FAO Digital Media Hub - ETHIOPIA 2017. Greening wood energy to mitigate climate change

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ETHIOPIA 2017. Greening wood energy to mitigate climate change

March 2017. Western Ethiopia, Finland, Ethiopia, Zambia, Italy. In western Ethiopia, near the border of war-torn South Sudan, Anygo Okal must prepare food for her family of 18 people, three times a day.

To do this, she must hunt for firewood in the woods outside her village. Improved cookstoves, which concentrate the heat and reduce the smoke of burning wood, offer an alternative for communities to sustainably use their forest resources.

In Finland, waste residue from the pulp-making process is being turned into biodiesel. Available at filling stations for people to refuel their cars, this biodiesel burns cleaner than petroleum diesel.

Duration 6m48s

Edit Version Clean

Video Type B Roll Video

Date 03/20/2017 8:56 PM

File size 957.66 MB

Unique ID UF2TDN

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist LOCATIONS: Finland, Ethiopia, Zambia, Italy

DATE: File / 2017

Zambia - file

1. Various aerial shots of forest

2. Various shots of burned fields

3. Various shot of charcoals

Rome, Italy – 17 March 2017

4. SOUNDBITE ( English ) Eva Muller, Director, Forestry Policy and Resources Division, FAO Forestry Department, “ Charcoal is an important source of energy especially in developing countries and especially in urban areas. The way charcoal is produced at the moment is not sustainable because a lot of it is produced from existing forest areas and there is no replenishment afterwards which means that the wood is extracted converted to charcoal but it’s not replanted. So that needs to change. We have to have a sustainable supply of wood to produce charcoal.”

Zambia - file

5. Various aerial shots of forest

Rome, Italy – 17 March 2017

6. SOUNDBITE ( English ) Eva Muller, Director, Forestry Policy and Resources Division, FAO Forestry Department, “In the conversion process from the wood to the charcoal, the kilns that are currently used in many countries have a very very low efficiency rate. And there is simple technology out there to make them much more efficient and also means that would require much less wood to produce the same amount of charcoal. And then on the consumption side, improved stoves for charcoal use will also reduce the amount of charcoal needed to cook a meal, at the same times the charcoal on those kilns burns much cleaner and reduces the health risks for the women.

Jewi village, near Gambella, Ethiopia – February 2017

7. Various of Anygo Okal setting fire to cook with an improved stove

8. Various of Anygo Okal stirring food inside pot

9. Close up of food inside pot

10. SOUNDBITE (Anuak) Anygo Okal, villager, “There snakes and other wild animals, the people around the area we used to go would insult us. So we stopped going there.”

11. SOUNDBITE ( English ) Yimeslal Tefera, Improved cooking stoves director, Ethiopia Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, “ When we are supplying these improved cooking stoves, the women can be easily engaged in schools, they would save their own time, therefore better livelihood would be adopted when we are brining these improved stoves technology.”

12. Wide a woman picking up wood branches

Rome, Italy – 17 March 2017

13. SOUNDBITE ( English ) Eva Muller, Director, Forestry Policy and Resources Division, FAO Forestry Department, “Wood energy has a great potential to be also an important source of renewable energy for the future. We know that there are countries already working on the development of liquid biofuels made from wood that could in the future power cars or even airplanes.”

Finland – January 2017

14. Various exterior shot of biorefinery plant

15. Various of wood being loaded onto sawmill

16. Various wood on sawmill

17. Various wood pellets on carrier

18. Exterior of biorefinery plant

19. Wide of EJaakko Nousiainen talking

20. Close of a bottle of cruel tall oil

21. SOUNDBITE ( English) EJaakko Nousiainen, Production Director, UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery, “ We use every fibre we harvest, responsibly, sustainably, and in a way that doesn’t affect the food value chain. Wood-based diesel comes from renewable sources and it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 80 percent compared to normal diesel.”

22. Oil dropped into bottle

23. A burner

24. Various of fuelling station

25. Wide a truck passing by wood logs

ENDS

Script Forests hold a critical energy source for communities across the globe. Their wood provides 40 percent of today’s global renewable energy supply.

Much of the current production of wood fuel is unsustainable, contributing significantly to forest degradation and climate change.

Up to seven percent of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans come from the production and use of fuelwood and charcoal. This happens largely due to unsustainable forest management and inefficient charcoal manufacture and fuelwood combustion, according to a new FAO report published today.

When charcoal is produced, using inefficient technologies and unsustainable resources, the emission of greenhouse gas can be as high as 9 kg carbon dioxide equivalent per 1 kg charcoal produced.

Better technologies for energy conversion and improved stoves can help to mitigate climate change.

For many households in developing countries, forests are indispensable. Some three billion people rely on wood for cooking using simple fires or stoves.

It is often women who bear the brunt of this responsibility. More than 700 million women worldwide are engaged in wood collection, production or trade.

In western Ethiopia, near the border of war-torn South Sudan, Anygo Okal must prepare food for her family of 18 people, three times a day.

To do this, she must hunt for firewood in the woods outside her village. As she and her fellow villagers have steadily used up the supply of nearby forests, she has been forced to venture further and further afield. Twice a week, Anygo walks more than an hour each way, hauling home about 50 kilograms of firewood.

Traditional cooking methods make inefficient use of this precious commodity, leading to overuse and degradation of the forests.

Improved cookstoves, which concentrate the heat and reduce the smoke of burning wood, offer an alternative for communities to sustainably use their forest resources.

These cookstoves require 40 to 60 percent less wood, allowing women to fetch less wood, less often, freeing their time for other pursuits.

Many developed nations are also increasing their reliance on wood-based renewable energy.

Modern industries use wood for generating power and heating. Large-scale wood energy production offers a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

Thanks to new technological advances, forests can also fuel cars, trucks, buses and even airplanes.

In Finland, waste residue from the pulp-making process is being turned into biodiesel. Available at filling stations for people to refuel their cars, this biodiesel burns cleaner than petroleum diesel.

Forests are renewable, but they are not limitless. Sustainably managing forests and increasing investment in technological innovation will be critical for protecting them and their role as a major source of renewable energy.