New Tool for Global Woodfuel Data Mapping
The Alliance is funding the development of an innovative woodfuel database and geospatial mapping tool by experts from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Yale University, and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It is being developed to help researchers examine wood fuel demand, provide woodshed analyses, and estimates of the fraction of non-renewable biomass (fNRB) for 90 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
This new resource is part of a three-year strategic climate research initiative funded by the Alliance as part of its commitment to support the quantification of the benefits of clean cookstoves to help reduce environmental degradation. The database, produced by Rob Bailis, Omar Masera, Adrian Ghilardi, and Rudi Drigo, will enable program developers to incorporate environmental concerns, including sustainability of fuel wood and potential carbon offsets, into their planning processes.
In places where deforestation is a concern, and where the collection of firewood contributes to negative environmental impacts, this information can be used to identify areas where scaling clean cookstoves and fuels could provide the greatest benefits to the environment. Results will be released as soon as the external peer review process has been completed.