The Influence of Heating Degree Days on Fuelwood Consumption in Households in Selected Countries of Central and Southeastern Europe

Serbia is one of the few European countries that does not keep official statistics and does not have data on heating degree days. A heating degree day (HDD) represents a measure to quantify the energy needs for heating a building. In order to create a database, six meteorological stations in Serbia had been selected, for which the heating degree days were calculated for every year in the period 2010-2018. The months with the highest values of heating degree days were also determined for each year of the analyzed period. In addition to the annual level, heating degree days in the heating seasons over the analyzed period were calculated for the six selected stations, as well as the length and the average air temperature of each heating season. In Serbia, heating season officially lasts from October 15 to April 15. To determine the influence of the calculated annual heating degree days on fuelwood consumption in households in Serbia, over the period 2010-2018, multiple econometric models were formulated. The influence of the annual values of heating degree days on fuelwood consumption for household space heating in Slovenia and Croatia was analyzed, as well. The analysis of energy consumption in the households of the selected countries showed that wood fuels are mostly used for heating, primarily fuelwood. This is the reason why this type of fuel was selected for the research.

WOOD AS A BIOFUEL IN ROMANIA: A SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON DISCREPANT REPORTED NUMBERS

Nearly 50% of Romanian households use wood as a source of heating. A series of contradicting official reports regarding the demand and supply of firewood in Romania indicates that the consumed volume is higher than the available quantity. This study aims to characterise the dynamics of the firewood market and shed light on the officially reported figures. We analysed certain variables and their influence on firewood demand for six consecutive years. The demand was significantly higher than the supply and was strongly correlated with the unemployment rate. This socio-economic facet leads us to believe that abruptly diminishing fuelwood consumption is an unrealistic policy objective of the authorities.

An Assessment of Forest Structure, Regeneration Status and the Impact of Human Disturbance in Panchase Protected Forest, Nepal

Vegetation study is crucial for the biophysical environment and ecosystem balance. Both qualitative and quantitative assessments of the vegetation can give complete picture of the forest ecosystem. In this study, quantitative characteristics of Panchase Protected Forest in Kaski district were analyzed. The study was focused on the structural characteristics of forest stand, its regeneration pattern along altitudinal gradients, and human impacts on vegetation structure. Density, basal area, frequency, and Importance Value Index (IVI) were used to assess the structural characteristics of forest; Density-Diameter (DD) curve and seedling/sapling/tree density relation were used to assess the regeneration status. Counting the number of lopping and cut stumps and quantifying fuelwood consumption pattern of the village were used to assess human disturbance. The vegetation survey showed 21, 17 and 14 species of trees, saplings, and seedlings, respectively. Daphniphyllum himalense was the most dominant species followed by Quercus lamellosa. DD curve showed reverse J-shaped structure indicating sustainable regeneration. Daphniphyllum himalense and Alnus nepalensis were major species of trees consumed as fuelwood and average annual fuelwood consumption was 2083.79 tons. Density of lopped trees and cut stump was in decreasing trend along with elevation. Species richness was higher in moderately disturbed sites. This study has significant implications for protected forest management and biodiversity conservation in Nepal.

APPRAISAL OF PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF CHARCOAL AND FIREWOOD AS AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES FOR DOMESTIC USAGE IN KEFFI NASARAWA STATE NIGERIA

The simple way to utilized forest resources is to make use of their by-products (firewood and charcoal) in our households. Africa suffered a great deal of energy supply. Nigeria has limited electricity supply in recent years. Gas, kerosene and LNG are exorbitant that poor people cannot afford. The rate of poverty increases especially in a mostly rural community in Nigeria as well as Africa due to bad leadership that common people have no resources to depend on except forest resources where women and children go to bushes. This study assesses the per capita consumption of both the firewood and charcoal daily, weekly, monthly and annually. The rates of consumption determine the usage of fuelwood. The regression analyses were employed to statistically verify the rate of fuelwood consumption. The result indicates that there are high rates of consumption per capita per day (charcoal 0.20kg, firewood 0.09kg), per capita per week charcoal 9.9kg, firewood 4.48kg), per capita per month ( charcoal 181.9kg; firewood 82.5kg) and charcoal 26,937kg firewood 12,042kg). This indicates that people are highly destroying forest daily and alter the natural system of the environment for the sake of fuelwood consumption.

Fuelwood Use and Carbon Emission Reduction of Improved Biomass Cook Stoves; Evidence From Kitchen Performance Test in Tigray, Ethiopia

Background In Ethiopia, biomass is the main form of fuel approximately for 92% of the population. Currently, several strategies were designed to reduce fuelwood consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission by implementing improved cooking stoves (ICS). Nevertheless, the adoption of ICSs has been very slow. Therefore, these studies were conducted to assess the performance of ICS (“Mirt” and Tikikil”) on fuelwood consumption and greenhouse gas emission (GHG) in the kitchens of real households.Methods To select the study households (HH), both cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs were used. We used Kitchen Performance Test (KPT), based on three days of repeated fuel wood use measurements to compare the wood-saving performance of ICS and the traditional cook stoves (TCS). The carbon emission in the study area was calculated based on the clean development mechanism and United Nation’s Framework of Convention on Climate change.Result The study indicated that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) between the use of improved and traditional cooking stoves in total and per capita wood consumption. The use of “Mirt” and “Tikikil” than the traditional stove reduced the household wood consumption by 35 % (438 kg/ year) and 18% (185 kg/ year), respectively. Likewise, use of these ICS stoves lead to decrease of 0.65 and 0.27 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2 e) per stove per year. ConclusionAdopting of ICS reduced the amount of fuelwood used and carbon emission at household level significantly as compared to the use of TCS. This finding have implication on adoption of ICS technology is important on reducing CO2 emission, forest degradation and household workloads.

Fuelwood Use and Carbon Emission Reduction of Improved Biomass Cook Stoves; Evidence from Kitchen Performance Test in Tigray, Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, biomass is the main form of fuel approximately for 92% of the population. Currently, several strategies were designed to reduce fuelwood consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission by implementing improved cooking stoves (ICS). Nevertheless, the adoption of ICSs has been very slow. Therefore, this study were conducted to assess the performance of ICS (“Mirt” and Tikikil”) on fuelwood consumption and greenhouse gas emission (GHG) in the kitchens of real households using kitchen performance test (KPT) methods. To select the study households (HH), both cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs were used. The study indicated that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) between the use of improved and traditional cooking stoves in total and per capita wood consumption. The use of “Mirt” and “Tikikil” than the traditional stove reduced the household wood consumption by 35 % (438 kg/ year) and 18% (185 kg/ year), respectively. Likewise, adopting of these ICS stoves lead to decrease of 0.65 and 0.27 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2 e) per stove per year. This finding may have implication on adoption of ICS technology is important on reducing CO2 emission, forest degradation and household workloads.

HOUSEHOLDS FUELWOOD CONSUMPTION IMPACT ON FOREST DEGRADATION IN THE CASE OF MOTTA DISTRICT, NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA

Traditional energy sources like fuelwood, charcoal, cow dung, and crop residue are common for household domestic energy consumption in the majority people of the study area as well as in Ethiopia. However, information related the impact of household fuelwood consumption on forest degradation is limited in the study area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the impacts on households' domestic fuelwood consumption on deforestation and forest degradation in Motta district northwest Ethiopia. A random sampling procedure was employed to select 140 sample households involved in the household survey. Then open ended and close ended semi structured questioners were provide for each sample household. In addition, sample bundle of fire wood and sack of charcoal were measured to quantify households’ traditional measuring unit into standardize biomass unit. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression was performed to examine household fuelwood impact on forest degradation and for identifying main determinant factors affecting households' daily fuelwood consumption. . The result revealed that farmers owned plantation is the main source of fuelwood consumption a species like Eucalyptus globulus. Annually they consumed 2.36 kg/household. Hence, the total communities consumption was around 3,635.51ton dried biomass of fuelwood which is estimated about 1.89 hectare of forest land is degraded due to households’ domestic energy consumption in the study area. The statistical regression analysis also revealed family size and their residence far from fuelwood source had statistically significant different. It is confirmed that household fuelwood consumption had negatively impact of forest resource development and accelerate deforestation and forest degradation rate. Hence, in order to solve deforestation and forest degradation due to forest dependence energy consumption; providing other alternative energy accessibility like electricity, solar energy, biogas, improved cook stove are recommended. KEYWORDS: Fuelwood, Charcoal, Forest degradation, Household energy, Household