Biomass for domestic heat

Abstract

Biomass is an important source of energy in the residential sector and meets a significant proportion of the energy needs of one-third of the world’s population. In many low- and middle-income countries, particularly in rural areas, it is still used in a traditional way and provides the basic energy needs of the population, such as cooking and water and space heating. In many poor regions where forests are abundant, wood, of all the possible biomass resources, is the dominant fuel. It can be obtained at low or no monetary cost and burns in simple and inexpensive equipment. However, the consequences of this traditional use of biomass are several: indoor and outdoor pollution, impacts on health, pressures on forest resources and increased burden on women and children. Developments in residential wood fuel energy technologies are driven by the need for higher efficiency and fewer environmental impacts. As a consequence of such developments, today, highly efficient and cleaner equipment is used to provide energy from forest resources, but still mainly in high-income countries. This chapter reviews the use of energy from forest biomass in the residential sector and the different available conversion technologies, from the traditional to the most advanced ones.