Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply - Embrapa

Table 12. Energy produced exclusively from wood in 1999.
Region
Africa
Asia
Europe
Middle East
North America
Oceania
South America
World (1)
(1) Does not include black liquor.
Source: IEA Statistics.
Mtep
141.1
38.5
37.7
216.1
34.9
0.2
3.8
472.3
91
%
29.9
8.1
8.0
45.8
7.4
0.0
0.8
100.0
The largest biomass energy consumer is the rural sector. The rural per
capital consumption is estimated at 1 t/year (15GJ), while consumption falls by
50% in urban areas.
The variations in energy consumption from plain firewood and its
residues are strongly associated with the degree of development of the country.
Firewood is commonly used in the rural areas of developing countries and
accounts for almost all the energy used in the homes. Practically all
consumption usually takes place where the firewood is produced.
Charcoal consumption, on the other hand, is more common in urban
and peri-urban areas. Close to 6 m3 of wood are required for the production of
one ton of charcoal. Thus, the price of charcoal includes the costs of the raw
material, transportation, processing, and stocking.
The production of energy from wood has fallen consistently in Brazil in
the last few years. It is estimated that wood extraction decreased by 35% in
the 1990s: from 106-million tons to 69.5-million tons/year. The main reason
for the reduction was diminishing charcoal consumption in the homes (47%),
industry (39%), agriculture (13%), and commerce (1%).
In 1999, while 25-million tons of wood were transformed into charcoal,
only .5-million tons of wood were used to generate electric power. In Brazil
the main industrial consumers are the food and drink sector and ceramics
and paper manufacturers.
Eucalyptus plantations for charcoal production are estimated at 3-million
hectares. If the forest biomass market improves, there will be a wood deficit in
the next ten years due to the long maturity period required by reforestation projects.