Increasing Use of Wood Energy

The use of wood and biomass energy is still increasing. The graph shows the consumption of wood energy in Thailand and its share in the total energy consumption. It shows that wood energy is still an important source of energy, and that the consumption is still increasing (600 PetaJoule is the energy equivalent of 40 million tons of wood). The blue line shows that the share of wood energy is declining. However, this is because the consumption of conventional fuels, like oil products and electricity, is increasing at a higher rate, and not because the consumption of wood energy is decreasing. This situation applies to all member countries of RWEDP.

Figure 1: Energy Consumption in Thailand

The increase in wood and biomass energy is mainly caused by population growth. However, in Thailand even the per capita consumption has increased, as shown in the graph below (6 GigaJoule is the energy equivalent of 400 kg of wood). Apparently, the use of conventional energy complements the use of wood and biomass energy, rather than replacing these fuels (see also the paper No Substitution of Traditional Fuels).

Figure 2: Per Capita Energy Consumption in Thailand

Source: DEDP, 1997