Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

In the field of economics, inflation is the overall rise in the cost of products and services
throughout a country's economy. The amount of products and services that a unit's money can
purchase decreases as the general price level rises. Summary information is released by the
Philippine Statistics Authority. On March 20, 2023, the inflation report will be delayed. From 8.6
percent in February 2023 to 7.6 percent in March 2023, it was claimed there that the rate had
further slowed.

Since the majority of Filipinos use LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) for cooking and as a fuel for
heating appliances, even though the inflation rate has slowed down according to the PSA
report, the people of the Philippines have nevertheless experienced financial difficulties. Since
then, because wood charcoal is less expensive than LPG, many Filipinos have switched to using
it instead of gas to heat and cook their food.

Charcoal is used by an average of 35% of all households in the Philippines, according to the
Household Energy Consumption Survey. However, there are a lot of drawbacks to using
charcoal for both domestic and industrial use. One of the primary causes of deforestation,
according to studies, is charcoal. Charcoal is traditionally made using processes that waste
timber resources and emit large amounts of carbon.

In addition, it releases significant amounts of soot, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants.

The health effects of the pollution could be devastating. Additionally, it might make climate
change worse and endanger biodiversity. Our forest is at risk of being destroyed as a result. In
the end, catastrophes caused by this destruction cause innocent Filipino lives to be lost.

In order to lessen the negative effects of producing raw wood charcoal and the problems that
people face, such as garbage that is strewn throughout the environment, researchers are
looking for alternative sustainable options for producing inexpensive energy sources. This is
why they came up with this study.