0431-B1

A guide for woodfuel surveys

Teresita Arias Chalico ¹ and Enrique Riegelhaupt ²

Summary

The primary aim of this publication recently issued by FAO is to provide reference material for formulating and solving problems that arise in reviewing, verifying, collecting, compiling, analyzing, interpreting and presenting information on supply and demand where bio-fuels are concerned. Two basic levels of analysis are considered: rapid surveys and detailed surveys. Another goal of the Guide is to propose a uniform methodological basis to obtain data that may be compatible, comparable, and consistent at different detail levels and for diverse sectors of users, producers and suppliers of woodfuels. It is expected that the Guide will help to prepare wood energy situation diagnoses of sectors, regions or countries; to meet the information needs of all interest groups; and to identify effective and appropriately geared activities for: (a) optimizing the performance of wood energy systems; (b) promoting the development of sector planning; and (c) using woodfuels data in decision-making when the time arrives for devising policies, strategies and programs for the woodfuel sector. The Guide preparation and edition has been financed by the joint FAO/UE Forest Management Programme, under the supervision and technical guidance of Dr. Miguel Trossero.

1. Introduction

After the 1974 petroleum crisis, research and analysis on the use of biomass for energy purposes has intensified at an ever increasing rate. The more the matter was investigated the more the world-wide importance of this resource was realized, because of:

a) the number of people whose livelihood depends to a greater or lesser extent on wood-based fuels: for over one half of the world's population, woodfuels are the main or only energy source;

b) the wide range of woodfuel end uses: not only for household cooking and heating but also for a considerable number of productive activities - artisanal, industrial - and for commercial enterprises in the services sector;

c) its economic and social importance: where wood enters commercial circuits, it makes for job creation and income generation at significant levels for low-income sectors of the population, and wherever wood is not a commercial fuel, it satisfies one of the basic needs of the poorest;

d) the fact that wood is an environmentally sound, renewable energy resource: when properly managed, biomass resources are totally renewable, and minimize the gas emissions responsible for the greenhouse effect;

e) its impact on the conservation of forest resources: while it is true that in some cases it has been a negative one - where logging intensity has been higher than sustainable production, thus depleting the forest resource base - there is many an instance where woodfuels use has set in train the sustainable management of forest resources;

f) the fact that wood is locally available, making it one of the most "democratic" and equitable sources of energy, in marked contrast to hydrocarbons and nuclear energy; and also because

g) wood is a clean energy source, so helping to mitigate climate change brought about by the excessive use of fossil fuels.

Despite their being among the major energy sources in developing countries, woodfuels are the least known and understood. They are poorly recorded in national statistics; disregarded in the formal economy; usually have no legal, normative framework or standards; and are mostly absent in investment and development policies. It is often alleged that decision makers, politicians and even investors make no allowance for woodfuels because there is no exhaustive, up-to-date and realistic information base on them. Thus, ignorance is adduced as the cause (or the excuse) for inaction on the part of government departments and private enterprise.

While in many countries a certain amount of information is available at the national level on the production, availability and use of woodfuels, this information is usually fragmentary, incomparable, or incorrect. Many study cases provide valid information, but their application is limited to the specific locality or sector under examination; and often their data cannot be compared because they were obtained by different methods. In many instances, official statistics compiled from incomplete or incorrect registers obscure more than they reveal about the actual importance of this energy source.

Many non-governmental organizations and scientific and educational bodies concerned with environment conservation, improving users and producers quality of life, which are actually involved in woodfuel matters, lack the sort of information they require in planning their activities. Such institutions need simple, effective methods with which to evaluate situations and potentialities where these kinds of fuel are concerned.

2. Materials and methods

The Guide contents are organized in five chapters and nine Annexes.

Chapter 1 introduces the work, shows why such a Guide is needed, and sets out the main stages of the surveys.

Chapter 2 describes the principal variables to be analyzed in surveys of woodfuel consumption, marketing and production, following the schematic outline used in the Unified Wood Energy Terminology. Each variable is defined and an idea is given of its importance or usefulness, together with remarks on techniques for, and ease of approach to obtaining data on the variable in question. Equipment and materials needed for the task and a series of recommendations to the reader (or user) in order to derive full benefit from the Guide conclude the Chapter.

Chapter 3 describes the sampling design whereby data may be obtained on the variables of interest in a small group of units or cases, selected at random, in order to infer as to the behavior of variables within the larger universe under investigation or the whole sector / geographical area concerned.

Chapter 4 presents the components of the design of a survey in its various stages, with special attention to field data collection, data processing and analysis, and the drafting of the final report.

Chapter 5 describes firstly the different ways of data presentation to reflect main aspects of supply and demand; and, secondly, the physical and economic flows of woodfuels. Lastly, diagnostic methods are proposed for evaluating the wood energy situation.

Annexes are included to give examples of questionnaires for field data collection, tables for data computation and presentation, flow charts, samples sizes, woodfuels classification according to UWET (FAO, 2001), between others.

3. Discussion

This publication should prove to be of particular interest to persons who already have an understanding of the subject and experience in conducting wood energy surveys. Its first objective is to provide a simple and flexible aid in identifying and solving problems arising in the review, verification, collection, compilation, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data on demand for, and the availability and supply of woodfuels. Given the enormous diversity among the patterns of demand, availability and supply, there is no point in proposing a step-by-step approach. The Guide, accordingly, sets forth basic criteria and general recommendations for the collection, verification and processing of data, and differentiates between rapid surveys and detailed surveys.

A second objective is to propose a uniform methodological basis whereby comparability and consistency among the findings can be secured, at different scales and for different sectors of users, producers and suppliers of wood fuels.

The final goal of the Guide is to produce diagnoses of the woodfuel situation in a given sector, geographical area or country that will meet the information needs of all common-interest groups and may identify effective, appropriate actions to: (a) optimize the performance of wood energy systems; (b) facilitate devising planning alternatives for the sector; and (c) make use of diagnostic tools in decision making regarding woodfuels policies, strategies and programs.

A further objective is to enable the data collected on woodfuels to be used in energy planning under the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system (Stockholm Environment Institute and Tellus Institute , 2000).

4. Conclusions

The Guide for Woodfuels Surveys is a valuable aid for research workers, private and public organizations dealing with the collection and analysis of data on the utilization of wood and other biomass resources for energy purposes.

It is based upon extensive field experiences gathered over the last twenty years on a dozen of countries around the world, and contains 33 references. .

It is also flexible enough to be applicable to a wide diversity of situations regarding the size, location and purpose of woodfuels use.

It is expected that its use may help to obtain more comparable and consistent data on woodfuels, such as are needed for better planning and sustainable use of forest resources for energy purposes.

5. References

FAO. Forestry Department (in press), 2001. UWET - Unified Wood Energy Terminology.Working Paper FOPW 01/5. Rome. 80 pp.

Stockholm Environment Institute-Boston and Tellus Institute. 2000. LEAP. Long range Energy Alternatives Planning System. Digital format, in Website : http://www.seib.org/leap

¹ Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
La Colina 1313, 3380 ELDORADO, Misiones, Argentina. Tel/Fax 0054 3751 423395, E-mail [email protected]

² Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad nacional de Entre Rios, Argentina.
Paraguay 14, 1-A, 3100 PARANA, Argentina. Tel/Fax 0054 3751 423395, E-mail [email protected]