3.1 Trends in wood energy consumption – 1990 to 2000
3.2 Factors affecting woodfuels production and supply
3.3 Woodfuels supply-consumption balance

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3. Wood energy situation analysis

Despite the data limitations discussed earlier, it is possible to provide broad trends of the wood energy situation in countries and discuss the general patterns of consumption and supply of wood energy across the region.

3.1 Trends in wood energy consumption – 1990 to 2000

Woodfuels and other biofuels were a significant energy source in all the countries from 1990 to 2000. In Cambodia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, it was the largest energy source used (Table 8).

Table 8. Percentage share of woodfuels in total energy supply

Country	Year data was estimated	Woodfuels	Other biofuels	Other fuels
Cambodia	2000	78.91	1.39	19.70
India	1997	25.02	21.43	53.55
Lao PDR	1995	97.60	0.00	2.40
Nepal	2000	76.42	9.87	13.71
Pakistan	1996	19.90	16.50	63.60
Philippines	2001	19.47	9.15	71.37
Sri Lanka32	2000	48.45		51.55
Thailand	2000	11.40	7.50	81.10
Viet Nam	1999	35.77	20.20	44.03

Consumption of wood energy increased in the 1990s, though not as rapidly as for other energy sources, as was the case in some countries. Such an increase in consumption of wood energy occurred within a period of growing economies, increasing share of industrial and service sector activities, modernizing agriculture, and increasing urbanization. These are indications that life in these countries was generally getting better, yet many countries continued to use wood energy. Wood energy made a significant contribution to the energy supply mix that fueled the economic development in these countries during the past decade and continues to do so today.

3.1.1 Population growth and woodfuels consumption

The ten countries covered by this report are home to a significant percentage of the world’s population, with India alone having a 17 percent of the world’s population. Some countries have significant population growth rates, particularly the South Asian countries. Population growth is one of the key factors driving the amount of resources, such as energy resources, used by a country (Table 9).

Earlier wood energy projection studies assumed simplistically that wood energy consumption is linearly correlated with population, and as population growth rate is exponential, so too were the projections for wood energy consumption. Later studies showed that this was not so, as can be seen in several of the country reports submitted for this regional study.

Table 9. Population data

Countries	Total population 2000 (millions)	Total population growth rate (%)	Urban population(% of total population)	Urban population growth rate (%)
Cambodia	12.2	3.7	23.5	5.0
India	1 002.1	1.7	28.4	2.8
Lao PDR	5.2	2.6	23.5	5.6
Malaysia	23.3	2.4	57.3	3.4
Nepal	22.9	2.4	11.9	5.4
Pakistan	137.5	2.4	37.0	4.3
Philippines	78.4	2.2	58.6	3.6
Sri Lanka	19.4	1.3	23.6	2.3
Thailand	62.4	1.0	21.6	2.3
Viet Nam	77.7	1.6	19.7	2.0

Source: ADB. 2000.

3.1.2 Other factors influencing energy consumption

There are other factors influencing wood energy consumption in particular, and energy consumption, in general. These factors include:

§ increases in household income;

§ availability of alternative fuels (e.g. petroleum), which is generally a function of urbanization;

§ adoption of fuel saving measures (either voluntarily initiated or promoted through programmes); and

§ increases in the activities of enterprises that remain dependent on woodfuels.

Thus, even if continued increases in woodfuels consumption can be seen, the mixed impacts of the aforementioned factors caused the increases to be less rapid than had been projected.

(a) Impact of economic changes

All economies expanded during the last decade, albeit at different rates. But there were significant contractions in the aftermath of the 1997 financial crisis for some of the countries. Most of these were also the countries that had the greatest economic expansion in the late 1980s to mid-1990s (e.g. Thailand). Agriculture still significantly contributes to many economies, but industries and services have increased their share (Table 10).

Modernization of lifestyle and intensification of agriculture usually accompany rapid increases in economic activities by industrial and service sectors. The economic structure, as characterized by percentage contribution of the three sectors (i.e. agriculture, industries and services), is a key factor influencing the type and amount of energy used.

Generally, it is believed that, increasing industrial and service outputs and modernization of agriculture correlate to increasing use of so-called “modern energy” such as electricity and petroleum products and less use of “traditional energy”, i.e. wood and other bioenergy sources. More recent information, as can be seen in the country reports, indicate that woodfuels are still used in many industrial and service activities, such as heating for agro-processing; small- and medium-scale industries, household-based livelihood activities, particularly food processing, and food service establishments. In rural areas there are many traditional industries that, in spite of the in-roads of modern technologies, remain dependent on woodfuels. As mentioned before, woodfuels use by industries and other enterprises, including the informal sector, are still not captured in official energy consumption statistics, thus underestimating the contribution of woodfuels to the economy.

Table 10. Percentage of sectoral GDP – 1990 and 2000

Country	1990			2000
	Agriculture	Industry	Services	Agriculture	Industry	Services
Cambodia	55.6	11.2	33.2	37.1	23.7	39.3
India	31.0	29.3	39.7	25.3	26.2	48.5
Lao PDR	61.2	14.5	24.3	53.2	23.0	23.8
Malaysia	15.2	42.2	42.6	8.6	51.7	39.7
Nepal	51.6	16.2	32.1	39.8	22.1	38.1
Pakistan	26.0	25.2	48.8	26.3	22.8	50.9
Philippines	21.9	34.5	43.6	15.9	31.1	52.9
Sri Lanka	22.9	27.3	49.8	19.4	27.3	53.3
Thailand	12.5	37.2	50.3	9.1	41.7	49.2
Viet Nam	38.7	22.7	38.6	24.3	36.6	39.1

Source: ADB. 2000.

(b) Urbanization

Increasing urbanization characterized all the countries in the study. Increasing urbanization was the result mainly of rural to urban migration. Rural populations were attracted to better employment prospects and hoped for improved living conditions in urban areas. Projections indicate that such a migration trend will continue and even increase in the future. Again, it is generally believed that increasing urbanization leads to increasing use of “modern energy sources”.

However, as many of the migrants consist of the rural poor the apparent trend in many countries is the increasing concentration of poor people in urban areas . Several authors of the country reports discuss urban woodfuels flow case studies conducted in their countries (i.e. Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam). These studies show that poor people continue to use woodfuels even when they are in urban areas, and woodfuels use, particularly charcoal, is not confined to low-income households only. Many buy charcoal brought from rural areas by traders, making charcoal one of the biggest fuels consumed in many urban areas in the region.

As mentioned before, there are other woodfuels uses in urban areas, mostly heating applications in various processing industries (most notably, food industries) and food service establishments such as restaurants, roadside eateries, ambulant food vendors, and household based food-preparation activities. Such uses were also documented in the urban woodfuels flow case studies mentioned in the country reports. The studies found many food service establishments operating in the informal sector of the economy and as such, both the economic activity and wood energy consumption of these enterprises go unrecorded. However, as stated in all the country reports, even woodfuels consumption by “listed” industries and enterprises, was unrecorded. This could be a major source of underestimation of wood energy consumption in many countries.

(c) Poverty levels

The decade of the 1990s saw the incidence of poverty declining in the Asian region. (The biggest contribution was from China with more than 100 million people lifted out of poverty.) However, in other countries, particularly in South Asia, even although the incidence of poverty has declined, the absolute number of poor people has increased. The World Bank points out that the number people living under poverty in South Asia increased from 474 million to 522 million from 1990 to 1998 (Table 11).

Table 11. Population in poverty

Country	Population in poverty (%)			Number of people in poverty (millions)	Year data were obtained
	Total	Urban	Rural
Cambodia	35.9	25.2	40.0	35.9	1999
India	26.1	23.6	27.1	26.1	1999-2000
Lao PDR	38.6	26.9	41.0	38.6	1997-1998
Malaysia	8.1	3.8	13.2	8.1	1999
Nepal	42.0	23.0	44.0	42.0	1996
Pakistan	32.2	22.4	36.3	32.2	1998-1999
Philippines	40.0	25.0	54.4	40.0	2000
Sri Lanka	26.7	13.4	28.7	26.7	1995-1996
Thailand	12.9	1.5	17.2	12.9	1998
Viet Nam	37.0	9.0	45.0	37.0	1998

Source: ADB. 2000.

Woodfuels are the major cooking fuel (and space heating fuel in colder climates) for poor people in rural and urban areas. Woodfuels alternatives for the rural population consist of agricultural residues or animal wastes (cow dung), the use of which is constrained by the need for such materials to maintain soil fertility. They are also not as freely available as fuelwood, as permission to collect such fuels must be obtained first from the owner of the crop or animal.

In urban areas the high cost of both fuel and stoves limits the use of kerosene or LPG. As woodfuels, including the wood stove, are still the cheapest to acquire and use (though the supply may result in localized environmental problems in the areas from where woodfuels are being obtained), woodfuels markets flourish in urban areas.

The sheer number of people considered living below the poverty level, and the projections that the absolute number of poor people will remain large and will even increase, particularly in South Asia, is a guarantee that woodfuels use will remain significant in the region. Opportunities for combining sustainable wood energy development programmes with poverty alleviation programmes exist and should be exploited.

(d) Modern applications

Modern woodfuels applications can be divided into two categories. Those that involve the use of more efficient and “easier to control" energy end use devices such as kilns, furnaces or boilers that are equipped with modern control systems, and those that involve the use of new or non-conventional energy conversion processes.

Direct combustion of fuelwood in modern furnaces, kilns and boilers provides heat, hot water or low-pressure steam for industries, commercial enterprises and residential buildings. In places were fuelwood is sustainable and significant shifting from fuelwood to other fuels in households is taking place, more non-households users can be targeted for modern wood energy applications, particularly if commercial woodfuels flows (or trading) already exist in the area. Increases in modern applications can continue if the fuelwood supply is assured and remains cost competitive with fossil fuels (e.g. fuel oil or coal, which are subsidized in several countries). But there are other factors that limit this. There is lack of market awareness with respect to these modern wood energy systems (by both users and sellers) and limited local expertise in design, installation and after-sales service support for the systems.

Direct combustion of fuelwood for power generation (from 100 kW to tens of MW capacities), using wood wastes from wood processing industries can now be found in the region. These are large energy systems, consuming greater volumes of fuelwood. Most are designed to satisfy the electricity needs of the industry producing the waste itself, although more efficient systems such as co-generation systems have also been designed to produce more electricity and export it to the grid. The use of black liquor to produce steam and electricity is one example. As such, countries with large pulp and paper industries may report high values for industrial consumption of wood energy.

“Dendrothermal systems” are an example of a direct combustion system using woodfuels, wherein power generation plants are integrated with dedicated fuelwood tree plantations. These have been shown to be technically feasible, but their economic and commercial viability remains in doubt.

“Gasification” of woodfuels generates “producer gas” that can run internal combustion engines (ICEs). Gasification is a thermo-chemical process involving the heating of woodfuels in the absence or limited presence of air to generate the producer gas. It is being commercialized. Producer gas-fueled ICEs used to produce mechanical energy are nearer commercialization than those used for power generation. If commercialization of these systems can succeed, they can substitute a wide range of stationary applications currently satisfied by diesel and gasoline engines. Thus, gasification systems have significant potential to increase woodfuels consumption. Again, there may also be cases where such uses may compete with current traditional energy uses of woodfuels (both fuelwood and charcoal) and crop wastes.

There are applications using modern wood energy technologies that are gaining commercial acceptance in developed countries, and these may also find their way to developing countries in the future. Fast carbonization of fuelwood to produce high-grade charcoal for specialized high-end cooking applications and/or to satisfy large industrial demand can be found in countries like the Netherlands and Brazil. There are also high-cost space-heating fuelwood stoves being marketed in developed countries as part of a “back-to-nature” lifestyle.

3.2 Factors affecting woodfuels production and supply

The wood energy supply is determined by the production potential for woody biomass in forests and other tree resource areas, which in turn is determined by the following:

• the ecological situation;

• changes in patterns of land uses;

• production and management practices for trees and other woody plants; and

• the accessibility of forests and other tree and woody-planted areas.

As most country reports presented very little data relating to woodfuels supply and production, most of the following discussions are based on other sources of data, particularly, the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2000 Report (FAO. 2001a).

3.2.1 The ecological situation

The countries included in this study are in the southern part of the Asian continent where ecological conditions vary significantly. The local ecological condition is a factor in determining the woody biomass production potential of an area. The varying ecological conditions indicate the varying wood resource production potentials among countries. Even within countries the woodfuels supply potentials vary as a result of different ecological conditions. India, the country with the largest area, best exemplifies this. However, even in smaller countries like Cambodia and Nepal, a variety of ecological conditions exist. Table 12 shows forests distribution by ecological zones among countries. This is also indicative of the various ecological zones found in the countries.

The ecological conditions substantially affect the pattern of energy consumption too. In temperate or colder climates, space heating becomes an important energy use. In many such areas, fuelwood is used for space heating, thus increasing fuelwood consumption substantially in those places compared with warmer areas where woodfuels are used for cooking purposes only.

Table 12. Percent distribution of forests by ecological zone

Country	Types of forest (areas in percentage values)
	Tropical Rainforest	Tropical Moist	Tropical Dry	Tropical - Shrub	Tropical - Desert	Tropical -Mountain	Sub-tropical - Humid	Sub-tropical - Steppe	Sub-tropical - Mountain
Cambodia	7	16	77
India	13	11	56	9	N. S.	7		N. S.	5
Lao PDR	25	25	35			14
Malaysia	94					6
Nepal	19	21	1			16			42
Pakistan		N. S.		1	1			66	31
Philippines	81	10				9
Sri Lanka	18	20	62			N. S.
Thailand	23	21	54			2
Viet Nam	26	37	16	8		10	2		N. S.

N. S. – Not Significant.

Source: FAO. 2001a.

3.2.2 Patterns of land use

Land use pattern is another factor that determines wood supply potential. FAO classifies land use types into four categories (see Table 13) as follows:

• forests and woodlands;

• arable land and permanent croplands;

• permanent pasture; and

• other lands (e.g. built-up areas).

Table 13. Land use

Country	Area (‘000 hectares)
	Forests and woodlands	Arable land and permanent crop lands	Permanent pasture	Other lands	Total area
Cambodia	12 200	3 838	1 500	114	17 652
India	68 500	169 650	11 400	47 769	297 319
Lao PDR	12 550	900	800	8 830	23 080
Malaysia	22 304	7 604	281	2 666	32 855
Nepal	5 750	2 354	2 000	3 576	13 680
Pakistan	3 480	21 350	5 000	47 258	77 088
Philippines	13 600	9 190	1 280	5 747	29 817
Sri Lanka	2 100	1 883	440	2 040	6 463
Thailand	13 500	20 800	800	15 989	51 089
Viet Nam	9 650	6 985	328	15 586	32 549

Source: FAO. 2001b.

As mentioned earlier, it used to be that woodfuels were thought of as coming only from forests. As shown in the country reports, better analyses of available information have shown that significant volumes of woodfuels are also coming from trees outside forests. Woodfuels users living in agricultural areas far from forests, who collect their own daily woodfuels requirements, source them from trees on farms and grazing lands, small woodlots in agricultural areas, around their houses, and along roads, rivers and canals. A decrease in forest areas does not always translate to a decrease in potential supply or production of woodfuels.

3.2.3 Woodfuel supply from forests

Data needed to assess wood supply from forests are available. However, most are provided at macro level, and although some of it may disaggregated, e.g. by types of forests or by administrative regions, the available data will still not allow site-specific analyses of wood energy situations. Site-specific analyses are needed to properly understand the local situation, and formulate and evaluate intervention programmes.

Still, the available data now is a big improvement on the data used in previous analyses of wood energy supply from forests. Previously, wood energy supply was equated with the country’s total volume of forests, which essentially only included the volume of timber that could be harvested commercially. This substantially underestimated the potential supply of woodfuels from forests. The Viet Nam country report contains a good discussion of the limitations of this approach in its analysis of the country’s woodfuels supply potential.

Better information (and approaches) for assessing woody biomass from forests is presented in the FAO Global Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) 2000 (FAO. 2001a). This allows for a more realistic assessment of woodfuels supply potential from forests, albeit at macro levels. This is further discussed below.

(a) Types of forests and changes in forest areas

FAO classifies forests into natural forests, forest plantations and other wooded lands. Natural forests are further classified by types of forest formation, by degree of human disturbance and by species composition. (See FAO. 2001a for further discussions of the classification of forests)³³. The woody biomass productivity of forests, and as such the potential wood supply, depends on the types of forests and tree management schemes or practices used in them (Table 14).

Table 14. Types of forests and other wooded areas

Country/Area	Ref. Year	Total area	Land area						Inland water
			Forest			Other wooded land		Other land
			Closed	Open	Plantation	Shrubs/ Trees	Forest fallow
		‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha
Cambodia	1997	18 104	5 500	3 921	82	2 448	746	4 955	452
India	1997	328 759	38 223	25 506		5 190		228 400	31 440
Lao PDR	1989	23 680	11 493	1 663		760	7 417	1 747	600
Malaysia	1995	32 975	19 148		91	684	560	12 372	120
Nepal	1994	14 718	3 201	1 067		1 560		8 472	418
Pakistan	1990	79 609	1 217	857	93	1 078		73 842	2 522
Philippines	1997	30 000	5 288	104		2 232		22 193	183
Sri Lanka	1992	6 561	1 569	368	72	92		4 362	98
Thailand	1998	51 312	10 127	2 845				38 117	223
Viet Nam	1995	33 170	7 312	940		4 951	2 659	16 688	620

Source: FAO. 2001a.

Forest volume and above ground woody biomass

As previously mentioned, early attempts to present estimates of woodfuels supply involved equating it with the wood volume of forests. The FRA 2000 report (see FAO, 2001) states that wood volume estimates in many developing countries include only estimates of “certain aspects of forests, such as the commercial timber volume, or were limited to only a few species”.³⁴ Such an approach clearly excludes other sources of woodfuels that can come from forests such as non-commercial tree species (which are usually a source for woodfuels), woody shrubs and bushes, and the woody residues (i.e. twigs and branches) from trees harvested for timber.

As a result of increasing interest in the role of forests in sequestering carbon and thus, in its role as a carbon sink, efforts are now being undertaken to collect information on total “above ground woody biomass” in forests. In the FRA 2000 report, this is defined as “the above ground mass of the woody part (stem, bark, branches, twigs) of trees, alive or dead, shrubs and bushes, excluding stumps and roots, foliage, flowers and seeds.³⁵ The FRA 2000 report includes assessments of both forest volume and the above ground woody biomass resource of forests (Table 15).

Table 15. Volume and biomass data – 2000

Country	Total forest area	Volume		Biomass
		Per area	Total	Per area	Total
	000 ha	cu m/ha	million cu m	mt/ha	Million mt
Cambodia	9 335	40	376	69	648
India	64 113	43	2 730	73	4 706
Lao PDR	12 561	29	359	31	391
Malaysia	19 292	119	2 288	205	3 949
Nepal	3 900	100	391	109	427
Pakistan	2 361	22	53	27	64
Philippines	5 789	66	383	114	661
Sri Lanka	1 940	34	66	59	114
Thailand	14 762	17	252	29	434
Viet Nam	9 819	38	372	66	643

Source: FAO. 2001a.

All of “the above ground mass of the woody part (stem, bark, branches, twigs) of trees, alive or dead, shrubs and bushes” are potential supply for woodfuels. Thus, the FRA 2000 data can be considered as the gross total potential supply of woodfuels from forests.

Only three country reports contain data on potential supply of woody biomass from forests – those of Nepal, Philippines and Viet Nam (Table 16). The authors of the country reports claim that these figures are estimates that include other woody biomass apart from trunks of commercial timber tree species. In effect, this is similar to attempts to quantify above ground woody biomass from forests. However, none of the reports provided discussions on the methodology and assumptions used in making their estimates.

Table 16. Volume and woody biomass production rate data – country reports

Country	Total forest area	Volume/year		Woody Biomass/year
		Per area	Total	Per area	Total
	‘000 ha	cu m/ha	Million cu m	mt/ha	Million mt
Nepal36	3 857	No data	No data	2.10	8.1
Philippines37	4 500	No data	240	6.00	27.0
Viet Nam38	10 916	2.0	4	No data	5.4

(b) Accessibility

Another important component of FRA 2000 was the “studies made on the extent of forests theoretically accessible for industrial wood supply, and on actual harvesting and wood removals by country”. FRA 2000 “estimated forest area within varying distances from major transportation infrastructure, excluding protected areas and forest areas considered to be above an economically exploitable altitude.” The result showed that “51 percent of the world’s forests are within 10 kilometres, and 75 percent within 40 km of major transportation infrastructure.” The results of the FRA 2000 study for the countries covered by this regional study are given in Table 17.

Table 17. Accessibility factors for forests in FRA 2000

Country/ Area	Forest area 2000	Forest available for wood supply with different distance limits to road infrastructure
		no limit	50 km	30 km	20 km	10 km
	‘000 ha	%	%	%	%	%
Cambodia	9 335	78	78	78	77	62
India	64 113	88	88	88	88	80
Lao PDR	12 561	81	81	81	79	68
Malaysia	19 292	90	79	67	55	36
Nepal	3 900	76	76	76	76	68
Pakistan	2 361	80	80	79	78	64
Philippines	5 789	95	95	95	91	67
Sri Lanka	1 940	75	75	75	75	72
Thailand	14 762	72	72	71	68	54
Viet Nam	9 819	90	90	90	89	77

Source: FAO. 2001a.

Only the authors of the Nepal and Philippine country reports have factored in accessibility as a constraint on the potential woodfuels supply from forests. The figures they use (Table 18) are much lower than any of the above estimates provided in FRA 2000. These lower values have of course resulted in lower estimates of potential woodfuels supply from forests.

Table 18. Accessibility factors for forests in country reports

Countries	%
Nepal	51.47
Philippines	50.00

3.2.4 Logging and wood processing wastes

Wood waste from forest and wood processing industries is another important source of woodfuels supply in some countries. Table 19 prevents forest production data, which can provide initial indicators of woodfuels supply potential from these industries. (In a way, logging wastes may be accounted for in the estimation of above ground woody biomass, but not so the wastes generated in the wood processing industries.) This includes not only solid wood waste but also the “black liquor” produced from the pulp and paper industries that can be significant when used as additional boiler fuel by the industry. There is an increasing interest by large wood processing plants in investing in boiler or co-generation systems to utilize their wood wastes. However, in some areas, there are possibilities of adverse social impact as communities immediately surrounding these plants may have become dependent on the plants for their fuel source. This is one example where a site-specific approach is needed when conducting wood energy studies. These concepts are briefly discussed in the papers of Lao PDR, Philippines and Viet Nam.

Table 19. Forest products production data

	Roundwood	Industrial roundwood	Saw logs and veneer logs	Wood-based panels	Wood pulp	Paper and paperboard
	Million cu m	Million cu m	Million cu m	Million cu m	Million mt	Million mt
Cambodia	8.2	1.0	0.4	0.3	-	-
India	302.8	24.4	18.4	0.3	1.6	3.8
Lao PDR	4.9	0.9	0.7	0.1	-	-
Malaysia	29.5	21.8	20.2	5.9	0.1	0.8
Nepal	22.0	0.6	0.6	-	-	Nil
Pakistan	33.1	2.41	1.8	0.1	Nil	0.4
Philippines	43.4	3.54	0.5	0.3	0.1	1.0
Sri Lanka	10.3	0.6	0.1	Nil	Nil	Nil
Thailand	36.6	2.9	Nil	0.3	0.5	2.7
Viet Nam	36.7	4.6	2.4	Nil	Nil	0.2

Source: FAO. 2001b.

3.2.5 Trees outside forests

In most countries, there are many rural-based families who are far from forests in terms of “walking” or “animal-driven cart” distance, and so collect their woodfuels from agricultural areas. Data from recent studies, as mentioned in the country reports, indicate that these rural users obtained their woodfuels from trees outside forests e.g. from trees in farms and agroforestry lands, around houses and buildings, and along roads, rivers and canals. Thus, these land use systems are significant sources of woodfuels and could be the major source of supply for many of the countries, as shown by data from India, Philippines and Viet Nam. (On the other hand, there are also better-off farmers who own motor vehicles and travel to forests “unreachable by foot or animal-driven cart” and harvest wood there.)

These sources of supply of woodfuels are currently overlooked and not accounted for in many countries, as indicated by the lack of data on them. The potential supply from trees outside forests is important, not only to determine their current contribution, but more so to assess their potential for satisfying – economically and sustainably – demand for woodfuels in the future. Such information should lessen, if not remove, the concerns of many that continued use of woodfuels is a major cause of deforestation. However, a better understanding of woodfuels production should also lead to the recognition that woodfuels can also be sustainably produced from forests. Together, the two sources can continue to provide a sustainable and carbon-neutral energy source and they can be significant, particularly if uses are modernized to make them efficient, clean and convenient.

FRA 2000 mentions studies that allow improved assessments of woodfuels supply from forests. But whatever improvements they allow, basically they still do not include woodfuels from trees outside forests in the overall assessment of supplies. (FRA 2000 cautions readers intending to make use of the results of the various studies).

Table 20. Estimates of woodfuels from non-forest areas in country reports

Countries	Million mt	% Share of total supply	Sources
India	62.0	36	Shrubs from degraded lands and roadsides, twigs/branches from homestead gardens
Nepal	2.3	36	Shrublands, grasslands, non-cultivated inclusions, cultivated lands
Philippines	70	82	Farmlands, brush lands, grasslands, trees in coconut plantations
Sri Lanka	no data	88	Home gardens, croplands, coconut and rubber wood plantations, processing residues - data is for biofuels
Thailand	19.7	42	Agroforestry, tree crops, other croplands, other lands
Viet Nam	13.9	74	Perennial crops, bare lands, scattered trees, forest industry, recovered wood

3.2.6 Wood from land conversion

The conversion of forests to other land uses results in the clear cutting of forests, and whether such conversions are legal or illegal, significant volumes of woody biomass are produced and are available for energy use. Such conversions produce production spikes, which can lead to “stockpiling or inventory” or fuelwood that can be used in later periods.

It should be clear that the cutting of forests was done not to harvest woody biomass for fuel use, but for other reasons, particularly to clear land for crop production or for settlements.

Previously, most countries would report rapid decreases in forest cover, and then comparing estimates of massive woodfuels consumption, infer that the harvesting of wood for fuel was the main reason for the decrease in forest areas. Few investigations were carried out on what really happened and on the reason for the clearing of forests. Even if significant amounts of woodfuels are being harvested from the clear cutting of forests, woodfuels are only a by-product of the real reason for deforestation, namely land conversion for agriculture or settlements.

It is revealing that none of the country reports touches on or discusses this aspect. It shows, dramatically, that a proper understanding of the role of changes in land use and management in woodfuels supply is very much lacking. Table 21 presents data on the sdecrease in forest areas of the countries covered by this study in the last decade. These indicate that in the process of forests conversion, (given the above ground woody biomass estimates provided in Table 15), substantial amounts of woody biomass were generated and could have been used as fuel.

Table 21. Changes in forest areas

Country	Total forest 1990	Total forest 2000	Forest cover change 1990-2000
			Annual change	Annual change rate
	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	‘000 ha	%
Cambodia	9 896	9 335	-56	-0.6
India	63 732	64 113	38	0.1
Lao PDR	13 088	12 561	-53	-0.4
Malaysia	21 661	19 292	-237	-1.2
Nepal	4 683	3 900	-78	-1.8
Pakistan	2 755	2 361	-39	-1.5
Philippines	6 676	5 789	-89	-1.4
Sri Lanka	2 288	1 940	-35	-1.6
Thailand	15 886	14 762	-112	-0.7
Viet Nam	9 303	9 819	52	0.5

Source: FAO. 2001a.

3.2.7 Understanding woodfuels flow

“Woodfuels flow” consists of the transformation, marketing, trading and distribution of woodfuels. Woodfuels transformation refers to the conversion of “wood from tree” into fuelwood, and into other forms of wood energy. In general, the transformation processes include:

§ harvesting of wood (including pruning, thinning and collection of fallen twigs/ branches);

§ splitting and bundling of wood to produce convenient sizes of fuelwood;

§ thermal and/or chemical processes that convert fuelwood to others forms of wood energy (such as charcoal production, pyrolysis, and gasification); and

§ end use technologies (e.g. stoves, ovens, kilns, furnaces, and boilers) to generate the final useful forms of energy (heat or electricity).³⁹

Except for data on stove efficiency and mainly anecdotal information on the patterns of marketing and trading of woodfuels in a few cities (from case studies initiated by RWEDP), no other data has been collected on these aspects. These are needed for formulating and analyzing wood energy policies, programmes and other interventions such as growing more trees to expand supply and increase production of fuelwood; substituting fuelwood; upgrading the technical efficiency of woodfuels conversion and end use; and improving the economic efficiency of woodfuels marketing and distribution. These are also relevant for assessing the socio-economic impacts of the interventions, as well as the environmental and health effects of woodfuels production and use.

3.3 Woodfuels supply-consumption balance

All national consultants made an effort to do an analysis of the woodfuels supply-demand balance and all country reports contain results showing a sustainable supply deficit, except that of the Philippines. However, the foregoing discussions have shown that several important elements of demand and supply were missing in such balancing analyses. Consumption data were underestimated as many other users and end-uses of woodfuels were not accounted for. Even when some of these could be identified, figures or data for them were not available and rough estimates could not be made in the absence of even baseline studies. The dearth of data on the supply side is most revealing. Only three countries made an attempt to provide more comprehensive data that cover both forests and non-forest sources, and their attempts were also limited.

Tables 22 and 23 present a summary of all the supply/production/consumption elements for which data are provided in the country reports. Other elements, even if only anecdotal information was provided, were also included. The result is a “woodfuels supply-consumption accounting table” that shows all the elements that should be included in a comprehensive balancing analysis. As such, these “accounting tables” also show the specific data elements missing for each country. This approach to woodfuels balancing analysis indicates that current efforts in balancing analyses that result in defining situations as either woodfuels “deficit” (as in most of the country reports) or “surplus” areas, are not conclusive because of missing data elements.

Still, with the proper use of assumptions for estimating the values of the missing data elements, the data and information presented in the country papers, though limited, may allow balancing analysis. Such analyses can be useful for describing broad trends and general patterns of wood energy production and consumption. However, such analyses will be inadequate for defining policies, programmes or any other form of interventions for wood energy development. Policies, programmes and other forms of interventions need to be based on site-specific data collection and analysis.

Supply and consumption studies, and efforts to conduct supply-consumption analyses to define policies and programmes, will be more realistic and relevant if conducted using an area-based approach and are made locally specific. An area-based approach requires defining the physical boundaries of the area or specific locale to be studied. Elements of supply and consumption that must be included in the analysis are those within the defined physical boundaries only.

Previous area-based locally specific studies used definitions of the study area based on the country’s agro-ecological regions and administrative divisions. Only the Nepal and Viet Nam reports show that the consultants had used such an approach.⁴⁰ In the case of Nepal, the consultant defined the study areas by administrative (in terms of geographical location) regions and by agro-ecological regions (i.e. terai, hill, mountains regions). In the case of Viet Nam, the consultant divided the study areas by regional administrative regions that coincided with the country’s ecological regions.

Note, however, that even if the two consultants had used an area-based locally specific approach to wood energy balancing analysis, several supply and consumption elements were missing (see Table 22 and 23), which means that their wood energy supply-consumption analyses are still incomplete and can be considered inconclusive.

Table 22. Woodfuels supply-consumption accounting table (Group A countries)

Row No	ITEMS	Units	Cambodia	India	Lao PDR	Malaysia	Nepal	Data Source/Comments
2	WOODFUELS STOCK POTENTIAL
3	Potential supply from forests (all types)	Mmt	231.58	2170.48	87.67	820.35	96.27	MULTIPLY: (Row 8 X Row 9)
4	Data for assessment of supply in forests:
5	* Gross above ground woody biomass	Mmt	648.00	4706.00	391.00	3949.00	427.00	From FRA 2000 Report
6	* For timber supply - in volume units	M cu m	376.00	2730.00	359.00	2288.00	391.00	From FRA 2000 Report
7	* For timber supply - in mass units	Mmt	274.48	1992.90	262.07	1670.24	285.43	0.73 mt/cu m
8	* Net above ground woody biomass	Mmt	373.52	2713.10	128.93	2278.76	141.57	SUBTRACT: (Row 5 - Row 7)
9	* Accessibility (10 km distance from road)	Percent	62.00	80.00	68.00	36.00	68.00	From FRA 2000 Report
10	Potential supply from non-forest areas	Mmt	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
11	TOTAL WOODFUELS SUPPLY POTENTIAL	Mmt	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM: (Rows 3 + 10)
12	WOODFUELS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL
13	Forest woody biomass production	Mmt/year	n.d.	111.00	n.d.	n.d.	4.18	SUM: (Rows 14 + 15) [A]
14	Production forests	Mmt/year	n.d.	71.00	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
15	Plantation forests	Mmt/year	n.d.	40.00	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
16	Non-forest woody biomass production	Mmt/year	n.d.	62.00	n.d.	n.d.	2.28	SUM: (Rows 17 to 22)
17	Croplands (include agroforestry)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	1.10	From country reports
18	Tree crops (e.g. fruit orchards)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
19	Home gardens	Mmt/year	n.d.	16.00	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
20	Grass lands	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.07	From country reports
21	Degraded & wastelands (e.g. shrub/brush lands)	Mmt/year	n.d.	46.00	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
22	Other lands (include roads & riverbanks)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	1.11	From country reports
23	Other sources	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM: (Rows 24 to 27)
24	Forest conversion	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
25	Logging residues	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
26	Recovered wood	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
27	Wood processing wastes	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 28 + 29)
28	* Black Liquor	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
29	* Wood wastes (shavings, sawdust, etc.)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
30	Total woody biomass production	Mmt/year	n.d.	173.00	n.d.	n.d.	6.46	SUM (Rows 13+16+23)
31	Less: Wood consumption for non-fuel uses	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
32	TOTAL WOODFUELS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUBTRACT:(Row 30 - Row 31)

33	WOODFUELS PRIMARY CONSUMPTION
34	Direct combustion for heating applications	Mmt/year	6.27	189.77	3.82	n.d.	15.44	SUM (Rows 40 + 54)
35	Charcoal production	Mmt/year	0.19	Nil	0.04	n.d.	0.02	Equal to Row 48
36	Power generation	Mmt/year	n.a.	Nil	n.a.	n.d.	n.a.	Equal to Row 57
37	Liquid/gaseous fuels production (e.g. producer gas)	Mmt/year	n.a.	Nil	n.a.	n.d.	n.a.	Equal to Row 60
38	TOTAL WOODFUELS PRIMARY CONSUMPTION	Mmt/year	6.46	189.77	3.86	n.d.	15.46	SUM (Rows 34 to 37)
39	WOODFUELS FINAL CONSUMPTION
40	Fuelwood	Mmt/year	6.27	189.77	3.80	n.d.	15.44	SUM (Rows 41 + 44 to 47)
41	All Households	Mmt/year	6.22	151.10	3.52	n.d.	15.31	SUM (Rows 42 + 43) [A]
42	* Urban households	Mmt/year	n.d.	8.04	n.d.	n.d.	0.69	From country reports
43	* Rural households	Mmt/year	n.d.	143.06	n.d.	n.d.	14.62	From country reports
44	Processing Industries	Mmt/year	0.04	25.00	0.10	n.d.	0.04	From country reports
45	Service establishments and other enterprises	Mmt/year	0.01	11.49	0.18	n.d.	0.09	From country reports
46	Institutions	Mmt/year	n.d.	2.18	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
47	Agriculture	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
48	Charcoal	Mmt/year	0.19	n.d.	0.04	n.d.	0.02	SUM (Rows 49 + 52 + 53)
49	All Households	Mmt/year	0.07	n.d.	0.04	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 50 + 51) [A]
50	* Urban households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
51	* Rural households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
52	Processing Industries	Mmt/year	0.02	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	nil	From country reports
53	Service establishments and other enterprises	Mmt/year	0.1	Nil	n.d.	n.d.	0.02	From country reports
54	Other primary woodfuels (sawdust)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	0.02	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 55 + 56)
55	All Households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	0.02	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
56	Other sectors	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all country reports
57	Power generation	Mmt/year	n.d.	Nil	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 58 + 59)
58	Black liquor for pulp and paper industry	Mmt/year	n.d.	Nil	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
59	Woodwaste-recovery power plants	Mmt/year	n.d.	Nil	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
60	Other secondary woodfuels	Mmt/year	n.d.	Nil	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 61 + 62)
61	Producer gas	Mmt/year	n.d.	Nil	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
62	Other secondary gaseous/liquid woodfuels	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all country reports
63	TOTAL WOODFUELS FINAL CONSUMPTION	Mmt/year	12.49	189.77	3.86	n.d.	30.75	SUM (Rows 40 + 48 + 54 + 57 + 60)
64	Year consumption data was estimated		2000	2000	2000		2001

[A] – Some country reports contain only the total values.

Mmt – million metric ton of fuelwood equivalent – represents the equivalent mass of fuelwood needed to deliver the same quantity of energy.

Table 23. Woodfuels supply-consumption accounting table (Group B Countries)

Row No	ITEMS	Units	Pakistan	Philippines	Sri Lanka	Thailand	Viet Nam	Data Source/Comments
2	WOODFUELS STOCK POTENTIAL
3	Potential supply from forests (all types)	Mmt	16.20	255.54	47.39	135.02	286.01	MULTIPLY: (Row 8 X Row 9)
4	Data for assessment of supply in forests:
5	* Gross above ground woody biomass	Mmt	64.00	661.00	114.00	434.00	643.00	From FRA 2000 Report
6	* For timber supply - in volume units	M cu m	53.00	383.00	66.00	252.00	372.00	From FRA 2000 Report
7	* For timber supply - in mass units	Mmt	38.69	279.59	48.18	183.96	271.56	0.73 mt/cu m
8	* Net above ground woody biomass	MmT	25.31	381.41	65.82	250.04	371.44	SUBTRACT: (Row 5 - Row 7)
9	* Accessibility (10 km distance from road)	Percent	64.00	67.00	72.00	54.00	77.00	From FRA 2000 Report
10	Potential supply from non-forest areas	Mmt	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
11	TOTAL WOODFUELS SUPPLY POTENTIAL	Mmt	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM: (Rows 3 + 10)
12	WOODFUELS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL
13	Forest woody biomass production	Mmt/year	22.70	15.10	n.d.	8.91	4.98	SUM: (Rows 14 + 15)
14	Production forests	Mmt/year	n.d.	13.50	n.d.	8.61	1.35	From country reports
15	Plantation forests	Mmt/year	n.d.	1.60	n.d.	0.22	3.63	From country reports
16	Non-forest woody biomass production	Mmt/year	n.d.	70.00	n.d.	19.72	12.96	SUM: (Rows 17 to 22)
17	Croplands (including agroforestry)	Mmt/year	n.d.	8.00	n.d.	13.10	8.00	From country reports
18	Tree crops (e.g. fruit orchards)	Mmt/year	n.d.	8.00	n.d.	6.42	0.86	From country reports
19	Home gardens	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
20	Grass lands	Mmt/year	n.d.	2.00	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
21	Degraded & wastelands (e.g. shrub/brush lands)	Mmt/year	n.d.	32.00	n.d.	n.d.	4.10	From country reports
22	Other lands (include roads and riverbanks)	Mmt/year	n.d.	20.00	n.d.	0.20	n.d.	From country reports
23	Other sources	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	1.00	SUM: (Rows 24 to 27)
24	Forest conversion	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
25	Logging residues	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
26	Recovered wood	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.60	From country reports
27	Wood processing wastes	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.40	SUM (Rows 28 + 29)
28	* Black Liquor	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
29	* Wood wastes (shavings, sawdust, etc.)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.40	From country reports
30	Total woody biomass production	Mmt/year	n.d.	85.10	n.d.	28.63	17.94	SUM (Rows 13+16+23)
31	Less: Wood consumption for non-fuel uses	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all countries
32	TOTAL WOODFUELS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUBTRACT:(Row 30 - Row 31)

33	WOODFUELS PRIMARY CONSUMPTION
34	Direct combustion for heating applications	Mmt/year	32.24	30.72	10.40	26.51	23.16	SUM (Rows 40 + 54)
35	Charcoal production	Mmt/year	n.d.	17.16	n.d.	13.52	0.63	Equal to Row 48
36	Power generation	Mmt/year	n.a.	n.d.	n.a.	n.d.	n.a.	Equal to Row 57
37	Liquid/gaseous fuels production (e.g. producer gas)	Mmt/year	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	Equal to Row 60
38	TOTAL WOODFUELS PRIMARY CONSUMPTION	Mmt/year	32.24	47.88	10.40	40.03	23.79	SUM (Rows 34 to 37)
39	WOODFUELS FINAL CONSUMPTION
40	Fuelwood	Mmt/year	32.24	30.72	10.40	26.51	23.16	SUM (Rows 41 + 44 to 47)
41	All Households	Mmt/year	19.44	20.15	8.35	5.87	18.72	SUM (Rows 42 + 43)[A]
42	* Urban households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	1.90	From country reports
43	* Rural households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	16.82	From country reports
44	Processing Industries	Mmt/year	12.8 [B]	n.d.	2.04	20.64	1.45	From country reports
45	Service establishments and other enterprises	Mmt/year	n.d.	10.57	n.d.	n.d.	0.15	From country reports
46	Institutions	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.		From country reports
47	Agriculture	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	2.84	From country reports
48	Charcoal	Mmt/year	n.d.	17.16	n.d.	13.52	0.63	SUM (Rows 49 + 52 + 53)
49	All Households	Mmt/year	n.d.	8.58	n.d.	13.52	0.63	SUM (Rows 50 + 51)[A]
50	* Urban households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.53	From country reports
51	* Rural households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	0.10	From country reports
52	Processing Industries	Mmt/year	n.d.	8.58	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
53	Service establishments and other enterprises	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
54	Other primary woodfuels (sawdust)	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 55 + 56)
55	All Households	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
56	Other sectors	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all country reports
57	Power generation	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 58 + 59)
58	Black liquor for pulp and paper industry	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
59	Woodwaste-recovery power plants	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
60	Other secondary woodfuels	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	SUM (Rows 61 + 62)
61	Producer gas	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	From country reports
62	Other secondary gaseous/liquid woodfuels	Mmt/year	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	No data for all country reports
63	TOTAL WOODFUELS FINAL CONSUMPTION	Mmt/year	32.24	50.87	10.40	32.38	41.88	SUM (Rows 40 + 48 + 54 + 57 + 60)
64	Year consumption data was estimated		1992	2001	2000	1996	1995

Notes: [B] - Data are for wood and other biofuels used in industries and service establishments in Pakistan - 1989.

All consumption data for Sri Lanka include wood and other biofuels.

³² The figure for Sri Lanka includes both woodfuels and crop waste.
³³ Available at http://www.fao.org/forestry/foris/webview/forestry2/index.jsp?siteId=101&langId=1
³⁴ FAO. 2001a. Chapter 2, p. 17
³⁵ Ibid.
³⁶ Biomass data were estimated for all forests, including “unreachable areas” defined by the country report.
³⁷ Volume data include all forests (from DENR estimates), biomass data include secondary forests only (from country report estimates).
³⁸ Volume data were estimated for production forests only (equivalent to 3.2 million hectares) and were rounded off, whereas biomass data were estimated for production forests and plantations – all are country report estimates.
³⁹ End uses and energy end use devices should actually be part of consumption data.
⁴⁰ The author of the India report mentions local studies being conducted in the country, but does not state whether these are a reflection of the country’s deliberate effort to conduct local rural energy studies as part of a national programme for rural energy planning and development, which include wood energy. The Philippines is another country pursuing an area-based locally specific approach to rural energy development that includes wood energy, but this was not mentioned in the country report.