7.4.5 Assistance to low-carbon innovation
Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) provides assistance to local businesses, including community enterprises, to adopt low-carbon technology and move towards a low-carbon economy. In 2025 (B.E. 2568), the Excellent Center for Sustainable Engineering (ECSE) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, transferred a low-carbon innovation — a high-efficiency, low-pollution biomass kiln for producing biochar and wood vinegar — to a community enterprise in Nakhon Nayok Province, together with hands-on training and technical advice so that the enterprise can run and develop the technology itself.
Workshop and Technology Transfer on the Production of Wood Vinegar and Multipurpose Charcoal (1–3 April 2025)
The programme was held on 1–3 April 2025 at the Rak Din Than Phalangngan Yangyuen Community Enterprise, Khao Phra Subdistrict, Mueang District, Nakhon Nayok Province. The enterprise received the technology and acted as the host and demonstration site. A total of 50 people took part (37 external and 13 internal), including members of the community enterprise, farmers from Pak Phli, rice farmers from Wang Krachom and durian farmers.
Low-carbon technology transferred
• A 600-litre community kiln that uses hot gas from a biomass gas burner, designed for high efficiency and low pollution.
• The kiln converts agricultural residues into biochar and wood vinegar, producing about 200 kg of biochar and 400 litres of wood vinegar per burn.
• According to the project report, the charcoal gives the community access to a clean fuel that can replace LPG cooking gas, supporting the shift to renewable energy (SDG 7.2).
• Using farm residues as a resource instead of waste supports a low-carbon, circular approach to local production.
Type of assistance provided by SWU
• Technology transfer: design and installation of the low-carbon kiln at the community enterprise.
• Training and capacity building: hands-on workshop on operating the kiln and producing biochar and wood vinegar.
• Technical advice from SWU engineering lecturers and students during the programme.
• Project budget: the programme was carried out as an SWU academic service project with a budget of 216,927 THB.
Participant satisfaction was 99.28%. The programme was also integrated with the course MME550 Bio-Energy Conversion, linking research and teaching with support for local low-carbon enterprise.
Figure 1. The high-efficiency, low-pollution biomass kiln transferred to the community enterprise, Khao Phra Subdistrict, Nakhon Nayok (1–3 April 2025).
Source: ECSE, Faculty of Engineering, SWU – Wood vinegar and multipurpose charcoal technology transfer 2025 (project page)
Figure 2. Participants and the SWU team with the low-carbon kiln at the community enterprise.
Source: ECSE, Faculty of Engineering, SWU – Wood vinegar and multipurpose charcoal technology transfer 2025 (project page)
Figure 3. Members of the community enterprise, local farmers and the SWU team at the technology transfer workshop.
Source: ECSE, Faculty of Engineering, SWU – Wood vinegar and multipurpose charcoal technology transfer 2025 (project page)
Project report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qZ5C-6ZfwWCSprmAVFRoMZhJ-k5iOWy6/view
Summary
Through this 2025 technology transfer programme, SWU gave direct assistance — technology, training, technical advice and a funded academic service project — to a local community enterprise to adopt a low-carbon technology that turns agricultural residues into clean fuel and biochar. This supports the growth of a low-carbon economy in the local area, and the evidence is publicly available on the university website.