Factors Affecting Fuelwood Consumption and CO2 Emissions: An Example from a Community-Managed Forest of Nepal

Baral Baral,Basnyat Basnyat,Timilsana Timilsana,Gauli Gauli,Paudel Paudel,Vacik Vacik,Upadhyaya Upadhyaya

doi:10.3390/en12234492

Abstract

Fuelwood is the primary source of energy in Nepal, where 87.1% of the total energy is derived from wood, making it the major source for carbon emissions. This study explores the factors affecting the fuelwood consumption, the amount of carbon emissions including the potential for carbon sequestration in community forests, taking a case study of Kankali Community Forest Users Group (CFUG) of Chitwan district of Nepal. Interviews with 217 households revealed that 60% of the households still depend on fuelwood for cooking, which apparently emits approximately 13.68 tons of carbon dioxide annually. The emission, however, varies with the economic status of the households; poor households rely exclusively on fuelwood for cooking and therefore emit greater amount of carbon. Similarly, the carbon emission was also found to be directly proportional to the family size and livestock holding, and inversely proportional to landholding and per capita income. A more conservation-oriented forest management along with activities to support livelihood has contributed to lower carbon emissions. Interestingly, the poverty-energy trap seemed to have a distinct gender dimension. We argue that CFUGs need to invest in income-generating activities for local users, and especially for women of low-income households, in order to reduce current carbon emission.

Highlights

Global warming has been a topic of discussion for the last three decades, where household energy consumption is one of the major anthropogenic contributing factors [1]
A majority of households depend on biomass for energy
The dependency on energy sources vary over time and with the socio-economic conditions; high-income households relying on alternate source of energy such as the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), while the poor continue to use fuelwood

Summary

Introduction

Global warming has been a topic of discussion for the last three decades, where household energy consumption is one of the major anthropogenic contributing factors [1]. The sustainable development goals (SDGs) put the sustainable use of plant-based biomass as one of its central goals [4]. It is important to assess the factors which encourage households to reduce the use of biomass, and shift towards more efficient fuels [4]. Forests provide the main sources of energy for the people living in rural parts of developing countries, and Nepal is not an exception. This has led to deforestation (e.g., annual deforestation rate in the Terai region is 0.44%) [5] and forest degradation. The energy mix pattern of Energies 2019, 12, 4492; doi:10.3390/en12234492 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

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