The annual cut allowance of forests to the wood-processing industry is 1 million m3 and the Forestry Commission is responsible to ensure compliance to this law. However, the limit was not seriously observed until the enforcement of the ban on chainsaw operations in the country in 2000. More than 50 per cent of the cut allow­ance is attributed to sawmills in Kumasi, the most industrial timber city in Ghana. In fact, of the approximately 100 sawmills established in Ghana, 67 are in the Ashanti region, of which 65 are located in Kumasi and surroundings.

The wood waste associated with sawmilling activities in Ghana is of two categories. There are forest residues (leftovers from forest cutting) and residues from the wood-processing mills. The latter group of residues is envisaged for use in the cogeneration project presented here. Experts of the forest and wood industry in Ghana classify the volumes of residues from commercial wood-processing opera­tions as shown in Table 16.1. Of the different types of wood waste listed, only the sawdust has no competitive use.