Factors Affecting Fuelwood Consumption and CO 2 Emissions: An Example from a Community-Managed Forest of Nepal

Sony Baral, Bijendra Basnyat, Kalyan Gauli, Ambika Paudel, Rachana Upadhyaya, Yajna Prasad Timilsina and Harald Vacik
Additional contact information
Sony Baral: Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Bijendra Basnyat: Institute of Forestry, Pokhara 33700, Nepal
Kalyan Gauli: The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Lalitpur 44700, Nepal
Ambika Paudel: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, 1125 Coloney By Drive, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Rachana Upadhyaya: Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal
Yajna Prasad Timilsina: Institute of Forestry, Pokhara 33700, Nepal
Harald Vacik: Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Silviculture, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-12

Abstract: Fuelwood is the primary source of energy in Nepal, where 87.1% of the total energy is derived from wood, making it the major source for carbon emissions. This study explores the factors affecting the fuelwood consumption, the amount of carbon emissions including the potential for carbon sequestration in community forests, taking a case study of Kankali Community Forest Users Group (CFUG) of Chitwan district of Nepal. Interviews with 217 households revealed that 60% of the households still depend on fuelwood for cooking, which apparently emits approximately 13.68 tons of carbon dioxide annually. The emission, however, varies with the economic status of the households; poor households rely exclusively on fuelwood for cooking and therefore emit greater amount of carbon. Similarly, the carbon emission was also found to be directly proportional to the family size and livestock holding, and inversely proportional to landholding and per capita income. A more conservation-oriented forest management along with activities to support livelihood has contributed to lower carbon emissions. Interestingly, the poverty-energy trap seemed to have a distinct gender dimension. We argue that CFUGs need to invest in income-generating activities for local users, and especially for women of low-income households, in order to reduce current carbon emission.

Keywords: fuelwood; community-managed forest; energy; alternative energy; low carbon emission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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