Effect of fuelwood scarcity and socio-economic factors on household bio-based energy use and energy substitution in rural Ethiopia

In Ethiopia biomass is predominantly utilized for household energy needs often using inefficient rudimentary stoves which cause adverse environmental and welfare effects. This paper examined the contribution of biomass resources to rural household energy use and energy substitution. The analysis applied the ordinary least square in the final stage estimation of fuelwood and overall biomass energy consumption by using predicted shadow prices. The paper used Tobit model to estimate charcoal and agricultural fuel consumption due to the presence of censoring. An increase in fuelwood shadow price was associated with reduced household fuelwood consumption with price elasticity of −0.38. The cross price elasticity between fuelwood and agricultural fuels revealed no evidence of energy substitution, which conforms to the findings of previous studies. Household access to electricity was associated with lower household biomass energy utilization but kerosene was not fuelwood substitute. Household energy use conformed to the ‘fuel stacking’ or ‘multiple fuel use’ concept, but households preferred modern energy options as welfare increased in areas where modern energy is available. This suggests that there is a promising prospect for fuel-transition, but access to modern energy and economic growth have key roles. The findings suggest that a concerted policy effort is required that would help diversify rural livelihoods, improve living standards and encourage economic growth, encourage inter-fuel substitution through improved modern energy access and afforestation to increase biomass supply.     

Conceptualizing urban household energy use: Climbing the “Energy Services Ladder”

This article begins by defining energy services and identifying how they differ according to sector, urban and rural areas, and direct and indirect uses. It then investigates household energy services divided into three classes: lower income, middle income, and upper income. It finds that the primary energy technologies involved with low-income households involve a greater number of fuels and carriers, ranging from dung and fuelwood to liquefied petroleum gas and charcoal, but a fewer number of services. Middle-income households throughout the world tend to rely on electricity and natural gas, followed by coal, liquefied petroleum gas, and kerosene. These homes utilize energy to produce a much broader range services. The upper class or rich have access to the same energy fuels, carriers, and technologies as middle-income homes and families, but consume more energy (and more high luxury items). The study highlights how focusing on energy services reorients the direction of energy policy interventions, that energy services are neither uniform nor innate, and by noting exciting areas of potential research.     

Fuelwood as an energy source for the commercial cooking sector – An overview analysis focused in the city of São Paulo,Brazil

This paper provides an overview analysis of fuelwood utilization in the commercial cooking sector. Cultural, market and logistic factors that may weaken the explanatory power of the energy ladder hypothesis are highlighted. Additionally, gender issues and health and environmental aspects related to fuelwood use in cities are explored. The analysis is developed as from the viewpoint of the use of different fuels for cooking in urban areas, focusing on commercial establishments. Evidences were observed in the pizza market in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, demonstrating that consumer expectations, expressed by means of classical market pressure mechanisms, can markedly influence this commercial cooking niche and consist in an important driving force for its energy choice. The city has the second largest pizza market in the world, characterized by the commercialization of 40 million units of the product per month in over 5000 commercial establishments. Interviews conducted in 270 of these establishments reveal that 88% use fuelwood ovens despite its lower practicality and wide availability of modern energy options such as electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The work validates the fuel stacking model, according to which energy diversification – and not substitution –, results from economic development, urbanization and/or a population income growth.     

The Swedish wood fuel market

In Sweden, wood fuels are traditionally used in the Swedish forest products industry and for heating of single-family houses. More recently they are also become established as an energy source for district heating and electricity production. Energy policy, especially the energy taxation system, has favoured wood fuels and other biofuels, mainly for environmental reasons. There is now an established commercial market for wood fuels in the district heating sector, which amounts to 45 PJ and is growing 20 per cent annually. Price levels have been stable in current prices for a decade, mainly because of good access to wood fuels. Price levels are dominated by production costs on a market that is largely governed by the buyer.It is expected that the use of wood fuels will increase in Sweden in the future, which will push a further development of this sector on the market and bring about technological changes in the area.     

Biomass energy potential in Turkey

Biomass energy includes fuelwood, agricultural residues, animal wastes, charcoal and other fuels derived from biological sources. It currently accounts for about 14% of world energy consumption. Biomass is the main source of energy for many developed and developing countries. In Turkey energy wood is available in the form of forest chips, fuelwood, wood waste, wood pellets, and it is also produced to a very limited extent from willow crops in short rotation forestry. The major part of wood harvested in the forest area (approximately 10 million ha) ends up as energy wood directly or indirectly after having been used for other purposes first. An overview of biomass potential and utilization in Turkey is presented. In 1999, the biomass share of the total energy consumption of the country is 10 percent. The level of fuelwood use together with that of other agricultural and animal wastes is compared with the commercial energy use within the country's global energy balance. The possibilities of increasing fuelwood production through afforestation programmes and substitution for commercial fuels are discussed. Biogas utilization in the rural regions is also reviewed, emphasizing its possible contribution.     

A comparative risk analysis of fuel wood use in the Pacific Northwest

A risk impact analysis is performed for residential space heating derived from fuelwood in the Pacific Northwest. Direct risks associated with the collection and use of fuelwood in homes are characterized and computed per 10¹² Btu of fuelwood harvested. The hazards identified are then compared to similar risks associated with the generation of electricity using four different fuels: coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium. The resulting comparison indicates that the acquisition and use of fuelwood in residences is several times more costly in terms of loss of life and injury incurred, than electricity derived from the conventional fuels compared.     

Increasing the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries: Policy implications

Although 40% of the global population relies on traditional biomass use, mainly firewood and charcoal, for cooking, traditional biomass has received very little attention in the current biomass debate, because of its considered primitive and unsustainable nature. In this review, we discuss how the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries can be improved.Indoor air pollution due to incomplete combustion of traditional biomass causes the death of 1.45 million people every year, mainly of women and children, who also carry the heavy burden of fuelwood collection. In addition, charcoal production and combustion is responsible for very high greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy. On the other hand, fuelwood production and trade is of vital importance for local economies and serves as safety net for the poorest people. Moreover, fuelwood collection is not a driver of deforestation and global fuelwood shortage will not occur, despite local problems of fuelwood provision.There are two distinct policy alternatives to increase the sustainability of cooking in developing countries. The first option is to climb the energy ladder and to switch from solid fuels to fossil fuels (LPG or kerosene), biogas or electricity. As this largely avoids the severe health damages of traditional biomass use, this option is considered the most desirable by numerous countries and by international organizations. However, as most developing countries are far away from meeting the necessary requirements, related to infrastructure, economics and local culture, expecting a large-scale switch to liquid fuels or electricity is unrealistic.In that case, the second policy option, increasing the sustainability of the current traditional biomass system, must be considered. This can be realized by an integrated approach, in which national and regional fuelwood policies are adapted, improved systems for charcoal production are implied and improved stoves, in combination with chimneys, are distributed.     

中国能源市场形势分析及预测

2004年能源生产快速增长,需求十分旺盛,主要能源产品进口大幅增加,出口明显减少,能源价格大幅攀升。2005年能源需求增速将有所回落,能源供求形势将比2004年有较大缓减。预计全年发电量同比增长12％左右,煤炭产量同比增长8.5％左右,成品油表观消费量同比增长10％左右。煤炭和电力价格仍呈上升趋势,国际油价波动幅度将有所放缓。建议推进能源价格形成机制改革,建立和逐步完善能源产品储备制度,重视高耗能产品的国际贸易。     

Emerging energy scenario in Western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh

The GHGs emmited by using conventional energy sources rapid industrialization and development in hills, are contributing global warming, which has resulted in melting of glaciers located in the state at the rate of 0.3–20 m² per year as per recent studies. The shrinking of glaciers, which are the main source of water of Himalayan rivers, can have an adverse impact on the future of hydro-power projects, many of which may become non-functional during next 40–50 years if the current trend of melting of glaciers continues and the other renewable energy sources are required to be tapped to supplement the declining hydro-electricity generation. The energy consumption for cooking, lighting and space heating in the Western Himalayan Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, is highest in the northern India. The fuelwood consumption constitutes about 52% of the total energy consumption of the state. About 2.7 h per person per trip in the rural areas, are spent for the collection of fuelwood mainly during winters. A number of options and potential of renewable energy sources for cooking, heating and lighting in the state have been discussed. The future policy interventions in the energy sector are also presented.     

Analysis of olive grove residual biomass potential for electric and thermal energy generation in Andalusia (Spain)

As fossil fuels are not only a limited resource, but also contribute to global warming, a transition towards a more sustainable energy supply is urgently needed. Therefore, today's environmental policies are largely devoted to fostering the development and implementation of renewable energy technologies. One important aspect of this transition is the increased use of biomass to generate renewable energy. Agricultural residues are produced in huge amounts worldwide, and most of this residue is composed of biomass that can be used for energy generation. Consequently, converting this residue into energy can increase the value of waste materials and reduce the environmental impact of waste disposal. This paper analyses the situation of biomass energy resources in Andalusia, an autonomous community in the south of Spain. More specifically, biomass is the renewable source which most contributes to Andalusian energy infrastructure. The residual biomass produced in the olive sector is the result of the large quantity of olive groves and olive oil manufacturers that generate byproducts with a potentially high energy content. The generation of agricultural and industrial residues from the olive sector produced in Andalusia is an important source of different types of residual biomass that are suitable for thermal and electric energy since they reduce the negative environmental effects of emissions from fossil fuels, such as the production of carbon dioxide.     

Productivity of algae in sewage disposal

One of the highly significant and rapidly developing methods of applying solar energy to environmental problems is that of waste disposal. Many of the liquid wastes from our residences, industries and farms provide a suitable medium for micro-algae in the environment to proliferate with extreme rapidity converting solar energy to the energy in their cellular matter and to heat. The efficiency of conversion of solar energy to plant tissue often reaches 5 per cent, and the efficiency of conversion of solar energy to heat apparently reaches in excess of 90 per cent. The heat so produced is beneficial to waste disposal in several ways: for example, it accelerates both aerobic and anaerobic microbiological waste oxidation and reduction and hastens the death of pathological organisms which may be present in the waste. The release of oxygen from water during photosynthesis provides aerobic microbiological waste oxidation; and the absorption of carbon dioxide which also accompanies photosynthesis raises the p^H of the waste to a point which may be lethal to any pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Depending upon the availability of solar energy and the efficiency attained, production rates for oxygen may reach 500 pounds per acre per day-a rate sufficient to continuously and fully oxidize the wastes of more than 2500 persons. Under average environmental conditions, oxygen production rates of 200 lb/day may be dependably produced.     

Climate policies for road transport revisited (I): Evaluation of the current framework

The global rise of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its potentially devastating consequences require a comprehensive regulatory framework for reducing emissions, including those from the transport sector. Alternative fuels and technologies have been promoted as a means for reducing the carbon intensity of the transport sector. However, the overall transport policy framework in major world economies is geared towards the use of conventional fossil fuels. This paper evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of current climate policies for road transport that (1) target fuel producers and/or car manufacturers, and (2) influence use of alternative fuels and technologies. With diversifying fuel supply chains, carbon intensity of fuels and energy efficiency of vehicles cannot be regulated by a single instrument. We demonstrate that vehicles are best regulated across all fuels in terms of energy per distance. We conclude that price-based policies and a cap on total emissions are essential for alleviating rebound effects and perverse incentives of fuel efficiency standards and low carbon fuel standards. In tandem with existing policy tools, cap and price signal policies incentivize all emissions reduction options. Design and effects of cap and trade in the transport sector are investigated in the companion article (Flachsland et al., in this issue).     

Financial analysis of cooking energy options for India

A financial analysis of cooking energy options is attempted for India using data from a field study and real costs and prices. The fuels considered are; fuelwood, kerosene, biogas, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and electricity. Traditional and efficient devices and different discount rates are used in the analysis. Financial analysis for rural areas shows that the efficient Astra-stove using wood is the least cost option and biogas, which is the only quality fuel option for rural areas, is the most expensive option. The subsidised kerosene option is cheaper than wood in the traditional stove. The ranking of options from low to high costs is from fuelwood to kerosene to LPG to biogas. In the urban situation, the subsidy on kerosene distorts the energy ladder. Kerosene is the low cost fuel option, and fuelwood in the traditional stove is among the most expensive options. The existing subsidies on kerosene, LPG and electricity seem to benefit middle and high income groups, particularly in urban areas. Low income households in urban and rural areas are forced to use fuelwood in traditional stoves, which is not only a low quality fuel but is also a high cost cooking energy option. The efficiency of the device is shown to be a crucial factor in determining the cost of using a fuel. Low income households are disadvantaged, as they use traditional low efficiency wood stoves. A need to alter energy policies to promote quality fuels and efficient devices in an accessible way to low income households is highlighted.     

Renewable energy resources for electricity generation in Sudan

Electricity reaches only about 30% of Sudan's more than 40 M population; this mainly in urban areas. Hence, a major problem for rural people is the inadequate supply of power for lighting, heating, cooking, cooling, water pumping, radio or TV communications and security services. Petroleum product supplies, including diesel, kerosene and LPG are irregular and often subject to sudden price increases. Because of the inadequate supply of these fuels, women trek great distances into the forest to collect fuelwood, charcoal and biomass residues from animal and agriculture, account for more than half of total energy consumption. Most of this is utilised for cooking and heating water in rural and semi urban areas and by the urban poor. It is a need to provide alternative renewable energy sources to enhance women's participation in, and benefit from development. Household energy was the first energy sector that paid explicit attention to women and their energy needs. The contribution of women to environmental policy is largely ignored. Decision-making and policy formulation at all environmental levels, i.e., conservation, protection and rehabilitation and environmental management are more or less a male preserve. Women have been involved in promotion of appropriate energy technologies, primarily for rural population over the past 15 years. This article highlights the experience of working with rural people in seeking solutions for community energy needs through renewable environmentally friendly energy technologies.     

燃煤机组耦合固废焚烧关键技术研究进展

[目的]燃煤与固体废弃物混合掺烧不仅可以实现固废的能量回收利用,也是实现燃煤发电的碳减排的路径之一。[方法]文章综述讨论了燃煤电站掺混固废的研究工作,主要介绍了基于目前主流的电站锅炉为反应器开展燃煤与不同固废掺混的燃烧应用与技术发展;从燃料经济性、混合燃料的飞灰特征、污染物排放以及碳税角度评价燃煤掺混固废的燃烧技术发展;最后讨论了直接掺混和间接掺混的技术的特点。[结果]燃煤直接掺混固废燃烧时需要尽可能减少对锅炉运行的影响,特别是气体污染物的排放以及飞灰对换热面的影响和飞灰无害化处置。间接掺混可以避免混合燃料燃烧对炉膛的影响,但是需要较高的硬件成本投资且耦合技术较为复杂。富氧燃烧技术依旧需要对现有锅炉结构优化来提高该技术的适用性。[结论]直接掺混可实现性与成本优于间接掺混,且循环流化床燃料适应广的特点有利于燃煤直接掺混固废燃烧技术的应用,随着基于循环流化床的富氧燃烧技术的发展将更有利于实现火电厂的碳减排。     

CAPE-OPEN simulation of waste-to-energy technologies for urban cities

Uncontrolled waste disposal and unsustainable waste management not only damage the environment, but also affect human health. In most urban areas, municipal solid waste production is constantly increasing following the everlasting increase in energy consumption. Technologies aim to exploit wastes in order to recover energy, decrease the depletion rate of fossil fuels, and reduce waste disposal. In this paper, the annual amount of municipal solid waste disposed in the greater metropolitan area of Thessaloniki is taken into consideration, in order to size and model a combined heat and power facility for energy recovery. From the various waste-to-energy technologies available, a fluidised bed combustion boiler combined heat and power plant was selected and modelled through the use of COCO, a CAPE-OPEN simulation software, to estimate the amount of electrical and thermal energy that could be generated for different boiler pressures. Although average efficiency was similar in all cases, providing almost 15% of Thessaloniki’s energy needs, a great variation in the electricity to thermal energy ratio was observed.     

An international comparison of energy use in industry: United Kingdom,West Germany,and Italy

The paper presents an investigation on the relation between energy use and economic activity in eight industrial sectors in the United Kingdom, West Germany, and Italy. The approach relies on the analysis of time-series data. In the first section, we point to the role of energy in its interrelationship with the structural characteristics of the national economies. Subsequently, having observed that unit energy requirements vary in the same sector across the three countries, the analysis focuses on possible explanations. The different unit energy consumption pattern, as exhibited by most of the Italian sectors when compared with both the British and the West German ones, is not related to different unit labour and unit capital utilisation patterns. The lack, in the Italian sectors, of a large coal consumption share in the first post-war decade provides an intuitively plausible explanation for the observed unit energy consumption. We test the hypothesis that interfuel substitution alone can account for increased energy productivity. From the results obtained, we deduce that, for a small subset of our sectors, the tested hypothesis turns out to be a meaningful one. In a subsequent section, we analyse and compare the substitution characteristics and the price elasticities of consumption for four fuels. We also take account of the price of labour. Our results support the conclusion that electricity tends to be used as a complement to the other fuels, while the fossil fuels substitute for each other.     

Assessment of demand for natural gas from the electricity sector in India

Electricity sector is among the key users of natural gas. The sustained electricity deficit and environment policies have added to an already rising demand for gas. This paper tries to understand gas demand in future from electricity sector. This paper models the future demand for gas in India from the electricity sector under alternative scenarios for the period 2005–2025, using bottom-up ANSWER MARKAL model. The scenarios are differentiated by alternate economic growth projections and policies related to coal reforms, infrastructure choices and local environment. The results across scenarios show that gas competes with coal as a base-load option if price difference is below US $ 4 per MBtu. At higher price difference gas penetrates only the peak power market. Gas demand is lower in the high economic growth scenario, since electricity sector is more flexible in substitution of primary energy. Gas demand reduces also in cases when coal supply curve shifts rightwards such as under coal reforms and coal-by-wire scenarios. Local environmental (SO₂ emissions) control promotes end of pipe solutions flue gas de-sulfurisation (FGD) initially, though in the longer term mitigation happens by fuel substitution (coal by gas) and introduction of clean coal technologies integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC).     

Potential contribution of ethanol fuel to the transport sector of Pakistan

Pakistan is an energy-deficient country. The indigenous reserves of oil and gas are limited and the country is heavily dependent on the import of oil. The oil import bill is a serious strain on the country's economy and has been deteriorating the balance of payments situation. The country has become increasingly more dependent on fossil fuels and its energy security hangs on the fragile supply of imported oil that is subject to disruptions and price volatility. The transport sector has a 28% share in the total commercial energy consumption in Pakistan. About 1.15 million tonnes of gasoline was consumed by this sector during 2005–2006. The gasoline consumption in the transport sector is also a major source of environmental degradation especially in urban areas. Consequently, Pakistan needs to develop indigenous, environment-friendly energy resources, such as ethanol, to meet its transport sector's energy needs. Pakistan produces about 54 million tonnes of sugarcane every year. The estimated production potential of ethanol from molasses is about 500 million liters per annum. Ethanol can be used in the transport sector after blending with gasoline, in order to minimize the gasoline consumption and associated economical and environmental impacts. This paper presents the assessment of the potential contribution of ethanol in the transport sector of Pakistan. It is concluded that 5–10% of the annual gasoline consumption in transport sector could be met from ethanol by the year 2030 under different scenarios. About US$200–400 million per annum could be saved along with other environmental and health benefits by using gasol in the transport sector.     

Oil and natural gas prices and greenhouse gas emission mitigation

The hikes in hydrocarbon prices during the last years have lead to concern about investment choices in the energy system and uncertainty about the costs for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. On the one hand, high prices of oil and natural gas increase the use of coal; on the other hand, the cost difference between fossil-based energy and non-carbon energy options decreases. We use the global energy model TIMER to explore the energy system impacts of exogenously forced low, medium and high hydrocarbon price scenarios, with and without climate policy. We find that without climate policy high hydrocarbon prices drive electricity production from natural gas to coal. In the transport sector, high hydrocarbon prices lead to the introduction of alternative fuels, especially biofuels and coal-based hydrogen. This leads to increased emissions of CO₂. With climate policy, high hydrocarbon prices cause a shift in electricity production from a dominant position of natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to coal-with-CCS, nuclear and wind. In the transport sector, the introduction of hydrogen opens up the possibility of CCS, leading to a higher mitigation potential at the same costs. In a more dynamic simulation of carbon price and oil price interaction the effects might be dampened somewhat.