What woodfuels can do to mitigate climate change

Woodfuels currently account for a greater share of global energy consumption than all other forms of “renewable” energy combined. The overwhelming majority of this consumption, however, is based on the traditional use of wood and charcoal in developing countries. Due to the low efficiency of such use and the often poor quality of associated resource management, much woodfuel consumption is unsustainable. A great deal of effort has been directed at improving access to alternative forms of energy and encouraging households to switch to them; nevertheless, traditional biomass will continue to constitute a major source of energy for the foreseeable future, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, strategies are needed to enable the traditional biomass sector to both improve efficiency and manage woodfuel resources more sustainably. At the same time, there is a growing market for modern and efficient bioenergy that uses wood in the form of pellets, residues and various types of dedicated feedstock supplies. Natural forests and planted forests both have distinct advantages in the provision of biomass feedstock supply. For medium-scale applications, combined heat and power systems have become cost-effective almost anywhere where there is sufficient heat demand that can be coupled to electricity demand. In large-scale applications, one of the simplest and most cost-effective options is the co-firing of biomass in coal-fired power plants.