regional wood energy development programme in asia ... - CES (IISc)

3 TYPES AND NATURE OF WOODFUEL IN THE AREA
In the dry zone, woodfuels are widely used for domestic purposes such as cooking and food
processing as well as for small industries. These include evaporated milk factories, sugar factories,
jaggery boiling, caustic soda boiling, brick making, lime burning, potteries, black-smithies and
weaving factories. Different types of woodfuels are used such as fuelwood, charcoal, bamboo,
sawmill off-cuts and sawdust. Besides woodfuels, agricultural residues such as rice husks, ziziphus
husks, coconut shells, cotton stalks, pigeon-pea stalks, sesame stalks, paddy stalks, tree leaves
and cow dung are also widely used. The bulk of biomass fuels used in the dry zone consists of
fuelwood, bamboo and charcoal, both for industrial and domestic energy consumption. Sawmill offcuts,
sawdust and agricultural residues are less important and basically supplement the woodfuels.
After the completion of a new road from Payangasu to Pyawbwe in 1990, which shortened the
distance from 54 to 16 miles, the latter area has also become a major market for woodfuel, in
particular for use by evaporated milk and sugar factories.
3.1 Fuelwood
The Yinmabin area is the main supply source and is covered by DUMD, scrub indaing, than
and dahat forests. Due to the growing demand for fuelwood and other timber products the standing
stock is gradually decreasing. Natural regeneration is hampered, probably due to soil degradation
and erosion and the trees have been replaced by dry bamboo species such as hmyin
(Dendrocalmus strictus).
Figure 3.1 A dry upper mixed deciduous forest in the Yebokson Reserve, Yinmabin
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