Year of publication 2000

Despite being a major fuel in most Asian countries, wood energy is often not recognized as such by energy and forestry planners, and wood energy is often not incorporated into their planning activities. When there are policies and programs for wood energy they are often based on misconceptions, and are supported by proper planning, i.e. analysis of the current situation, forecasting of both demand and supply, analysis of economic, environmental and social impacts, and identification of intervention options. At present, many forestry and energy agencies in the region lack the capacities to incorporate wood energy into their planning activities. This manual provides an overview of the main aspects of wood energy planning. Its aim is to provide planners from forestry, energy, and other relevant agencies with the basic concepts of wood energy planning. Many of these concepts are similar to the concepts used in other fields of planning, like energy or forestry planning, for which extensive literature is available. This manual provides an overview of the main aspects of wood energy planning in one volume. Therefore, these aspects are not covered in-depth, and the focus is on their practical application. The list of references contains several publications that can be consulted for more extensive coverage.