A Renewable Energy Source: Wood
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Abstract
Wood currently provides about 3.6% of the total energy consumed in the world which it is estimated is a slightly higher percentage than for nucleur power. However there is a marked variation in the importance of wood as an energy source between developing countries, where the percentage varies between 6% and 75%, depending on the region, and developed countries where the percentage is estimated to lie between 0.3% and 1%. Fuelwood accounts for approximately 47% of total world wood production with a similar marked difference between developing and developed countries. Wood, whose thermal efficiency is influenced by its specific gravity and moisture content, can be converted to energy by combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, hydrolysis or hydrogenation. These processes are reviewed along with some of their advantages and disadvantages. Of these, combustion is the most important at present although charcoal is locally important in some countries. In the long term, gasification and hydrolysis may be of more significance since they can be used to convert wood to liquid fuels. Information on the size of the world's wood resources is given and also estimates of biomass production. These suggest that wood has considerable potential since annual forest biomass production is equivalent to about four times the world's total energy consumption per year. Wood supplies for energy in future could come from switching small roundwood logs from existing end uses, using sawmilling residues, fuller utilisation of trees in the forest, or by establishing new plantations specifically for energy production. The way in which wood may be used in the future, and the scale of any developments are examined in the context of both developing and developed countries, and it is concluded that wood being a renewable source of energy is likely to remain at least as important as it is now, and any increased use will depend on the cost of alternative sources of energy, wood availability, and the costs and technological developments in using wood itself as a source of energy.