also developing IoT-enabled carbon tracking to quantify environmental benefits and support credible carbon-credit opportunities that could help finance wider adoption. Our approach is designed around the realities of low-income households: affordability, locally available materials, familiar cooking practices, and community-based distribution. By connecting waste recovery, cleaner cooking, small-scale power generation, and potential climate finance, Smokeless Briqs offers an integrated model with multiple benefits from a single household energy solution. We are piloting the model with 300 households across 13 underserved communities in Ondo State, using user feedback to refine the solution for wider adoption.
How many people are on your team?
5
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Our five-member core team combines expertise in environmental science, ICT, agricultural engineering, electrical engineering, project management, and product development. Founder Ayodele Mary leads strategy; Olaniyi oversees operations; Adaeze drives sustainability; Charles Nnamdi leads technology; and Victoria oversees product development. Dr. Michael Opkobi, Dr. Victory Osayi and Dr. Racheal Afolabi, our academic supervisors provide mentorship, technical guidance, and oversight.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next 12 months, Smokeless Briqs Energy Solutions will focus on strengthening our pilot, validating product performance, and expanding access to affordable clean cooking. First, we will deepen our engagement with the 300 households across 13 underserved communities in Ondo State, collecting data on fuel costs, cooking efficiency, firewood use, user satisfaction, and smoke reduction to guide product improvements. Second, we will optimise our agricultural-waste briquette production and improved cookstove design to ensure consistent quality, safety, affordability, and reliable performance. We will further develop our thermoelectric generator technology to explore how cooking heat can provide electricity for basic household needs. Third, we will build partnerships with farmer cooperatives, agricultural processors, women-led community groups, technical institutions, and clean-energy organisations to secure feedstock, strengthen distribution, and support local production. We will also train community-based distributors and artisans to create green livelihood opportunities, particularly for women and young people. Finally, we will develop a stronger impact-monitoring system to measure household adoption, fuel savings and emissions reductions. We will use these results to attract grant funding, impact investment, and potential carbon-finance partnerships.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
We engage communities by making clean cooking a practical, shared solution rather than just an environmental message. Through our pilot with 300 households across 13 underserved communities in Ondo State, we are introducing families to agricultural-waste briquettes and improved cookstoves while encouraging feedback on affordability, usability, and performance. Our approach prioritises community participation. We aim to work with women, local artisans, youth groups, farmer cooperatives, and community leaders to raise awareness about the health, economic, and environmental costs of traditional cooking fuels. By demonstrating how agricultural residues can become useful cooking energy, we help people see waste as a resource and clean energy as an opportunity for local enterprise. We also plan to strengthen word-of-mouth outreach through satisfied users, community demonstrations, and local distribution networks. Training women and young people in briquette production, stove manufacturing, and distribution will enable them to become advocates and active participants in the clean-energy transition. Over the next year, we will expand engagement through partnerships with schools, community organisations, agricultural processors, and clean-energy stakeholders.
