COUNTRY COMPASS

Austria

Wood Energy Utilization - A case study
The wood energy case study on green chips for district heating in Austria, which is being prepared by FAO's Forest Products Division (see Forest Energy Forum No. 5), has been postponed in order to prepare a more detailed work plan that will include socio-economic and environmental aspects.

For more information, please contact: Miguel Trossero.

Cuba

La dendroenergía, una alternativa para el desarrollo energético sostenible en Cuba

Del 4 al 15 de abril de 2000 realicé la segunda misión de asistencia técnica al Proyecto FAO TCP/CUB/8925 La dendroenergía, una alternativa para el desarrollo energético sostenible en Cuba.

Vale la pena señalar que un año atrás, Cuba atravesaba una crisis energética muy profunda que llevaba mas de diez años de duración. En la actualidad, la crisis energética no está totalmente superada pero es menos crítica. Además, gracias a una coyuntura internacional orientada hacia la utilización de fuentes energéticas limpias y a las contribuciones técnicas realizadas por el proyecto, Cuba esta iniciando a considerar sus recursos bionergéticos como un componente para resolver parte de sus problemas energéticos. Por ejemplo, los trabajos realizados por el proyecto para promover la utilización de carbón vegetal como energético industrial, muestran que la producción anual de carbón vegetal podría incrementarse de 60 000 a 100 000 toneladas, sin mayores problemas y con una serie de ventajas para el país. Las 40 000 toneladas adicionales podrían ser utilizadas en el sector siderúrgico para la sustitución de carbón mineral importado. Se estima que el valor de dicha sustitución permitiría al país ahorrar anualmente unos 20 millones de dólares EE.UU.

Por otro lado, el proyecto se encuentra ahora bien establecido, con su personal, su propia oficina e instrumentos de trabajo operativos, y ya está logrando los primeros resultados interesantes. También ha logrado organizar los grupos de trabajo en las áreas demostrativas, los cuales han iniciado sus tareas de campo en las provincias de Guantánamo y Cienfuegos.

Aparte de las actividades realizados para promover la utilización del carbón vegetal, el proyecto esta evaluando los aspectos técnicos, económicos y ambientales para la producción de bioelectricidad por parte de la industria azucarera, mediante la utilización de una combinación de biocombustibles como bagazo y residuos forestales. Hay otros ejemplos también muy atractivos en la industria del cemento, del tabaco y del café sobre los cuales les informaremos en los próximos números.

Con la finalidad de identificar las tecnologías que podrían ser utilizadas en Cuba para la realización de los proyectos antes mencionados, el proyecto inició con algunos viajes de sus técnicos al exterior. Por ejemplo, el ingeniero J. Sotolongo viajó a España y a Francia, donde participó en las jornadas de la Primera Exposición y de la Conferencia sobre la biomasa para fines energéticos e industriales, realizadas en Sevilla del 5 al 9 de junio de 2000. Allí presentó las actividades del proyecto en la provincia de Guantánamo y estableció contacto con numerosos participantes del sector publico y privado de diversos países. Luego viajó a Francia donde, con la estrecha asistencia de CIRAD-Fôret, visitó no solo sus laboratorios sino que además realizó una serie de visitas a empresas dedicadas a las actividades bioenergéticas.

Próximamente y con objetivos similares, viajará a Brasil el director nacional del proyecto, ingeniero R. Padrón, quien se encuentra abocado en estos momentos a la organización de dicha visita y a la atención a los diversas consultorías internacionales y nacionales que se estén llevando a cabo por cuenta del proyecto.

Para más información, dirigirse a:
Sr. Rolando Padron
Director nacional del Proyecto TCP
c/o Representación de la FAO
Casilla 16004, La Habana 16, Cuba
Fax: (+53 7) 286409
Correo electrónico: [email protected]

France

The French Government plans to increase spending on renewable energy by more than US$75 million per year. The proposal was one of 100 measures contained in a government plan to address the issue of climate change in the country. A key element of the plan is to introduce an energy tax in 2001, whereby companies would be required to pay US$23 to $31 (FF 150 to 200) for every tonne of carbon they produce. The tax would increase to US$76 per tonne (FF 500) by 2010. (Source: Trends in Renewable Energies, No. 115, cited in Red Internet en Bioenergía.)

Guatemala

Guatemalan cookstoves
During a recent visit to the highlands of Guatemala, Pat Manley, a Canadian expert, built cement block and brick cookstoves in a relocated Mayan Indian village called Ixtahuacan, to the west of and about 1 000 m higher than nearby Xela. These cookstoves are particularly appropriate at higher elevations, where they also benefit from heat retained in the mass.

The sides were built with block, the firebox with local fired brick and fabricated cooking tops were purchased in the town. The final finish was cement on top, around the outside of the metal stovetop, and Hi-lime stucco on the sides.

Masonry heaters store heat. Energy from a short hot fire is stored in the thermal mass and can provide heat all day long. It is by far the cleanest way to burn cordwood.

The local people burn wood that they harvest at a lower elevation and carry up on their backs. Ixtahuacan was destroyed in two natural disasters in 1998. First, in January, an earthquake shook the village apart, then in October Hurricane Mitch washed it away. The entire surviving population (slightly less than 3 000 people) has been relocated to the mountain highlands, 20 km away and 1 000 m or so higher, to rebuild their village. Most of these people have next to nothing. Wood is the only fuel reasonably available to them. (Source: MHA News - the Heater Builder's e-zine, the Masonry Heater Information Site.)

For more information, please contact: Norbert Senf, Masonry Stove Builders, RR 5, Shawville, Québec J0X 2Y0, Canada.
Fax: +1 819 647 6082;
E-mail: [email protected];
www.mha-net.org/msb

GuinÉe-Bissau

Utilisation rationnelle du patrimoine forestier - Projet GCP/GBS/022/EC
Le contexte. La Guinée-Bissau, avec une superficie de 36 125 km², disposait en 1990 d'une couverture forestière d´environ 70 pour cent. La dégradation des forêts atteint malgré tout des dimensions alarmantes, et la diminution en surface est estimée à environ 50 000 ha par an. Parmi les causes, la carbonisation occupe une place importante.

Le bois-énergie présente plus de 80 pour cent de l´exploitation forestière du pays et environ 90 pour cent du bilan énergétique national. Dans ce contexte, les prélèvements de bois-énergie ont été estimés, en 1999, à 866 000 tonnes.

Depuis 1990, un accroissement important et accéléré des activités de carbonisation sur la presque totalité du territoire est constaté et, suite au phénomène de croissance des villes, la demande de charbon de bois continuera à augmenter. En outre, les méthodes de carbonisation utilisées étant peu efficaces et les coupes de bois mal effectuées, les rendements sont très bas (8 à 12 pour cent).

La filière bois-énergie est peu structurée et appartient essentiellement au secteur informel.

Une intervention se révélait donc nécessaire, à travers le Projet GCP/GBS/022/EC, visant surtout:

· l´introduction et la vulgarisation des techniques améliorées de carbonisation: four à haut rendement (MATI), techniques de coupe améliorées, aménagement et gestion des ressources forestières;

· l´organisation et la structuration de la filière bois-énergie (professionnalisation, légalisation, taxation, contrôle institutionnel).

Le projet a été financé par la Communauté Européenne pour un montant de 1 million de dollars EU et exécuté par la FAO. Le projet a démarré en juin 1997 une durée de 36 mois.

Les principales activités

1. Formation des cadres institutionnels dans les domaines de techniques améliorées de la carbonisation, de la vulgarisation, de l´approche participative et de la gestion des forêts communautaires.

2. Vulgarisation des techniques améliorées: le four MATI, le Code éthique du charbonnier, l'aménagement des forêts, la valorisation des résidus. La vulgarisation comprend les diagnostics participatifs, les démonstrations, les formations et le suivi, ainsi que l'organisation des groupes cibles.

3. Sensibilisation des populations urbaines et rurales: émissions télévisées et radiophoniques et élaboration et diffusion de matériaux didactiques (feuillets, manuels, etc.).

4. Élaboration d'une proposition technique de structuration et organisation de la filière bois-énergie.

5. Élaboration d'une proposition de système de taxation adapté pour le charbon de bois et le bois de feu.

6. Mise en place d'une base de données fiables sur le secteur bois-énergie.

Résultats principaux

· L'équipe du projet (10 cadres) maîtrise les techniques améliorées et une vingtaine de cadres institutionnels ont été formés à ces techniques.

· La vulgarisation des techniques améliorées auprès de 30 villages et la formation de 470 charbonniers. La vulgarisation a été mise en place suivant trois phases, à savoir: i) la vulgarisation du four MATI et du Code éthique; ii) l'aménagement forestier; et iii) l'organisation villageoise.

· La proposition technique d´organisation de la filière a été adoptée officiellement par le Ministère de l'agriculture, des forets et de la chasse et sa mise en _uvre a démarré. Des objectifs et des actions sont prévues à court, moyen et long terme, visant finalement la préparation et la mise en place de schémas directeurs d'approvisionnement et un Programme national d'aménagement des forêts naturelles.

· Les propositions de taxation forestière et du Fonds Forestier seront incluses dans la révision de la Loi forestière en voie de finalisation.

Une continuation du projet est prévue, au niveau national à travers l'équipe nationale et les institutions de tutelle (Direction des forêts et de la chasse et l'Institution de recherche et de technologie appliquée) ; et au niveau international (pour le développement des actions d'aménagement des ressources forestières, également dans un cadre sous-régional).

Pour plus de détails, veuillez contacter: Représentant de la FAO, BP 894, Bissau, Guinée-Bissau.
Mél.:  [email protected] ou   
M. Frans Pareyn, Rua Cerquiz Elias, 16, Alagamar, 59.090-600 Natal RN, Brésil.
Mél.: [email protected]

India

Island electrification through biomass gasification
West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA), Calcutta has recently awarded the contract for Electrification of Chhotomollakhali Islands in the Sunderbans using a biomass gasifier to M/s Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Baroda, India. This is the second such project with a power plant rating of 500 kWe.

The first trend-setting and ambitious project for Gosaba Island in the Sunderbans was commissioned for WBREDA by M/s Ankur Scientific, Baroda in June 1997. The projects are jointly funded by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES), Government of India and WBREDA/State Government and implemented by WBREDA, the state nodal agency. The overall management at the local level is by a rural energy cooperative specifically formed for the purpose. The project already has more than 400 customers and there has been an active demand for extending the services to other parts of the island. MNES has therefore sanctioned an additional feeder line that will allow the project to serve another 200 customers.

Encouraged by the unqualified success of the Gosaba project, the Chhotomollahkhali project has already been initiated and should be operative before the end of 2000. WBREDA is also preparing ambitious plans for the entire Sunderbans area for extensive use of this environment-friendly and cost-effective technology. Similar plans are also being formulated or implemented in various northeastern states of the country, where diesel-based power generation is extensively practised.

For more information, please contact: B.C. Jain, Managing Director, Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies Pvt. Ltd, ANKUR, Near Old Sama Jakat Naka, Baroda - 390 008, India.
Fax : +91 265 794042;
E-mail : [email protected];
www.ankurscientific.com

Mexico

Transportation fuels
Densely populated urban centres in many developing countries suffer from pollution and air-quality problems that are far worse than those found in major United States cities. Emissions from fossil-based transportation fuels are a primary contributor to the problem. Using ethanol as a gasoline additive can help. Research has shown that adding ethanol to unleaded gasoline can reduce volatile organic compounds, sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Ethanol is a liquid fuel normally produced from biomass such as sugar cane.

The biotechnology experts from the international team of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are beginning a collaborative effort with Mexico. It is planned to construct a large sugar-cane-to-ethanol plant in southern Mexico, in the State of Campeche near the Yucatán Peninsula. The plant will process some 97 000 ha of sugar cane into ethanol. Working with local Mexican officials, NREL researchers will assist plant engineers to integrate some of the biofuels technology developed at NREL with conventional ethanol production processes. With the help of NREL's technology, the plant could increase ethanol yields by as much as 10 percent compared with conventional yeast-fermentation processes.

For more information, please contact: Ms Jeannie Renne, Environmental Programs Project Leader or
Mr Rafael Nieves, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd MS 2721,
Golden, CO 80401, USA.
Fax: +1 303 384 7419;
E-mail: [email protected]   or[email protected]

Nigeria

Centre for Household Energy and the Environment
The Centre for Household Energy and the Environment (CEHEEN) was established in response to the need for a household energy programme, which has recently become an issue of national interest. So much is taking place in the household energy sector in Nigeria, a country where 70 percent of the estimated 120 million people (84 million people) mainly use energy for cooking meals. Nevertheless, little is known about the household energy situation.

After two years of intensive programme activities on household energy, CEHEEN has acquired enough experience with case studies, which they would like to share with energy workers and organizations worldwide. To this end, CEHEEN would like to be invited to any household energy seminars, conferences and workshops being planned in order that they can present a paper and demonstrate their techniques at such fora. Apart from giving them the opportunity to meet and share information and data with energy experts, it will serve as a medium for capacity building which is at present invaluable in order that they can update their technical knowledge in household energy issues in other countries.

They currently have research and technical papers in the following areas:

· household energy aspect of sustainable development;
· indoor air pollution control in the household energy sector;
· waste-to-wealth technologies;
· household energy dimension of poverty alleviation;
· greenhouse gas emissions and household energy technologies;
· women's empowerment issues;
· rural development issues; and
· energy and environmental impact assessment.

Organizations interested in acquainting themselves with the household energy situation in the South could use Nigeria's experience as a case study. (Source: E-mail list - [email protected])

For more information, please contact: Mr Joe Obueh, Centre for Household Energy and the Environment (CEHEEN); E-mail: [email protected]

South Africa

A new multiyear project of the Minerals and Energy Policy Centre (MEPC) in Johannesburg has as its aim the promotion of clean and efficient energy technologies throughout the southern African region. MEPC, together with its partner organization in Botswana, will be the southern African focal point for the Organization for the Promotion of Clean and Efficient Energy Technologies (OPET) international network.

The project leader will manage the interaction with the international OPET programme and will assist in the dissemination of and awareness creation for international research and development results in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy. In addition, the incumbent will manage and oversee a number of current and future energy projects. These include research and consulting projects focusing on the transformation of the energy sector, energy planning and forecasting, as well as implementation of monitoring and evaluation programmes.

For more information, please contact: Mr Frank Hochmuth, Programme Leader-Tirisano, Minerals and Energy Policy Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Fax: +27 11 403 8023;
E-mail: [email protected];
www.mepc.org.za

Sri Lanka

Fuelwood-based gasifier system for Sri Lanka: a proposal for funding
This fuelwood-based gasifier system proposal has been submitted by Mr E.S. Mahendrarajah of the Gnanammah Integrated Research Farm in Sri Lanka. The proponent and their community are anxiously looking for vendors of technologies and prospective funding to assist them particularly through the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.

At present, in Sri-Lanka, 70 percent of households are mostly found in rural areas and do not have access to the grid. According to the 1991 Rural Electrification Master Plan, only approximately 42 percent of all households would be able to use the grid system even if there were an attempt to install a grid extension. This is mainly because the population is highly dispersed throughout the countryside and load requirements are rather low. Such distances could amount to transmission losses of over 18 percent - hence, the opportunities for biomass-based electricity generation.

Agriculture/energy/electricity situation
Although agriculture is a modest energy consumer in the developing countries, low-intensity energy forms cannot sustain adequate developments in the rural sectors. In Sri Lanka, agriculture produces more output per unit of energy than the economy as a whole. Increased agricultural productivity is also associated with higher biomass supplies. This offers excellent opportunities for conversions to higher-grade or modern forms of energy such as electricity, which may be used in agriculture and other sectors.

As a modern energy carrier, electricity contributes immensely to agricultural productivity and to the improvement of the quality of life especially for the rural populations. When compared with all other forms of support systems, provision of electricity has been found to be one of the most potent forces of change, particularly towards reducing poverty. It enhances the possibilities for income generation and employment availability in the villages, thus helping to prevent migration to urban areas. The use of modern technologies saves resources and frees up huge amounts of scarce funds and skills that may be needed for other more urgent development needs. In Tamil Nadu, India, electricity for irrigation purposes is provided free of charge to farmers. This not only increases their agricultural productivity but also saves them the cost of otherwise spending on expensive engine-driven pump-sets.

Opportunities available for utilizing biomass in the rural areas
Paddy straw: Present-day agriculture has become a nutrient mining exercise. One hectare of land producing 5 000 kg of paddy, removes 100 kg of nitrogen (N), 16 kg of phosphorus (P) and 128 kg of potassium (K). Farmers compensate by applying 375 kg of mineral fertilizers which provide 117 kg N, 23 kg P and 43 kg K. The straw from a 5 000 kg paddy harvest is also around 5 000 kg which, recycled, replenishes 36 kg N, 4.5 kg P and 112 kg K if the straw can be converted into biogas via the recently developed "dry batch type biogas plants" of Sri Lanka. One cubic metre of gas per tonne of straw per day can be generated, on a continuous basis, for about five to six months. Furthermore, the additional urea to the biogas for the adjustment of the carbon-nitrogen ratio enhances the quality of the organic fertilizer and helps release nitrogen on a gradual basis. This site-specific technology, in addition to providing gas and fertilizer, also produces a liquor that has "pesticide-related" properties. The movement and hauling of straw and fertilizers to and from the biogas plant and the fields will also create extra work opportunities in the villages.

Fuelwood-based gasifier systems: A 150 kW gasifier genset can supply the needs of a village of about 300 families. In addition, it could also supply electricity and heat to run a bakery, ricemill, milk-processing plant or any other small-scale industry. Should the grid be close by, surplus electricity may be sold, thus generating additional income. Such a gasifier plant will need about 3.5 tonnes of dry biomass per day to work at full capacity. The following strategies can be adopted to meet the quantity of fuelwood needed:

· plant fast-growing multipurpose species of trees along fences and on marginal lands: Gliricidia, Calliandra, Brosimum alicastrum, etc. are recommended;

· paddy fields planted with Sesbania bispinosa as a relay crop can produce 15 tonnes per hectare of stems within six months, while fixing nitrogen of nearly 100 kg, and about 4 000 kg of leaf litter;

· Cajanus cajan, when planted in fields, provides more than 2 tonnes of fuelwood per season per hectare, in addition to its valuable pods;

· dedicated fuelwood plantations on marginal lands can be developed using the following species: Acacia auriculiformis, Eucalyptus torreliana, Acacia decurrens, Eucalyptus robusta, Acacia melanoxylon, Gliricidia sepium, Acacia mollissima, Grevillea robusta, Acacia senegal, Leucaena leucocephala, Albizia lebek, Pithecollobium dulce, Azadirachta indica, Prosopis juliflora, Calliandra calothyrsus, Psidium guajava, Cassia siamea, Samanea saman, Casuarina cunninghamiana, Sesbania grandiflora, Casuarina equisetifolia, Terminalia catappa, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus grandis, Sesbania bispinosa, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Tephrosia vogelli and mangrove species.

For more information, please contact: Mr E.S. Mahendrarajah, Gnanammah Integrated Research Farm, 7/4 Kings Street, Matale 21000, Sri Lanka.
Fax: +94 66 23519;
E-mail: [email protected]

United States of America

"Green power" electricity
The United States will install more than 100 MW of new renewable energy this year to meet the demand for "green power electricity. This level is almost double the amount of capacity that has already been installed across the country to date. Up to the end of 1999, total new renewable energy facilities built solely to supply green power were 112 MW. An analysis shows that wind power currently supplies 57 MW of new capacity, or more than three quarters of the total. Less than 31 MW of new turbines will be installed this year, dropping the share of wind energy to 43 percent. Most of the gain will go to biomass, which will install more than 38 MW this year to provide 54 percent of all new renewable energy capacity. Geothermal generates less than 7 MW for the green power market, while solar PV provides 2.5 MW and will install 2 MW this year to provide only 2 percent of the total capacity from renewables. (Source: Trends in Renewable Energies, No. 115, cited in Red Internet en Bioenergía.)

Biomass Energy Foundation
The Biomass Energy Foundation has set up a 46.4-m² stove laboratory and a small library in Pleasant View (Golden), Colorado, USA. Two students from the Colorado School of Mines are doing research on forced convection stoves.

For more information, please contact: Mr Thomas B. Reed, Biomass Energy Foundation, 1810 Smith Road, Golden, CO 80401, USA.
Fax: +1 303 278 0560;
E-mail: [email protected]

Yugoslavia

Kosovo Forestry Emergency and Rehabilitation Project, Phase
FAO's Special Relief Operations Service, in close collaboration with its Forest Products Division and Investment Centre Division, fielded a mission to Kosovo Province, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in late 1999 (see Forest Energy Forum No. 5). One of the main issues addressed by the consultant forestry specialist was fuelwood; in particular, the setting up of a fuelwood project before the winter.

Some basic assumptions that were formulated for Phase I of the project document no longer have the same relevance and a revised programme of activities has therefore been suggested. The activities proposed, however, are also of an emergency nature even though some were initially meant to be covered in Phase II. For instance, the emergency factor in this respect is not to promote tree cutting for fuelwood purposes, but rather to control and reduce the ongoing cutting and coordinate the supply through supplementary import. The market and demand for fuelwood regulate the trade for which there is sufficient equipment on the ground for harvesting, transportation and distribution. The project, in cooperation with the United Nations Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) central and decentralized structure and NGOs, would coordinate these activities.

The timber wood supply for house repair and fuelwood operations (cutting, transporting, chopping, splitting, stacking, depot establishment and distribution) is regarded as the major emergency element in the project document. Although the budget caters for heavy mechanical inputs to support this component, in practive the project cannot by any means fulfil the quantities needed for 10 000 households. Converted to wood volume, the targeted quantity is in the area of 400 000 m³. Although half of this quantity might have to be imported, the operation would require approximately 200 000 work days. If the wood is meant to be distributed free of charge, as in other wood relief operations, the project document is unclear about how this cost, amounting to several million dollars, is expected to be covered.

The critical winter season for which the fuelwood needed was provided with minimal external mechanical assistance is over. However, Kosovo is now suffering from the overcutting by local mechanical resources. According to the FAO tractor repair programme, approximately 20 000 tractors were in operation after the conflict, in addition to a considerable number of horses. Many of these have probably been mobilized in the wood operations. By July, after the completion of the repair scheme, there will be 30 000 functioning tractors in Kosovo. Many of them are available for use outside the busy agricultural seasons; thus, apparently, sufficient equipment and operational harvesting and transport capacity are available on the ground. Consequently, it would not be logical to increase the harvesting capacity, but rather to activate the existing capacity in a controlled manner. Subcontracting to local loggers and local transporters on a stumpage fee basis and mobilizing local people, under the supervision of forest guards, would be the most feasible strategy in order to manage future wood harvesting operations.

For more information, please contact: Mr J. Lorbarch, Officer-in-Charge, Forest Harvesting, Trade and Marketing Branch (FOPH), Forest Products Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.
Fax: +39 06 52255618;
E-mail: [email protected]
 

Zambia

Energy and Environmental Concerns for Zambia, a non-governmental organization, is looking for individuals or organizations to work with as consultants or partners in order to prepare fundable project proposals. Their main areas of operation are:

· environmental management;
· improved cooking stoves;
· rural electrification using renewable energy;
· gender and sustainable development;
· household energy efficiency;
· energy efficiency and pollution control in the transport sector;
· capacity building for members; and
· climate change.

Wood Energy is a very relevant topic in Zambia - only 18 percent of the households are connected to the main grid and the rest use fuelwood

Energy and Environmental Concerns for Zambia would like to hear from organizations and Ph.D. students who wish to conduct research in developing countries. According to Mr Geoffrey Musonda, "We are just starting up and we would like to encourage anyone with something to offer to get in touch with us. We would also like to work with any organization wanting to extend its operations to this part of the world."

For more information, please contact: Mr Geoffrey Musonda, Secretary, Energy and Environmental Concerns for Zambia, PO Box 51288, Lusaka, Zambia.
E-mail: [email protected]

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