Regional Wood Energy Development Programme in Asia

The RWEDP DATABASE has been updated with new energy consumption data for most countries.

Wood Energy Planning case studies for Nepal and Vietnam have been added.

Country studies on Wood Energy Data Collection for Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Pakistan have been added.

The draft of the proceedings of the Regional Workshop on Institutional Stoves held in 1995 in Indonesia has been made available for downloading.

The FINAL ISSUE of Wood Energy News is available for downloading.

Announcing 3 International Bio-Energy Conferences:

"POWER GEN" Renewable Energy Conference - March 1-3, 2004, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA,

The 2nd World Conference and Technology Exhibition on Biomass for Energy and Industry, Rome 10-14 May 2004, Italy , and

WORLD BIOENERGY 2004 - Conference & Exhibition on Biomass for Energy, 2-4 June 2004, Jonkoping, Sweden.

See "What's new" for further details.

Growing Demand for Wood Energy

Wood energy (fuelwood and charcoal) is, and will remain, an important source of energy in South and Southeast Asia. In most countries between 20% and 80% of energy demand is met by wood. The use of woodfuels is still increasing, though not as fast as the use of fossil fuels.

Economic Importance

Although woodfuels are often considered 'non-commercial', they are widely traded. Particularly in urban areas, where woodfuels are most relevant, markets for fuelwood and charcoal are thriving. Many people, both in urban and rural areas, earn their main income from the woodfuel business. This can involve growing, harvesting, processing, trading, transporting or retailing.

A Sustainable and Versatile Fuel

Most of the woodfuel originates from non-forest land and is managed sustainably. The main uses are in the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors. Applications can be traditional or modern, or an intermediate type.