Supplying Firewood for Household Energy

This chapter presents a review of the issues, citing local studies in the tropics in order to draw a clearer picture of the character of this crisis. The role of wood fuel in rural households of the tropics, the difficulty with which it is sometimes obtained, and the often negative environmental impacts of wood fuel gathering for rural energy have been heavily scrutinized research areas recently. Homelot plantings are by no means a universal phenomenon in the tropics. Forests in certain areas are indeed being mined for firewood. Firewood is viewed often as an expensive commodity by rural residents in Java. Fuel is by no means the sole use of wood in households of the rural tropics. Identification of landlord tenant customs regarding division of harvest and land use and other traditional relationships that may affect profitability of the enterprise from the farmer&s;s point of view are useful.