Domestic use of biomass fuel in the rural Meghna floodplain areas of Bangladesh

Akther, Shalina; Miah, Md. Danesh; Koike, Masao

doi:10.3832/ifor0551-003

Cited by 12 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Nevertheless, this study found a significant positive relationship between household income and energy expenditure, which indicated that households with higher incomes were likely to spend more money for better energy fuels, such as firewood, LPG, and electricity. A similar type of attitude towards energy expenditure has been reported by other studies (Bhatt and Sachan 2004;Rao and Reddy 2007;Akther et al 2010). One of the important findings of this study was that there was a reciprocal relationship between family size and energy household energy consumption.…”

Section: Evaluation On the Perspectives Of Household Energy Consumptisupporting

confidence: 88%

“…crop residues with firewood, whereas middle-class households chose a mixture of both types, and poor households selected inferior types of biomass fuels. Similar patterns of firewood use and selection were reported among different socio-economic groups in many parts of rural Bangladesh (Miah et al 2003;Jashimuddin et al 2006;Akther et al 2010) and in India (Mahapatra and Mitchell 1999;Pachauri 2004).…”

Section: Evaluation Of Households' Preferences Attitudes Knowledge supporting

confidence: 64%

“…The methodologies applied in this study for the determination of rural households' energy consumption patterns were found to be useful and supported by several studies (Howes 1985;Rao and Reddy 2007;Akther et al 2010;Miah et al 2010). The survey was carried out using a structured questionnaire that enabled the respondents to understand the intention of the survey clearly.…”

Section: Evaluation On the Perspectives Of Household Energy Consumptimentioning

confidence: 75%

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Supply and demand of biomass based energy: rural people's perspectives in Bangladesh

Hassan¹

2015

Diss. For.

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Biomass is the most common and significant indigenous source of energy in rural areas of Bangladesh. The widespread use of biomass for energy is a source of concern as it may lead to overexploitation of forest resources and the conversion of woodlands to other nonforestry purposes, which potentially have negative impacts not only for climate change but also for local food and fuel production. Moreover, a lack of comprehensive data on resource availability, biomass consumption patterns, and the absence of information in regard to public attitudes and knowledge of biomass fuels in general have been recognized as major obstacles to the development of modern and efficient biomass based energy use in Bangladesh. This study examines four aspects of bioenergy in Bangladesh: the bioenergy potential, the energy consumption patterns of rural households, the preferences and attitudes of rural households towards biomass fuels, and finally their knowledge and perceptions of sustainable energy development. The results revealed that the recoverable bioenergy potential from selected crop residues and wood fuels amounted to about 762 million GJ in 2009. However, the potential is predicted to reach 946 million GJ by 2020 under the "status quo" benchmark levels and could reach a maximum of 1236 million GJ under higher GDP growth rates (Article I). Biomass fuels were identified as the predominant source of primary energy supply. Per capita primary energy consumption was estimated at 6.45 GJ/year with the proportion from biomass fuels estimated at about 6.03 GJ (equivalent to 93% of the total energy consumption) (Article II). The study showed that biomass fuel consumption is influenced by family size, per capita income, and per capita land. Firewood was the most preferred biomass fuel followed by cow dung, bamboo and jute stalk (Article III). However, due to the continuous decline in the tree resources, the availability of firewood is now in short supply. On-farm and off-farm tree planting have become more important among rural households in response to the acute lack of firewood supply. Recognizing the importance of public knowledge on the development of renewable energy, the study found that rural households possessed a high level of knowledge of traditional biomass fuels; however, they had a relatively low level of knowledge on newer biofuels and other renewables (Article IV). This implies that there is a need for the dissemination of information in regard to bioenergy and other renewable energy technologies among the rural populace. Depletion of tree resources, inadequate afforestation programmes, and a lack of initiatives towards the utilization of set-aside lands for wood energy plantations has been identified as the major impediments to biomass-based energy development in Bangladesh. Analysis showed that an enhancement of the afforestation programme, building public awareness of energy technologies, and the formulation of 'biomass-based rural energy strategies' are relevant for the development of sustainable biomass based ener...

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Section: Evaluation On the Perspectives Of Household Energy Consumptisupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Evaluation Of Households' Preferences Attitudes Knowledge supporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Evaluation On the Perspectives Of Household Energy Consumptimentioning

confidence: 75%

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Supply and demand of biomass based energy: rural people's perspectives in Bangladesh

Hassan¹

2015

Diss. For.

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“…Though controlled firewood collection from Sal forests is not completely destroying the forests and woodlands, its massive collection might affect the regeneration and conservation of forests. On the other hand, firewood is the most important wood product in Bangladesh, and the estimated demand and supply for the years 1993 to 2013 (by FMP) shows that firewood is almost one-third of the total demand (Akther et al 2010). The gap between demand and supply of firewood would easily explain the national crisis of firewood in Bangladesh.…”

Section: Firewood Shortagementioning

confidence: 99%

Deforestation, land conversion and illegal logging in Bangladesh: the case of the Sal (Shorea robusta) forests

Islam¹,

Sato²

2012

iForest

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© iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry IntroductionDeforestation is considered one of the oldest problems of the world, and it is as old as the agricultural revolution 10 000 to 12 000 years ago (Mena 2001). People have always needed land for their own uses and have consequently cleared natural vegetation. Nowadays, global deforestation is understood to be one of the key problems of climate change (FAO 1995, Turner 1996, Cassel-Gintz & Petschel-Held 2001, Gorte & Sheikh 2010. Moreover, the economic value of natural resources, such as forests, has been shown to be the major cause of deforestation in developing countries (Munasinghe 1993). About 50% of the original forest covering our globe has been cleared in the last 40 years (FAO 1995, WWF 1998, and in developing countries about 1.5 billion people rely on firewood for cooking and heating (Tucker 1999).Bangladesh is a developing country having 14.4 million hectares of total geographic area (GOB 2010, Islam 2005. Of them, 13.36 million hectares are land surface, and 0.94 million hectares are rivers and other inland water bodies (Ahmed 1999, BBS 2001, Islam 2005. The country has only 17.08% (2.52 million ha) of total forest land (GOB 2010), and the Sal forests cover about 0.12 million hectares, so representing 4.7% of the total forest area of Bangladesh (GOB 2010). A few decades ago, Bangladesh was rich in forest resources but a rapid population growth, land conversion into different commercial activities, increased consumption of energy and wood and maximum utilization of natural resources have led to a rapid degradation of forest resources (Alam et al. 2008). The tropical moist deciduous Sal forests are a leading example of such degradation (Ali et al. 2006), due to highly increasing population that have sequentially brought exploitation of the forest at a significant rate, nearly close to destruction (Safa 2004, Alam et al. 2008. As a consequence, about 36% of the Sal forests original cover existed in 1985, and more recent estimates mentioned that this figure dropped down to only 10% (Alam et al. 2008, FAO 2003.Several researches dealing with deforestation have been undertaken, focusing on both the microeconomic (Repetto 1988, Gillis 1988 and macroeconomic causes of rapid deforestation in the tropics (Shafik 1994, Capistrano & Kiker 1995, Khan & McDonald 1995. However, the relevance of understanding the deforestation systems goes beyond the capability to point out the changes resulting from deforestation; it is necessary to realize its causes and effects on natural resources (Mena 2001). Scientists generally mention population pressure and rural poverty as a key element in explaining deforestation of Bangladesh. However, other scientists and environmental groups have referred forest shrinkage to economical growth, national policies, and the harvesting of trees for firewood (Salam & Noguchi 1998). Empirical support for these hypotheses is fundamentally applicable for all forest types of Bangladesh. Deforestation in Bangladesh is obviously a complex issue and, ...

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“…The overuse of fuelwood is significantly sharing the deforestation process. In addition to this, there was increased use of crop residues and cow dung as fuel which was depriving the agricultural soil of valuable nutrients and organic matter resulting to reduce the productive capacity of land [14].…”

Section: Types Sources and Quantity Of Biomass Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Biomass Fuel Consumption Pattern in Rural Areas of Bangladesh

Nandi

Nusrat

2020

JENRR

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Biomass fuels contribute to the largest share of the energy uses in Bangladesh. The present study determines the household biomass fuel consumption pattern in the rural areas of Titas Upazila under Comilla district in Bangladesh using the stratified random sampling technique through semi-structured questionnaires. Data were collected from 84 households under three household land categories – poor (land area <0.10 acre), middle (land area 0.10-0.25acre) and well-off household (land area >0.25 acre). Households were found to depend largely on biomass fuel including firewood, branches, leaves and twigs, bamboo, agricultural residue (rice husk, rice straw) and cow dung mainly for cooking. Firewood was the dominant biomass fuel for well-off and middle households (28% and 25%) and branches of the tree were dominant fuel for poor households (24%). More than 40% well-off households collect major amount of fuelwood from their own homestead forests while 32% middle and 37% poor households collect tree biomass from agricultural lands. Villagers preferred mostly Albizia procera, Mangifera indica, Cocos nucifera, Tamarindus indica as fuelwood tree species. Households across three categories (poor, middle, well-off) spend 19%, 12% and 11% of their total income for buying biomass fuels, respectively. All of the three households used a traditional wood-burning oven. Among them 39% well-off households and 18% middle households used LPG. Decreasing forest resources impose threats on the availability of biomass fuels. About 70% of households think that fuelwood was a scarce resource because of the degradation of homestead forest and fuelwood production unsustainability. Villagers suggested for alternative fuel items to decrease the pressure on biomass fuel energy sources. They also prescribed inclusion of fast-growing tree species into plantation program at the homestead level. Moreover, they demanded their involvement in this plantation program. The outcome of this study might be helpful to formulate policies to meet future challenges in fuel consumption and their sustainable utilization.

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Domestic use of biomass fuel in the rural Meghna floodplain areas of Bangladesh

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

Supply and demand of biomass based energy: rural people's perspectives in Bangladesh

Supply and demand of biomass based energy: rural people's perspectives in Bangladesh

Deforestation, land conversion and illegal logging in Bangladesh: the case of the Sal (Shorea robusta) forests

Household Biomass Fuel Consumption Pattern in Rural Areas of Bangladesh

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