Indirect costs of biomass can be high

WASHINGTON, DC, US, 2004-07-14 Refocus Weekly

The International Energy Agency estimates that 14% of end use energy comes from non-commercial biomass fuels, which may have a high impact on the world’s agriculture, environment and public health.

“Non-commercial biomass is available almost everywhere, and many people think of it as being ‘free’ if they collect it themselves, or very cheap if they purchase it,” according to a special analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy entitled ‘Non-commercial Biomass Energy Use in Developing Countries.’ When compared with the cost of obtaining kerosene or liquefied petroleum gas stoves “can discourage people from using those fuels, and even if some families can afford other fuels, the required infrastructure may not be available.”

Non-commercial biomass consists of wood, charcoal, agricultural residues and animal wastes, and is used by 2.4 billion residents of developing countries as their primary fuel for cooking and heating. More than half the people who rely on biomass live in India and China, but the highest proportion is in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of the population use biomass compared with 23% in Latin America.

“Although the direct economic costs of using biomass may be small, the indirect costs in terms of agriculture, environment and public health can be high,” it notes. “Time spent gathering fuel could be used instead for agricultural production; and biomass used for fuel, such as agricultural residues and dung, could be used instead for fertilizer.”

One study suggests that the dung used as fuel in India in 1998 would have been worth $800 million as fertilizer for use in agriculture.

Biomass is “less efficient for providing end-use energy services than are other fuels” and “can have negative effects on the environmental and, particularly, on human health” but are widely used because of their availability and low cost.

The use of biomass as a fuel when managed sustainably “does not harm either the local or global environment,” but unsustainable harvesting of wood can cause local deforestation and loss of biodiversity, the report warns. Globally, the burning of biomass releases CO2 into the atmosphere but there is no net release if biomass is planted and harvested at the same rate.

Harvesting of biomass is not considered to be a significant cause of large-scale deforestation in developing countries, where people do not chop down trees but will collect woody shrubs, fallen branches or debris from cleared agricultural fields.

Significant adverse impacts are associated with the indoor air pollution caused by fumes and emissions from stoves, with average indoor concentrations of small particle emissions exceeding World Health Organization guidelines by a factor of 20 or more, with exposure high among women who have primary responsibility for cooking, and their small children who tend to remain indoors with their mothers. One of the major health risks associated with small particle air pollution in developing countries is acute respiratory infections associated with a wide range of viruses and bacteria.

Indoor air pollution affects 2.4 billion people around the world, and many countries have programs which include subsidies for cleaner burning stoves, microfinancing schemes to help the poor pay for improved stoves, and investments in research for new technologies, financing mechanisms and exposure and health assessments, the report concludes.

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