Towards sustainable modern wood energy development

Dec 2014

Wood energy currently makes up more than 65% of the global share of renewable energy. In some developing countries, more than 90% of the people rely exclusively on fuelwood, charcoal and crop residues for cooking and heating.The traditional use of woodfuel is often not sustainable as it is energy inefficient and contributes to deforestation (mainly around urban centres for charcoal production). Furthermore, the resulting indoor air pollution is a considerable health hazard. The International Energy Agency predicts that the poor in developing countries will continue to rely on wood energy in the next decades due to the lack of affordable alternatives. Other reasons are the availability and accessibility of woodfuel in rural areas and its wide applicability. Habits and customs further explain its continued use. Due to population growth the absolute number of people depending on wood energy is projected to rise from 2.6 billion to 2.7 billion by 2030.In industrial and emerging countries, woodfuel is used to produce heat and/or electricity in order to reduce CO2 emissions and to diversify energy supplies. It is expected that electricity production from wood will double by 2020 in Europe and triple in North America by 2030. Countries such as China, India, South Africa are also considering large-scale co-firing of woodfuel with coal. While the majority of current wood trade is still between OECD countries, a rising global demand for woody biomass raises concerns among international stakeholders about its potential negative impacts on the natural resource basis in developing countries.This study on modern wood energy development, commissioned by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of BMZ, presents a number of successful practices that allow that allow for an ecologically sustainable production of wood energy, with positive impacts on the incomes of ruralpopulations in developing countries.The aim of this study is to inform the Activity Group 4 “Towards sustainable modern wood energy development” of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP). To read and download the report click here

By: S. Sepp, C. Sepp, M. Mundhenk

 
 
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