Fuelwood Use Research Articles

The future of residue-based bioenergy for industrial use in Sub-Saharan Africa

Energy outlooks for Africa feature increased use of fossil fuels. However, they widely ignore that a transition from traditional to modern bioenergy can support the increasing commercial energy demand and offer a high level of flexibility and dispatchability. We use energy statistics, resource assessments and demand analysis to show how switching traditional biomass use to more sustainable technologies could practically eliminate unsustainable fuelwood use. Furthermore, mobilising agricultural and forestry residue for commercial use could grow a sustainable biomass industry and offset Africa's projected expansion of fossil fuels. The assessment focuses on feedstocks and potential energy conversion options for selected and most promising bioenergy pathways in Sub-Saharan Africa's growing and economically relevant industries: cement, agricultural processing, livestock, and horticulture. Examples of specific applications are given to support the high-level resource assessment and demand balances in these sectors. Our results indicate that 3317 PJ bioenergy could be utilised in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even with the calculated gap between biomass availability and biomass demand of 5559 PJ in future energy scenarios, bioenergy can contribute to sustainable energy supply and access in SSA. The sustainability mapping highlighted that bioenergy could deliver integral social and economic impacts because of the close integration with agriculture as the main livelihood supporting sector in SSA. Sustainability frameworks and governance structures must consider bioenergy beyond its cost and clean energy potential to maximise positive trade-offs.

The implications of remittances for agricultural land use and fuelwood collection: evidence from the remaining forested landscapes in the Philippines

Despite the projected sharpest decline in remittances in history due to the global economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances are expected to remain an important source of external financing for many developing countries. The Philippines is among the top five recipients of remittances worldwide, while outmigration is an important livelihood strategy for rural communities in the country due to rapid population growth, poor employment opportunities, and scarce agricultural land. Migration and remittances can influence smallholder land use with potential implications for forest resource use through an impact on household income and household decisions on local activities. However, little attention has been paid in previous research to how remittances relate to changes in rural households’ land use and their implications for forests. The goal of this study is to investigate the links between the inflow of both international and internal remittances and rural households’ land use in forested landscapes in the Philippines. In order to do that, we use the data from 1024 household surveys and an instrumental variable approach to investigate the impact of remittances on fuelwood use and on the area cultivated by perennials and cereals. The findings of this study show that remittances positively influence the size of land planted by perennials and reduce households’ reliance on fuelwood use. Our findings provide an improved understanding of the links between migration—remittances—natural resource management, which will become especially relevant as countries struggle to deal with the economic fallout associated with COVID-19. We argue that demographic policy measures should play a bigger role in land use, land use change, and forestry negotiations than before. Moreover, global sustainability agendas such as the sustainable development goals should recognize the impacts of migration on natural resources to help bridge the gap between developmental and environmental goals.

Achieving energy justice in Malawi: from key challenges to policy recommendations

Addressing energy provision and access in Sub-Saharan Africa is a key global challenge. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders, this paper applies an energy justice framework in overviewing energy realities and policies in Malawi, where electricity access remains among the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa. The use of woodfuel remains high for meeting cooking, heating, and lighting needs leading to indoor air pollution, with serious health consequences, and widespread deforestation. Responses to these dual challenges, a lack of electricity access and ongoing woodfuel use, must be rooted in notions of equity, fairness, and justice. Application of energy justice theorising provides insights into how policy stakeholders are responding to complex and interconnected issues of energy generation and access in low-income settings. Overall, a just response to these energy challenges is possible, but only if it is built on local inclusive governance with fairer and effective systems of investment.

Household-level cooking stove emissions, perceptions and influencing factors: Lessons learned from Rangunia Upazila, Chittagong, Bangladesh

In developing countries, connections between rural households' energy access, efficiency of cooking technologies, and relevant factors are less understood. This study investigates household-level cooking stove's carbon-di-oxide (CO2) emissions, perceptions, and influencing factors in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Methods involve a survey of 176 randomly selected households with a pre-tested questionnaire, and relevant measurements of traditional cooking stoves (TCS) and improved cooking stoves (ICS) of the households in three different categories: nearby, far, and very far from a protected forest area. Results show that most of the households use double-mouthed TCS, although ICS can save 27% fuels and 25% CO2 emissions compared to TCS. Between 44% to 84% of the respondents prefer ICS because these are less labor intensive, emission-friendly as well as fuel- and time- efficient. The perception varies significantly between the households located far away and nearby the park. The amount of fuelwood and total biomass fuels used in the TCS tends to be significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those in the ICS, which corresponds to the higher emissions in TCS. We also find that a household releases six times higher CO2 emissions from burning fuelwood and other biomass fuels compared to use of non-renewable fuels. Households with pucca (brick-built) houses, financial affluency, education, large family size, away from the park, and larger homestead area tend to release more emissions from the use of fuelwood and non-renewable fuels. This study finding can help policymakers make informed decisions in implementing ICS and other cleaner biomass-based projects.

The Effect of Forest Access on the Market for Fuelwood in India

Fuelwood collection is often cited as the most important cause of deforestation in developing countries. Use of fuelwood in cooking is a leading cause of indoor air pollution. Using household data from India, we show that households located farther away from the forest spend more time collecting. Distant households are likely to sell more fuelwood and buy less. That is, lower access to forests increases fuelwood collection and sale. This counter-intuitive behavior is triggered by two factors: lower access to forests (a) increases the fixed costs of collecting, which in turn leads to more collection; and (b) drives up local fuelwood prices, which makes collection and sale more profitable. We quantify both these effects. Using our estimates we show that a fifth of the fuelwood collected is consumed outside of rural areas, in nearby towns and cities. Our results imply that at the margin, fuelwood scarcity may lead to increased collection and sale, and exacerbate forest degradation.

A Grasp of the Current Status and Demand for Fuelwood Use in Private Subdivision of Rural Area: Case Study of Yaita City, Tochigi Prefecture

A Grasp of the Current Status and Demand for Fuelwood Use in Private Subdivision of Rural Area: Case Study of Yaita City, Tochigi Prefecture

Household Energy Demand in Typical Nigerian Rural Communities

This research investigates factors influencing domestic energy demand among rural households. Data were collected from 260 randomly sampled household heads in the study area. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Tobit regression were used for the analysis. Tobit regression results revealed that gender, household size, income, occupation, farm size, and per capita expenditure were significant in influencing the use of fuelwood; age, gender, household size, occupation, education, and per capita expenditure for charcoal, while age, marital status, income, education and per capita expenditure were significant determinants in the use of kerosene. Also, income, occupation, and per capita expenditure were the factors influencing the use of electricity among rural households in the study area. The study concluded that apart from income, other household variables were significant in determining energy usage. The study, therefore, recommended that government and stakeholders should develop policies that will promote the use of safe, reliable, and clean energy sources in order to reduce the negative environmental consequences while also enhancing human life quality.

Integrating bio-oil production from wood fuels to an existing heat and power plant - evaluation of energy and greenhouse gas performance in a Swedish case study

Combined heat and power (CHP) production in combination with a district heating (DH) grid gives an energy-efficient use of wood fuels. The heat demand in the DH grid will, however, decline in the coming decades, and operators are seeking additional heat sinks. In this case study, the integration of a pyrolysis unit into an existing CHP plant was investigated as a possible solution. The retrofitted pyrolysis unit makes use of excess heat and yields a liquid bio-oil. Pyrolysis integrated with CHP production was shown to give a net energy yield of at least 80%, and to decrease the net heat output to the DH grid. The carbon footprint of the delivered heat was very low at maximum 1.6 g CO2eq/MJ. Prolonging the operation of the pyrolysis unit to periods without heat delivery to the DH grid would increase the use of existing installations, but at the cost of energy yields decreasing to 63–70%. Up to 2.8 PJLHV/yr crude bio-oil could be produced at the investigated CHP plant. The bio-oil was shown to have a low carbon footprint, 1.7–4.0 g CO2eq/MJLHV, which makes it attractive for the rapidly expanding transport biofuel market.

Cross-scale analysis of diversification processes in fuelwood use in three contrasting ecoregions of Argentina (Chaco, Pampa and Patagonia): the role of exotic species in subsistence

Fuelwood is one of the main sources of energy for rural populations in many environments and ecosystems. However, little research has been done on the diversification processes associated with the use of woody plants for fuel (UWPF). This study was carried out in rural communities of three eco-regions of Argentina (the phytogeographical provinces of Chaco, Pampa and Patagonia). Open and semi-structured interviews were performed in 72 households, focusing on the current richness of fuelwood, supply strategies and gathering sites. The biogeographical origin of the mentioned species was established, and the pressure of use on fuel wood was evaluated indirectly. The results were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 78 species was recorded, of which 51 were native and 27 exotic. Gathering is the most common supply strategy in all the ecoregions studied, fuelwood being obtained mainly in sites with little human intervention. Pressure of use did not vary between native and exotic species. A generalized linear model showed that the use of native versus exotic species varied according to the ecoregion and the level of human intervention in the supply area, while acquisition strategies were similar for both native and exotic species in all eco-regions. Each region presented different use patterns, but the areas with most human intervention were always used to gather exotic plants. In line with our hypothesis, the diversification processes in UWPF varied according to ecoregion, each area having intrinsic characteristics associated with its history. The exotic species currently used as fuel wood increase the repertory of plants recognised and used by the local population.

Household Use of Cooking Biomass Fuels and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Rural Bangladeshi Children

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Studies have examined the association between the use of solid fuel for cooking and birth outcomes, however, data on the potential effect of cooking biomass fuel according to fuel type and cooking time is limited. METHODS: In this birth cohort study, pregnant women who were 18 years or older with an ultrasound confirmed singleton pregnancy of ≤16 weeks gestation were recruited from two Bangladesh clinics between January 2008 and June 2011. The newborn size metrics were measured at the time of delivery. Exposure to cooking biomass fuels during pregnancy was assessed by an administered questionnaire. We assessed associations between household use of cooking biomass fuels and birth size and adverse birth outcomes including low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), and large for gestational age (LGA). RESULTS:A total of 1,137 participants were using biomass fuels, crop residues (30.3%) and fuelwood (69.7%), for cooking, respectively. After adjusting for covariates, the use of crop residues for cooking was associated with a 0.13 SD decrease in birth length (95% CI: 0.25, - 0.01), a 0.14 SD decrease in head circumference (95% CI: -0.26, -0.01), and increased risk for LBW (OR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.07, 2.15) compared with the use of fuelwood. We also found a negative association between time spent cooking and a decrease in head circumference (0.1 SD, 95% CI: -0.18, -0.02). CONCLUSIONS:The use of crop biomass for cooking was associated with a reduced birth size and increased risk for LBW in Bangladeshi children. Future studies are warranted to confirm our findings. KEYWORDS: cooking biomass, birth outcomes, prenatal exposure, environmental epidemiology, household air pollution, Bangladesh

Policies to reconcile forest conservation and rural development: A pathway to bridge the forest transition in Bhutan?

Reconciling economic development with forest conservation is a challenge, particularly for high-forest cover, low-deforestation countries. Using Bhutan as an illustrative case, this study addresses how forest management may be reformed to benefit rural areas with low risk of compromising conservation objectives. Our analytical framework combines an economy-wide model with a spatial forest resource assessment to analyse the effects of three policy scenarios that relax quotas for sustainable fuelwood production. Rural household welfare is found to improve across all three scenarios mainly due to better utilisation of labour in the agricultural off-season, a channel that is considered thanks to a novel model formulation. The share of total forest used increases from 15.4% in the base to 19.9% in the most expansive scenario, still leaving at least 80% of Bhutan’s forest unmanaged. The scenarios also show that incentives for reduced subsistence use of fuelwood and increased consumption of cleaner domestic energy may yield health benefits thanks to reduced indoor air pollution. The findings are of general relevance for countries aiming to bridge the forest transition and reconcile economic and ecological objectives. By incorporating seasonal labour and underemployment into an economy-wide model, the study provides a methodological contribution relevant to analyses of land use policy. It further highlights the need for improved data and further policy research that integrates forest ecosystem services within economy-wide simulation models.

Analysis of fine particulates from fuel burning in a reconstructed building at \xc7atalh\xf6y\xfck World Heritage Site, Turkey: assessing air pollution in prehistoric settled communities

The use of wood, dung and other biomass fuels can be traced back to early prehistory. While the study of prehistoric fuel use and its environmental impacts is well established, there has been little investigation of the health impacts this would have had, particularly in the Neolithic period, when people went from living in relatively small groups, to living in dense settlements. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Çatalhöyük, Turkey, is one of the earliest large ‘pre-urban’ settlements in the world. In 2017, a series of experiments were conducted to measure fine particulate (PM2.5) concentrations during typical fuel burning activities, using wood and dung fuel. The results indicate that emissions from both fuels surpassed the WHO and EU standard limits for indoor air quality, with dung fuel being the highest contributor for PM2.5 pollution inside the house, producing maximum values > 150,000 µg m−3. Maximum levels from wood burning were 36,000 µg m−3. Average values over a 2–3 h period were 13–60,000 µg m−3 for dung and 10–45,000 µg m−3 for wood. The structure of the house, lack of ventilation and design of the oven and hearth influenced the air quality inside the house. These observations have implications for understanding the relationship between health and the built environment in the past.

Socio-Economic Determinants of Household Continued Use of Solid Biofuels (Fuelwood and Charcoal) for Cooking Purposes in Sub-Saharan Africa- Kenya’s Situation

Solid biofuels (fuelwood and charcoal) remain the primary source of household cooking energy in Kenya. This has negatively impacted forest resources, people’s health, local climate patterns, and the country’s economy. Understanding the determinants of household use of these traditional energy resources is useful in the designing of policies and strategies aimed at facilitating energy transitions towards clean options. The current study evaluated the role of socio-economic factors in the determination of household use of fuelwood and charcoal for cooking purposes in Kenya. A desk study was conducted using the 2015/2016 Kenya Integrated household budget survey data published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Stepwise multiple regression using SPSS was run to determine how household size, female household headship, lack of education among household heads, ownership of housing unit, modern housing, access to credit, access to cash transfers, shock to household welfare, and household level of expenditure affect household utilisation of fuelwood and charcoal for cooking purposes. Results of the regression show that household ownership of a housing unit has a significant positive influence on household utilisation of fuelwood for cooking purposes. Access to credit has a significant negative influence on household charcoal utilisation, while both household expenditure beyond $71 and lack of education among household heads have a significant negative influence on household utilisation of fuelwood and a significant positive influence on household utilisation of charcoal. Therefore, the government of Kenya through its relevant authorities and agencies has a crucial role to play in ensuring that these socio-economic determinants of household use of solid biofuels are addressed. This is achievable through re-strategising, re-designing and designing policies aimed at facilitating households’ transition to clean energy alternatives and sustainable development.

Toward a better understanding of the impact of bioenergy use on mortality rate in EU28 region.

The objective of this research is to examine the impact of bioenergy usage on health outcomes, especially adult mortality in both developed and underdeveloped countries in the European Union, where the use of solid biomass is growing to generate bioheat, biocool, and biopower. Over the period studied, findings indicate that increased consumption of bioenergy has increased mortality rates in developed and underdeveloped EU28 countries during the period 1990-2018. This feedback proposes, using generalized least squares (GLS), that the resulting death rate from burning biomass-related cases is higher in the EU15 developed countries compared to EU13 underdeveloped countries. There is a need to lower burning biomass in the entire EU15 countries, more importantly its developed region, by critically evaluating the bioenergy production life cycle before it is available for final consumption. However, there is a continuous need to intensify stringent production procedures in the bioenergy industry in EU15 countries, more importantly the imported biomass crops for energy use. There is also a need to be consistent with the campaign on the usage of bioenergy products, i.e., bioheat, bioelectricity, and biofuels, particularly in the rural areas where the use of wood fuels for cooking, heating, and cooling are significant in EU15 developed countries in comparison to EU13 developing countries.

The potentials of technology complementarity to address energy poverty in refugee hosting landscapes in Uganda

The continued influx of refugees into Uganda confronts people and hosting landscapes with severe challenges. Vast volumes of biomass resources are required for energy and building materials. Consequently, woodlands have come under pressure as the key source within refugee-receiving regions. This raises the question of how to simultaneously achieve a higher standard of living and energy autonomy for the population while reducing primary resource demand and safeguarding nature. We propose that nature-based and/or technological adaptions can ameliorate this dramatic and deteriorating situation. We thus evaluated the impact of: (i) building autonomy by growing biomass resources on scale via approaches such as agroforestry and ii) enhancing energy efficiency through use of improved cook stoves (ICS) and switching toward renewable energy sources. Focusing on four Ugandan districts, we analyzed the energy and land demand of households and districts in three scenarios. Our results show all districts running into shortages of biomass resources and cultivable land and two districts already reaching their limits. An efficient use of woodfuel combined with solar energy could reduce primary energy demand by up to 37%. The remaining wood demand could be realized by agroforestry systems thereby ensuring household energy autonomy and access to reliable energy sources. We recommend combining energy efficiency measures and technology to reduce firewood demand with agroforestry solutions to satisfy the remaining necessities. Both are needed to reduce the essistential pressure on woodlands and increase the energy autonomy of refugee-hosting landscapes while respecting stakeholder needs.

An Agent-Based Sustainability Perspective on Payment for Ecosystem Services: Analytical Framework and Empirical Application

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), a market-based policy instrument for the conservation and environmental management that aims to coordinate the interests of upstream and downstream ecosystem service (ES) stakeholders, has been adopted worldwide. However, the success of PES depends on the desirability of programs targeting rural communities and smallholders. In this article, an agent-based sustainability perspective on PES was proposed and applied to examine a PES case study of the Converting-Orchard-to-Forest (COF) project in Dongjiang Headwater Watershed (DHW). We used household interview-based information and associated secondary data to quantitatively assess the environmental consequences and livelihood impacts of the COF project. The findings show that: (1) the COF participants at the upstream suffered from substantial income loss due to decreased orchard area; (2) the participants’ chemical fertilizer and compound fertilizer consumption was larger than their nonparticipating counterparts; and (3) the COF participants and nonparticipants increased the material assets and reduced their fuelwood use and increased the liquefied petroleum gas. Our findings suggest that, because of the significant income loss experienced by the upstream participants, the COF program is unsustainable with the participants very likely to cultivate the orchard again once the COF project ends. The research provides insightful information regarding PES implementation and sustainability of similar PES schemes.

Raising the profile of woodfuels in the forest landscape restoration agenda

AbstractForest landscape restoration (FLR) is being promoted as a means of tackling global challenges including land degradation, climate change, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. However, as the FLR agenda gains momentum, it is critical that FLR initiatives pay sufficient attention in promoting the sustainable management of woodfuels, so far overlooked. In many regions, woodfuels (firewood and charcoal) are the main energy source for households and play a pivotal role in local economies; yet they are also associated with environmental degradation and adverse health outcomes. Here we examine the reasons why it is important to raise the profile of woodfuels within the FLR agenda and highlight the enabling conditions needed to promote sustainable management of woodfuels. In landscapes where woodfuel use is prevalent, FLR initiatives should consider enhancing wood fuel supply by growing trees, promoting fuel‐efficient cookstoves and kilns, and shifting pressure from natural forests and woodlands to planted trees. We argue that if wood fuel issues are considered in the design, implementation and monitoring of FLR initiatives and are supported by appropriate policies, resources and technical capacity, this will greatly enhance the sustainability and success of FLR initiatives.

The effects of fuelwood on children’s schooling in rural Vietnam

Gathering fuelwood for cooking and heating represents a considerable time burden for households in rural Vietnam. In this paper we examine the effects of fuelwood use on children’s school attendance using a panel of households from the Vietnam Living Standards Survey. We match individual households to satellite imagery measuring leaf coverage at the time and location of each survey, providing a robust instrument to examine the impacts of resource collection on schooling. We find that using fuelwood as the primary energy source is associated with an 84 percentage point decrease in the likelihood of school enrollment. We also find mixed evidence that girls may be affected more severely than boys, but we are unable to rule out equal impacts across genders. Our results suggest that household energy choices and diminishing resource availability can have a lasting impact on childhood schooling and long-run poverty.

Biomass Energy Dependence in South Africa: Are the Western Cape Province households descending the energy ladder after improvement in electricity access?

South Africa was considered to have attained universal access to modern energy from 1994 to 2012. This meant that the number of households that moved away from the use of dirty energy to clean energy for domestic activities has drastically increased “ascending the energy ladder”. However, recent trends in household energy consumption in many developing countries are showing many households have either retained or are reversing to fuelwood use despite the modern energy access “descending the energy ladder”. Against this backdrop, the present study evaluates whether or not South African households are still using fuelwood for domestic activities” descending the energy ladder” even after the rapid improvement in electricity access. Both theoretical and empirical literature suggests that households in developing countries often choose their energy type based on certain factors. We take this assumption to test in the Western Cape Province by employing a quantitative cross-sectional survey design involving a structured questionnaire from 1199 fuel-wood household consumers. The findings revealed that electricity access has made households to “move up the energy ladder” instead of “descending the energy ladder” for the reasons of household marital status, size of the household, household income, and employment status of the household. The study recommends more investment in human capital to enable households to have easy access to modern clean energy.

Drivers of species’ use for fuelwood purposes: A case study in the Brazilian semiarid region

Efforts have been taken to understand the criteria for selecting plants for various purposes. However, regarding fuelwood use, there is still disagreement in the literature concerning the processes that drive their use. As a result, wood quality and its availability in the environment have alternated in studies as the main determinants in terms of predictive power. The main goal of this study was to understand the influence of these factors on the behavior of fuelwood gatherers. For this purpose, perceptions of the fuel quality and its availability in the environment were accessed, as well as the availability measured by ecological tools. The study was conducted in a rural community in the Northeast of Brazil, and it was found that a small range of five native species is considered more important locally. We found that biological, as well as ecological aspects influence the use of fuelwood.