The FAO statistical database contains information on fuelwood and charcoal within the recently adopted WAICENT (FAOSTAT) and the Forest Product Yearbook published by the Forestry Department.
FAO employs two major channels to collect woodfuel information and statistical data: the Forestry Department and UN-ECE. Recently, FAO and UN-ECE have established an Inter-Secretariat Working Group together with EUROSTAT and ITTO for the joint collection of data on forest products. Moreover, they have adopted a Unified Questionnaire on the performance of various aspects of the forest product sectors, including fuelwood and charcoal. Each organisation collects data from a group of countries to avoid duplication and to reduce workload, and then exchanges the data and information collected with other organisations.
Other biofuels and energy related aspects are not yet systematically considered by FAO.
3.1.1. Forestry Department
Wood energy statistics consist mainly of figures on the consumption, production, import and export of fuelwood and charcoal. FAO definitions currently used for the compilation and presentation of statistical data on woodfuels in the Forest Products Yearbook are:
Fuelwood and Charcoal: The commodities included are fuelwood (coniferous and non-coniferous) and the roundwood equivalent of charcoal (using a factor of 6.0 to convert from charcoal weight in metric tons (MT) to solid volume units (CUM)).
Fuelwood: Wood in the rough (from trunks, and branches of trees) to be used as fuel for purposes such as cooking, heating or power production. from Coniferous (C) and Non-Coniferous (NC)
Charcoal : Wood carbonized by partial combustion or application of heat from an external source. It is used as a fuel or for other uses. Figures are given in weight (MT).
3.1.2 UN-ECE
The former Timber Section of the UN-ECE Trade Division and the forestry staff attached to the FAO Liaison Office at Geneva, have produced the European Timber Trend Study V (ETTS V). A chapter of this outlook study is devoted to energy from wood.
The various wood types have been disaggregated in line with the following definitions:
· Fuelwood
· Industry residues
Primary residues : residues from saw milling and panel-producers
Secondary residues : residues from joinery, furniture, wooden elements, etc.
Pulp and paper residues: bark and chips residues of the pulp- and paper industry
· Recovered wood
· Black liquors
The main forms of categorization are not based on the inherent quality of the wood, but on the location of wood origin. (An implicit inherent quality criterion used is: black liquor or non-black liquor.)
Disaggregation into consumer sectors is as follows [according to questionnaire]:
1. Households;
2. Forest industry;
3. Intermediate users, including: district heating plants, non-forest industry, and consumers like schools and hospitals;
4. Manufacture of charcoal;
5. Manufacture of wood-derived solid fuels (such as pellets and briquettes); and
6. Manufacture of synthetic fuels.
In general IEA publishes two types of statistical output for OECD countries. The energy balances are the most aggregated as regards types of energy sources, but present all data in energy units so that the whole system of production, transformation and supply is in balance. Wood is included here under the aggregated item of "combustible renewables and waste".
The other output is for basic energy statistics. This gives a higher level of disaggregation and presents data in their original units (e.g. tons, m3, litres, etc.). It does include production, transformation and sectoral consumption.
The main biofuel types are included under "combustible renewables and waste" split up into "solid biomass and animal products", "gas/liquids from biomass", "municipal solid waste" and "industrial waste".
The item "solid biomass and animal products" is further disaggregated into "wood", "vegetal waste (including the share of "wood waste"), "black liquors" and "other solid biomass". Only production figures are included.
IEA organized a meeting of the Energy Statistics Working Group for their Member States, which took place in Paris from 22 to 23 November 1999 to examine possible change to introduced in the annual energy questionnaires, and to learn from the countries the most recent developments in terms of energy and environment policies. Immediately after another meeting was held on 24 November on the Harmonisation of International Energy Statistics in order to examine similarities and differences in definitions and methodologies and examine ways and means to reduce the differences. These initiatives open new opportunities for more cooperation among the organisations involved with energy statistics and energy information systems.
In 1991, EUROSTAT began collecting and presenting renewable energy statistics for member countries. The database contains information on bioenergy and is organized according to the following categories of users:
1. Heat production by burning firewood in households
2. Heat production in district heating plants burning wood/wood waste/other solid waste
3. Heat production (exclusively) for on-site use in industry burning wood/wood waste/other solid waste.
4. Electricity generation by the public supply and auto producers.
Major woodfuel products/commodities are divided under
· wood
· waste
· other solid waste which includes: firewood, wood wastes (wood chips, bark, etc.), black liquor, straw and other agricultural wastes.
Estimation has also been made for total biomass/waste uses including MSW, anaerobic fermentation and biofuel production.
Statistics include information on wood energy for the following sectors:
· Households
· Manufacturing
· Services/commercial sector.
Wood as an energy source is not further disaggregated. In the household sector, disaggregation is available for the end use of the energy source (e.g. space heating, cooking, etc.).