In the arid and semiarid lands (ASAL) of Kenya, fuelwood and charcoal constitute 95–98% of the total energy demand for cooking, heating and lighting. The resultant deleterious ecological effects are severe and need urgent remedial interventions. A study was carried out in Marsabit District, which is a vast ASAL region, to examine the effects of woodfuel consumption on Marsabit Forest and the surrounding areas. It was found that wood for fuel harvested from Marsabit Forest was approximately 56,000 tons y−1. The rate of deforestation was estimated at 1.6 ha y−1. This resulted in great loss of indigenous biodiversity, destruction of vital ecosystems and habitats. To control further degradation of the forest, it is recommended that an immediate ban be imposed to stop harvesting of the indigenous species such as Olea spp. and Teclea spp., which are seriously endangered. Also, woodfuel conservation through wider and more efficient use of the improved energy‐saving technologies should be enhanced.

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Biomass, in the form of wood, charcoal, and crop residues, is the most important source of energy in Kenya, providing about 75% of the total. A survey was conducted to assess the availability, use, ease of gathering, and the suitability of various biomass fuels for thermal gasification in Kenya. Kenya generates a large variety of by-products from the agricultural sector and related industries (eg coffee husks, coconut shells, bagasse, maize cobs, and cereal straw), and from the forest industry (eg sawdust, bark, off-cuts, and timber shots). Most of these are suitable for gasification; only a small fraction is used as domestic fuel or for animal feed. The quantities generated annually are sufficient to operate small to medium-scale gasifiers that might be used to power sawmills, water pumps, maize and cereal mills, or to generate electricity for remote rural communities. Finally, the paper considers the potential for application of gasification technology in Kenya. Suitable biomass materials are available, and a tentative economic analysis shows that small-scale gasifiers are attractive if the biomass price is low and if the gasifier can be repaired and serviced locally.

woodfuel resources, however, it is becoming increasingly difficult to supply affordable household energy in both rural and urban areas. The consequences of the shortage of fuelwood affect, above all, women and children. They are forced to travel long distances and hence spend more time and energy in collecting wood. Women's health suffers from inhaling smoke and soot while cooking with lowergrade fuels, such as animal dung and crop wastes. Furthermore, this has inflicted long-term, irreparable damage on the environmentwith impoverished soils and forest destruction leading to desertification. Biomass energy in KenyaBiomass provides about 75 per cent of Kenya's total energy demand. An increasing number of people are feeling the impact of the shortage of traditional fuels in rural areas, where more than 80 per cent of the country's 25 million people live. In the rural areas, and among the urban poor, firewood, charcoal and crop residues are the principal cooking and heating fuels, where kerosene is used for lighting.The principle consumers of biomass are the household sector (76 per cent), the industrial sector and the commercial sector. The household sector derives over 90 per cent of its energy requirements from biomass.Of the total fuelwood and charcoal consumption in Kenya, about 90 per cent and 25 per cent are attributed respectively to rural households. It is also estimated that 92 per cent of the energy requirements by the rural household sector is derived from firewood, while the sector consumes about 68 per cent of the total energy in Kenya (O'Keefe et al, 1984; CBS, 1985). Very few rural households use electricity, due mainly to inaccessibility and the high cost of supply.The environmental damage caused by the consumption of fuelwood has increased dramatically. Increasing deforestation, soil erosion and loss of crop-land through desertification pose a threat to the very foundation of agricultural production. As fuel supplies are being exhausted, animal dung and crop residues are burnt, thus depriving the soil of its valuable nutrients and organic matter. The problems of rural energy, therefore, place the provision of food and other basic needs at risk.The technology of biogas production by anaerobic digestion, if adopted widely and utilised appropriately, has the potential to alleviate some of the aforementioned problems. For example, it produces a clean combustible gas, which can be used for cooking and lighting, or for fuelling an engine to drive a grain mill or an irrigation pump-set, hence alleviating the dependence on kerosene, diesel and other imported petroleum products. It will also lessen the dependence on woodfuel, hence the problem of environmental degradation due to deforestation, and the resulting soil erosion. The technology is also a good means of treating sanitary wastes, which could cause severe public health problems if poorly disposed. Unlike the traditional method of direct combustion, biogas technology extracts a more useful and convenient form of energy from animal dung and crop resid...

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