Biofuel consumption, deforestation, and farm level tree growing in rural India

In many developing countries biomass is the major source of energy. The continued dependence of the rural populace on biofuels, especially the demand for fuelwood, affects both forest and agricultural systems. Forest policy has to integrate energy needs in its afforestation strategy for rural areas to meet the demand for fuelwood. A regional study was made to analyse household energy consumption and to test the commonly held beliefs that scarcity of wood will lower the consumption and a higher demand for wood motivates people to plant trees. The paper examines the pattern of biomass fuel use in rural India and the supply effects on household consumption. The analyses showed that socioeconomic factors influence bioenergy use, but scarcity of forests does not lower the demand for biofuels nor is it a driving force for farm level forestry. Household based analysis from a user perspective provided useful information on the dynamics of bioenergy which can aid development of regional microplans for the forestry and energy sectors.