Cori Ham and Theo E. Kleynhans

9.1 Introduction

Energy from biomass is one of the oldest forms of energy used by mankind due to its general availability and low technology requirements (Buchholz et al. 2007). Wood was used all over the world as the principle source of energy until about the mid nineteenth century after which it had been replaced by more efficient and convenient energy sources such as coal, gas and electricity. The move towards more convenient fuel types was especially prevalent in industrialised countries but wood has remained the dominant source of energy in developing countries where people are less able to afford alternative sources of energy and their associated technology (Arnold et al. 2003).

The move to more convenient types of energy in the industrial world set the scene for two crisis events in the late twentieth century that would refocus the world’s outlook on bioenergy. The first event in the early 1970s was the so called “Energy Crisis” caused by the rise in fossil fuel prices which triggered an increased focus on fuelwood resources. Attention was drawn to the fact that in developing countries, fuelwood was the principle source of energy and that projected use levels could be above sustainable replacement levels, leading to a total depletion in wood supplies. Assumptions were made that fuelwood use was a major contributor to deforestation and forest degradation, and subsequent solutions were based on providing sustainable sources of fuelwood through forestry programmes (Ham and Theron 1999).

C. Ham (H)

Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa e-mail: cori@sun. ac. za

T. E. Kleynhans

Department of Agricultural Economics, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

T. Seifert (ed.), Bioenergy from Wood: Sustainable Production in the Tropics, Managing Forest Ecosystems 26, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7448-3__9,

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

The second crisis event, in the 1990s, was the realisation that the reliance on convenient fossil fuels has an effect on the CO2 levels in the atmosphere and could lead to a change in the world’s climate. The so called “Climate Change Debate” prompted the search for more sustainable energy sources that would reduce CO2 outputs. Energy from biomass is seen as one of the more sustainable sources of energy and it is expected that future development of bioenergy will take place in two directions. The first being an increase in bioenergy production in developed countries to try and reduce CO2 levels, and secondly an increase in total bioenergy production in developing countries to cope with population growth and a move towards modern bioenergy conversion technologies (Buchholz et al. 2007).

The events of the 1970s and 1990s highlighted the potential positive effect on carbon balances of substituting fossil fuels with bioenergy and also emphasised the negative environmental costs associated with unsustainable fuelwood harvesting in terms of forest loss and degradation (FAO 2005). Accelerated tree planting programmes were promoted as a technical supply side solution to the “Fuelwood Gap” of the 1970s and modern bioenergy technology can be seen as a way of moving people, especially in developing countries, away from primary firewood use to more efficient bioenergy conversion technologies. The positive relationship between access to energy and human well-being has led many to conclude that improving access to modern energy, such as electricity, is a key component of poverty reduction and development (Buchholz et al. 2007).

It can be assumed that bioenergy will continue to play an important role in global energy supply as a source of renewable energy. Solid biomass contributes 45 % of the primary renewable energy in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and provides more than 90 % of the energy needs for many developing countries (Sims 2003, ex Buchholz et al. 2007). One of the important questions related to the future of bioenergy production is how the developed and developing world will balance the positive and negative externalities associated with bioenergy use. Pure technical solutions might not be enough as it is important to consider that human well-being depends on more than just energy need and should consider every aspect of socio-economic development (Ham et al. 2008). This chapter will explore the current role that bioenergy plays in socio-economic development. It will begin with a summary of biomass as a primary source of energy in developing countries and progress to a review of the role of the rural poor in modern day bioenergy enterprises.