Onder Druk: Aanbod en Verbruik van Houtige Biomassa voor Huishoudelijke Energie en de Daarmee Samenhangende Emissies in Rwanda

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a triangulated methodology integrating forest stock, land cover change, and household fuel monitoring for biomass consumption estimation.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights the need for quality assurance in improved cookstove distribution to achieve real emission reductions.

🏛政策担当者:Demonstrates that tree planting and cookstoves alone are insufficient; alternative energy investments are critical for sustainable biomass management.

Forests are essential for Rwanda's climate resilience, carbon sequestration, ecological balance and socioeconomic development. However, widespread biomass extraction, primarily for cooking, has placed significant pressure on forest resources, leading to unsustainable harvesting practices, forest degradation, reduced carbon sequestration capacity, and biodiversity loss. In rural areas, reliance on firewood and charcoal as primary energy sources continues to worsen environmental degradation. This issue is further aggravated by rapid population growth and economic expansion, which significantly increases the demand for wood and other forest products. The Eastern Province of Rwanda, characterized by its semi-dry savannah landscapes, is particularly vulnerable to these pressures. Rising population density and internal displacement in this region have resulted in accelerated land degradation and forest stress. Despite the critical importance of these ecosystems, there is a limited understanding of long-term trends in wood stock and the intricate interplay between cover and stock changes and demographic pressure. A significant research gap persists in accurately determining the extent to which improved cooking technologies reduce biomass consumption and associated emissions. This emphasizes the urgent need for robust, evidence-based research to inform biomass energy and sustainable forest management and conservation strategies in the face of escalating environmental and human-induced challenges. This dissertation seeks to generate critical insights into the utilisation of woody biomass and its associated emissions in Rwanda, with a particular emphasis on the Eastern Province. The study investigates evolution, impacts, and potential pathways towards sustainable forest management and biomass energy by assessing woody biomass consumption and estimating related emissions. A field-based forest inventory was conducted to evaluate the current biomass stock and to compare it with data from the previous national forest inventory. Additionally, newly developed forest cover maps provided essential information for analysing land cover change and play a pivotal role in assessing variations in biomass stock across three major land use types: forest, shrubland and wooded savannah, and agroforestry systems. To enhance the woody stock trend assessment, biomass consumption was evaluated through a digital sensor-based system designed to monitor household fuel usage. Measurements were collected over three distinct agricultural seasons to account for seasonal variability. This assessment included an evaluation of both existing and improved cooking technologies and their impact on biomass consumption and emissions reduction. This was achieved through a combination of laboratory testing and real-life cooking scenarios using the kitchen performance test (KPT). Furthermore, the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) tool was utilised to model and forecast long-term biomass energy consumption under various scenarios. This approach facilitates the evaluation of alternative energy pathways that support the sustainable use of biomass while providing estimates of emissions across different development and policy trajectories. This dissertation, organised into six chapters, integrates field inventory analysis, land cover change data, laboratory testing of selected improved cooking stoves, and household-level biomass consumption data to examine biomass dynamics, estimate associated emissions, and facilitate long-term forecasting. Chapter 1 introduces the research context, underscoring the significance of understanding stock dynamics with population growth and the implications of heavy dependence on forest resources. It also emphasises the importance of a triangulated approach integrating forest stock, land cover change and population dynamics with digital monitoring of household fuels to accurately estimate biomass consumption and inform long-term projections under various scenarios, thereby framing the analyses presented in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 assesses the potential and trends of woody biomass stocks in Rwanda by combining changes in area and woody biomass quantity across forests, shrublands, wooded savannah, and agroforestry land cover types. The overall stock trends resulting from changes in volume (m3) and cover (ha) in all land cover types reveal a small positive trend at the province level. Despite increased woody biomass from active tree-planting campaigns, the woody biomass stock per household declined sharply. Agroforestry has been recognized as key for woody biomass production; it was found that the increased energy demand outpaced the growth in tree cover and woody biomass. Chapter 3 quantifies the household fuel consumption and estimates associated CO2e emissions. Households mainly rely on firewood, with an increase in crop residue consumption for daily energy needs, leading to significant CO₂e emissions at the household level. The study emphasizes the importance of investing in cleaner energy alternatives and policies that protect soil health by limiting the use of crop residues. Chapter 4 examines the transition from the traditional three-stone stove (TSS) to improved cooking stoves (ICS) and evaluates their potential to reduce wood consumption and emissions. By employing a combination of laboratory and kitchen performance tests (KPT), this chapter illustrates that high-efficiency ICS can significantly enhance fuelwood efficiency, thus contributing to the mitigation of forest degradation and the reduction of emissions. The distribution of ICS must adhere to established standards to effectively achieve the anticipated benefits of reduced fuel consumption and indoor air emissions. Findings indicate that a significant proportion of the distributed ICS did not meet these standards, primarily due to the absence of independent testing before distribution. Unfortunately, these substandard ICS constituted the majority of those disseminated. Lastly, Chapter 5 explores the long-term forecasting of biomass energy consumption in Rwanda. Through an analysis of previous reforestation, energy, and environmental programs, along with predictions of energy demand under various scenarios, this study concludes that, under a business-as-usual approach, energy demand is projected to double by 2050. To conclude, Chapter 6 brings together the main findings of the dissertation and demonstrates their relevance for policies on landscape restoration, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable biomass energy provision. It reinforces the study's core contribution of integrating wood-stock trend analysis with long-term measurements of fuel use and emissions. The triangulation approach linking stock and cover changes with population-based data and forecasting provides insights that can support environmental and energy planning. This chapter concludes that, despite the successes of previous reforestation and replanting initiatives, further tree planting and Improved Cookstoves (ICS) alone will not be sufficient as a solution. It is imperative to explore energy alternatives beyond the forestry sector, including photovoltaic (PV) systems, hydrogen, biogas, and small hydropower, such as the TURBULENT model. In addition to presenting key contributions, this chapter also outlines the research gaps addressed, acknowledges remaining limitations, summarizes key policy recommendations, and proposes future research directions. In summary, this research highlighted the significant decline in per capita biomass stock and the increasing reliance on crop residues as a substitute for biomass energy. A large share of the distributed improved cookstoves failed to meet the required standards, leading to overestimations of both wood-fuel savings and emission reductions attributed to their adoption. Biomass demand in Rwanda's Eastern Province is projected to double by 2050, driven by increasing consumption and rapid population growth. This trend signals mounting pressure on forest resources, as higher fuel use contributes to elevated emissions and declining biomass stocks, posing serious challenges for forest management, biodiversity, land degradation, and human health. Investment in alternative energy sources is crucial for reducing reliance on biomass and easing the pressures associated with its use. Environmental policies should support the adoption of improved cooking technologies that lower fuel consumption and emissions, while simultaneously promoting broader access to cleaner, more sustainable energy options. Additionally, the use of crop residues should be minimised, as they are better returned to the soil to maintain its health.

• openalex https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/20.500.12942/785102first seen 2026-05-05 07:51:44 · last seen 2026-05-05 19:14:19