Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Among FAO’s activities in the energy field, the Wood Energy Programme, an integral part of FAO’s International Bioenergy Programme, is the closest to the critical question of “energy access”. 

Wood Energy

Wood-based fuels are the dominant source of energy for over two billion people, particularly in households in developing countries.  Social and economic scenarios indicate a continuous growth of the demand for wood fuels that will continue to grow for several decades. Biofuels, especially fuelwood and charcoal, currently provide globally more than 14 percent, in developing countries 34 percent, and in some African sub-regions as much as 80 percent, of the total primary energy consumption. Wood and charcoal, the most commonly used wood-based fuels are vital to the nutritional stability of poor rural and urban households in developing countries.  In addition to being used for domestic cooking and heating, they are often essential in food processing industries for baking, brewing, smoking, curing and electricity production. Wood energy (mainly for electricity generation) is being increasingly used as an environmentally sound source of energy that can substantially contribute in reducing greenhouse gas emission.

FAO’s Wood Energy Programme is designed to promote sustainable wood energy systems as a contribution to sustainable forest management (SFM), livelihood, food security and poverty alleviation. The program strives to:

·         strengthen the institutional capacity of member countries (i.e.: Forestry Services), stakeholders and partners  for the adoption of sound wood energy policies and the implementation of cost–effective projects;  

·         develop, promote and monitor innovative initiatives for wood energy systems implemented by relevant stakeholders;

·         reduce poverty and improve food security, with particular attention to women and children through the promotion of more accessible and affordable woodfuels, and the reduction of indoor air pollution;  and

·         mitigate climate change through the utilisation of wood energy as an environmentally friendly source of energy.

Activities

In line with the above, the main Wood Energy activities are focused on: a) the implementation of a Wood Energy Information System; b) the strengthening national capacities; and c) the development of institutional synergies. The following are the highlights of recent work of FAO in this field.

Wood Energy Information System (WEIS)

The generation of information and knowledge and its dissemination is vital in understanding the role and the contribution of woodfuels, and their derived energy, for SFM, food security, poverty alleviation, economic development of local areas, and the wood energy contribution to climate change mitigation through carbon substitution and sequestration. FAO has established a Wood Energy Information System (WEIS) consisting of:  standardized terms and factors commonly used in the field of wood energy (UWET), regional databases (WEDB), and mechanisms for open discussions and dissemination of information (FEFwebpage, FEFbulletin and FEFnet).

·         Unified Wood Energy Terminology  (UWET)
UWET provides an approach for the harmonization of terms, definitions, units and conversion factors commonly used in forest and energy statistics, commercial trading operations and bioenergy resources balances.  In the preparation and dissemination of UWET, FAO is working in close collaboration with other relevant international, regional and national organizations and agencies involved in wood energy.  The Forest Energy Forum Network List (FEF-net) aims to become an informal forum for discussion and exchange of experiences for national and international wood energy focal points regarding the entire range of activities carried out in the execution of FAO Wood Energy Programme and Projects.

·         Wood Energy Data Bases (WEDB)

The studies of the series “Wood Energy Today for Tomorrow” constituted an important mechanism for data collection on wood-based fuels and related energy aspects at a national level, including the production, consumption and trade of different wood-based fuels.  The series covered Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Near East and Eastern Europe, as well as OECD countries. Additional country information was produced by national wood energy experts in the framework of the FAO-EC Partnership Programme on sustainable forest management in Africa.  These studies also helped in the identification of shortcomings and gaps in the main wood energy databases and to diagnose the main constraints in national wood energy planning.

·         Forest Energy Forum (FEF) WebPage
The FEF WebPage is the main internet gate to the FAO Wood Energy Programme.  The site provides information and links to all activities, projects and publications produced by the Programme and its many projects and links to other relevant agencies and institutions.

·              Wood Energy Planning Tools

They consist of tools for developing wood energy planning scenarios for policy decisions such as WISDOM (Woodfuel Integrated Supply/Demand Overview Mapping). They also include “A Guide for Woodfuel Surveys” for collecting and analysing multi-sectoral data to be used with wood energy planning and policy development tools.

Strengthening National Capacities

Infrastructures with properly trained personnel are urgently needed in both forestry and energy agencies for the collection and analysis of wood energy data and the formulation of sound wood energy policies.  In line with these requirements, FAO has also implemented a number of activities designed to build national wood energy planning capacities and to promote synergies among stakeholders and institutions. Over the years, activities in this field have been developed in many countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, through the FAO Technical Co-operation Programme and bilateral and multi-lateral funding sources.

 In fact, FAO is currently supporting several projects in several regions and countries such as

AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND ASIA: Wood Energy Planning and Policy Development. FAO through the Partnership Programme with the European Commission is carrying out a project aimed at improving national capabilities for wood energy planning and policy development across African, Latin America and Asian countries for planning sustainable and efficient area-based wood energy systems

ASIA: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emission by Promoting Biomass Energy Technologies for Heat Applications.  It aims to promote the adoption of improved bioenergy technologies for heat applications in the domestic and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME) in four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy use. The activities of this GEF project consist of (1) technical and commercial evaluation and demonstration of selected bioenergy technologies; (2) support to the creation of an enabling policy environment; (3) development of financial incentive schemes and leveraging of investments; (4) capacity-building and awareness-raising; and (5) dissemination of results for replication, and (6) monitoring and evaluation. A ‘Project Preparation and Development Facility Block B (PDF-B) Grant’ has been provided for the formulation of a full-scale GEF project proposal. The PDF-B activities will include a greenhouse gas emission study of the target sectors; collection of data on suitable technologies and selection of technologies to be demonstrated in the full project; assessment of market potential for improved bioenergy applications; analysis of policy and other barriers and capacity-building needs; design of regional collaborative mechanisms, coordination arrangements; and mobilisation of co-financing for the full project. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) is the Implementing Agency, while the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is the Executing Agency.

SLOVENIA: Supply and Utilization of Bioenergy to Promote Sustainable Forest Management. The project assists the Slovenian Forestry Service (SFS) in (a) preparing a programme for increased and sustainable woodfuel production, trade and utilization being integrated within the national forestry and energy plans; and (b) improving national capabilities, especially those of the SFS and associated partners, for the implementation of new forestry and energy programmes.

Development of Institutional Synergies

Wood energy systems have multi-disciplinary characteristics, with many stakeholders strongly and closely integrated between the socio-economic layers of rural and urban areas, all requiring the attention of different technical and political agencies from the forestry, energy and agricultural sectors.

FAO promotes awareness rising as well as the institutional co-operation and partnership between stakeholders at all levels such as the authorities responsible for forestry, agriculture, energy and rural development, communities and non-governmental organizations, in order to improve the energy supply of rural and urban poor from renewable energy sources.

At the international level, FAO has established strong links and partnerships with regional and international agencies, and NGOs, active in the fields of energy and bioenergy for the exchange of ideas and information, and for the identification and implementation of joint action.

The universal development of sustainable forest and wood energy systems is still a distant goal. Given that wood-based fuels constitute a main forest output in almost all countries, the development of sustainable wood energy systems is crucial for the implementation of overall sustainable forest management.

See further details of the Wood Energy Programme in: http://www.fao.org/forestry/energy

Contact:

Dr Miguel Angel Trossero

Senior Wood Energy Officer

FAO

Terme di Caracalla

Rome, 00100 – Italy

Miguel.Trossero@FAO.org