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Demand for woodfuels by households in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Demand for woodfuels by households in the Province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Eric Hyman Woodfuels (fuelwood and charcoal) are sometimes labelled 'poor man's oil'. Due to population growth and the high cost of fossil fuels in economies short of foreign exchange, the consumption of woodfuels is increasing in many less developed countries. At the same time, potential supplies of woodfuels are decreasing due to the clearing of forested land for agriculture and other purposes. The remaining supplies are increasingly located in less accessible areas. Since the wood is often gathered by users and is difficult to trace when taken from scattered trees near roads, houses, farms and community land, consumption rates are uncontrolled and unrecorded. Where fuelwood is marketed in the informal sector, sales are also unrecorded. The fuelwood market is often highly localized because of high transport costs for this bulky commodity. Shortages of woodfuels may cause serious impacts on the wellbeing of affected people, particularly the poor. Overcutting of trees for fuelwood, particularly in combination with grazing or repeated burning of the vegetative cover is characterized by potentially significant environmental impacts off site. Due to the gaps in existing information and the importance of the problem, there is a need for in-depth information on the demand and supply of woodfuels Keywords: Woodfuel; Philippines; Third at the local level. World energy demand The Philippines is in the middle range for per capita woodfuel Eric Hyman is with Appropriate Technolo- consumption in South-east Asia despite a low per capita sustainable gy International, 1331 H Street, NW, forest yield.l About 79% of all Philippine households cooked with wood Washington, DC 20005. in 1970. 2 The quantity of wood burned for fuel in the Philippines This research was supported in part exceeds commercial log production by more than a factor of seven. 3 through a grant from the Asia Foundation This household survey is part of a larger effort that covers fuelwood to the Natural Resources Management sellers and charcoal makers 4 and the demand for woodfuels by cottage Centre (NRMC) of the Philippine Ministry industries (tobacco curing, bakeries, restaurants, blacksmiths and of Natural Resources, with substantial support from the East-West Center En- production of salt, pottery, sugarcane wine and molasses). 5 The vironment and Policy Institute and the NRMC. Additional assistance was pro- methodology of the surveys is discussed elsewhere. 6 The study area is the second most deforested province in the country. vided by the Development Bank of the Philippines. In addition, Ilocos Norte is already facing a serious fuelwood scarcity because small-scale tobacco farmers require large quantities of wood in
This paper presents the results of a survey on woodfuel consumption conducted In the Province of Ilocos None, the Philippines. The survey examined household consumption of wood and other fuels such as coconut shells and husks, rice hulls and stems, bagasse, bamboo, animal dung, charcoal, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity. The author describes the various pressures on the woodfuel supply in the province and patterns of consumption, collection and ways in which consumers are trying to compensate for their relatively high levels of fuelwood consumption by resfforestation and turning to other fuels. The author concludes with a number of policy options. These Include an extensire tree planting programme, the introductlon of more fuel-efficient woodstoves and the increased substitution of other fuels such as bamboo or kerosene.
0301-4215/85/060581-11 $03.00 (~) 1985 Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd
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Demandfor woodfuelsby households
1Bill Knowland and Carol Ulinski, Traditional Fuels: Present Data, Past Experience, and Possible Strategies, prepared for the US Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, 1979. 2Philippine National Census and Statistics Office, 1975 Integrated Census of the Population and Its Economic Activities, Government of the Philippines, Manila, 1975. 3Eric Hyman, 'Wood and charcoal as a direct energy source for consumption by households and rural industries in the Philippines', Likas Yaman - Journal of the Natural Resources Management Forum 3, No 4, 1981, pp 1-72. 4Eric Hyman, 'Analysis of the woodfuels market: a survey of fuelwood sellers and charcoal makers in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines', Biomass, No 3, 1983, pp 167-197. 5Eric Hyman, 'The demand for fuelwood by cottage industries in the province of Ilocos Node, Philippines', Energy- The International Journal, Vol 9, 1984, pp 1-13. 6Eric Hyman, 'How to conduct a rural energy survey in a developing country', Renewable Sources of Energy, Vol 1, 1983, pp 137-149. 7Eriberto Argete, (Remote Sensing Division, Philippine Natural Resources Management Center), personal communication, 1982. 8Eric Hyman, 'Forestry administration and policies in the Philippines', Environmental Management, Vol 7, 1983, pp 511-524. 90p cit, Ref 2. 1°Philippine National Census and Statistics Office, Integrated Survey of Households, Government of the Philippines, Manila, 1980, Bulletin No 48. ~K. Freerk Wiersum, Fuelwood as a Traditional and Modem Energy Source in the Philippines, FAO Rome, 1982, Report FO:DP/PHI/77/011, No 6.
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flue curing. The national government is establishing two large industrial facilities in the province which would consume woodfuels, a 3MW 'dendrothermal' power plant using wood as the boiler fuel, and two pig iron blast furnaces that would utilize wood charcoal. A LANDSAT analysis of Ilocos Norte has shown that the province has only 24 400 ha of old-growth forest, most of which is inaccessible or unproductive so there is no commercial logging in the province. Degraded, second-growth forest of non-commercial species occupies 54 500 ha, often on sloping land. There are 270 000 ha of noxious cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) lands, open lands and developed areas. 7 The forestry policies and institutions relevant in the area are discussed elsewhere, s As of 1980, the population was 393 485, comprising 17 490 urban and 57 550 rural households. Net population growth in the province between 1975 and 1980 was 1.15% per year. 9"t° This low rate of increase is due to a high rate of migration in search of job opportunities. Agriculture is the most common occupation and the major crops are rice, tobacco and cotton. Land holdings are small, averaging 1.1 ha. Farmland is generally of low quality and nearly half the farmers rent land in exchange for half the produce, with the farmer supplying all other inputs. Nevertheless, mean household incomes exceed the national average due to the substantial remittances sent back by relatives in Manila and the USA. Education levels are relatively high in the region and Ilokanos are well represented in top government positions and the professions. The sample for this survey consists of 1% of the rural and urban households in each barangay of the 23 municipal districts in the province. A barangay is the smallest political unit in the Philippines, equivalent to a rural village or an urban neighbourhood. A municipal district is comparable to a county in the USA but it does not necessarily have an urban centre. At least one household was surveyed in each barangay. About 23% of the sampled households live in barangays classified as rural by the census.
Patterns o f fuelwood use Over 96% of the respondents use some fuelwood. Three-quarters of fuelwood-consuming households rely on wood for more than 60% of their domestic cooking needs. Due to the climate, there is no need to burn wood for space heating. The cooking of fodder for pigs is an important use of fuelwood since 63% of the respondents own at least one pig and hardly any households buy prepared feeds. Households measure fuelwood by a variety of units. Although there is a substantial range in the weights of these units, the median weights in decreasing order of prevalence of the units are 12 kg for a bundle or armload, 75 kg for a sledload, 200 kg for a cartload, 14 kg for a headload and 500 kg for a stacked cubic meter. Households that use fuelwood consume an average of 61 kg per week for domestic cooking (excluding cooking for pigs). This is equivalent to a per capita consumption of 0.73 m 3 (solid) per year and compares to estimates of 0.76 to 0.87 m 3 (solid) per year in others parts in the Philippines. 11 The slightly lower fuelwood consumption in Ilocos Norte results from greater substitution of other commercial fuels due to higher incomes and the low percentage of forest cover. The mean quantity of fuelwood of the two most common species used by a household in a
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Demand for woodfuels by households week has a heating value of 260 000 to 300 000 kcal (kilocalories) if bone dry. 13 Air-dried wood with a moisture content of 12% to 20% has a 15% lower heating value, t3 Assuming an 8% combustion efficiency for the local, ceramic woodstove, the average household needs 21 000 to 24 000 kcal of usable heat for cooking in a week. Although green wood has a substantially lower heat content than dry wood, 32% of households burn wood within one month after it is cut. Only 46% burn fuelwood dried for more than three months. In rural areas, wood is more likely to be burned green because people are closer to the trees and can cut them when needed. Urban households that collect wood go to the countryside a few times a year and let the wood dry in storage in the interim. Purchased wood tends to be relatively dry because more time elapses as it passes through middlemen. Mean fuelwood consumption varies within the province with urbanization, wood availability and income. In urban areas, people are more likely to use alternative fuels while in rural areas, wood and agricultural residues are available for collection nearby. Wood availability is higher in the northern and western parts of the province. ~4 Poor people use more fuelwood because they cannot afford fossil fuels. In decreasing order, the species preferred for fuelwood are Gliricidia
sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, Syzygium curnini, Pithecolobium dulce, Vitex negundo, Tamarindicus indica, Samanea saman, Psidium guajava, Casuarina equisetifolia, Chrysophyllurn cainito, Macaranga tanarius and Guoia koelreuteria. Households prefer certain species because they are inexpensive or easy to find, burn at the right speed, do not make too much smoke, give a desirable taste to food and do not spark too much. Species that are disliked as fuelwood include Moringa oleifera,
Streblus asper, Mangifera indica, Semecarpus philippinensis, Ricinus communis and Annona squamosa. Households dislike certain species
~2Jose Semana and Nieva Laxamana, 'Techniques of determining wood characteristics and properties as a basis for mass selection of fuelwood specieS', in Proceedings of a Conference on Fixing Criteria for Mass Selection of Fuelwood Species,
East-West Center Resource Systems Institute, Honolulu, HI, USA, 1981. 13David Tillman, Wood as an Energy Resource, Academic Press, New York, NY, 1978. ~4Ricardo Bina, (Remote Sensing Division, Philippine Natural Resources Management Centre), personal communication, 1981. ~SHyman, op cit, Ref 5.
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because they burn too fast or too slow, are more useful for producing fruit, other foods or medicines, have an undesirable odour, spark too much or are associated with religious or superstitious beliefs. The availability of wood varies seasonally. Generally, wood is most abundant in the dry season (January to early June) and most scarce in the rainy season (mid-June through to October). The main reasons for the variation are the difficulty of cutting and transporting wood in the rain, lack of labour during peak agricultural periods, seasonal changes in the demand for fuelwood by cottage industries and storms and floods that carry wood along the river banks and sea coast. Total domestic fuelwood consumption in Ilocos Norte was 239646000 kg in 1980. If consumption increases at the rate of population growth, it will reach 298 523 000 kg in the year 2000. In comparison, the current consumption of woodfuels by cottage industries in the province is 39 908 000 kg per year, about 16% of the household consumption.15 Fuelwood may be purchased, collected away from one's own land for free, collected at a contracted price or grown. Frequently, households obtain it in more than one way.
Purchase of fuelwood Purchased wood is cut by the seller and exchanged for cash or traded goods; sometimes it is transported by the seller as well. About 47% of fuelwood-consuming households purchase some wood, but only 34% of the fuelwood burned in the province is purchased. Households are more
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Demand for woodfuels by households
likely to purchase fuelwood if they live in urban areas, are relatively well educated, or have relatively high incomes. Households have multiple sources of purchased fuelwood, in decreasing order of frequency, these are relatives, friends and neighbours door-to-door sellers, small traders at local markets, sellers along major roadsides and landlords. About 32% of buyers have wood delivered to their homes. Only 17% travel farther than 3 km to buy wood. Rural people tend to travel farther to buy fuelwood. Wood marketed to urban areas is often sold by middlemen and may come from much farther away. Some people buy fuelwood in large quantities a few times a year and store it while others only can afford to purchase small quantities as the need arises. About 48% of purchasers buy fuelwood less than once a month, 39% buy it one to five times a month, and 12% buy it more than once a week. Purchasers in rural areas tend to buy wood less frequently. Over 87% of fuelwood purchasers pay for it in cash. The rest exchange labour or trade agricultural or cottage industry products. The mean price of fuelwood in 1981 was P0.23 per kg. 16 At this price, a household that consumes the average amount of fuelwood and buys all of its requirements would spend P720 per year for fuelwood. Prices vary a great deal with the volume of purchase, transport arrangements, location of sale and the relationship between the buyer and seller. Most household buy wood in bundles. On average 1 kg of wood costs P0.25 in bundles, P0.15 by the sledload, P0.12 by the cartload, or P0.09 by the stacked cubic meter. A third of fuelwood buyers have it delivered and pay a premium for that service. The price of fuelwood is lower in rural areas and in locations where wood is more readily available. People often sell wood at lower prices to relatives and friends or tenants, while higher prices are charged by middlemen, door-to-door sellers and small traders at local markets. Nearly all purchasers report that the price is a lot more than it was five years ago. In particular, transport costs for wood have risen much faster than stumpage prices. However, 39% of these purchasers report that they have made no changes in their consumption of fuelwood in response to the higher prices. About 36% of the purchasers now spend more time collecting fuelwood; 19% now grow more trees on their own land; 19% have increased their use of substitute fuels (most commonly bamboo or LPG); and only 2% use less fuelwood by cooking fewer meals or putting the fire out immediately after use.
Collection of fuelwood
~6At the time of this study, there were 8.0 Philippine pisos (P) per US dollar.
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Collected fuelwood is cut from trees on public lands or private lands belonging to someone else and then transported by the user. This wood may be collected for free or at a contracted price in cash or labour with the permission of a landowner. Under the usual contracted price arrangement, the collector is responsible for felling, chopping and transporting a third of the collected wood to the landowner's home. Nearly 40% of fuelwood-consuming households collect some wood for free and another 6% collect wood at a contracted price. Over 29% of the fuelwood consumed in the province is collected for free and another 5% is collected at a contracted price. More wood is collected in rural areas than urban areas. Fuelwood collection is inversely related to the level of education of the heads of
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households
the household and their income. Households collect wood for free from multiple sources; in decreasing order of prevalence they are the land of relatives and friends, their landlord's land, along river banks or the sea coast, public forests or mountainous areas, land belonging to strangers and village lands. The contracted price arrangement is most frequently between tenants and their landlords. Almost 48% of fuelwood collectors gather it all year, the rest gather it in seasons when there is less work to do in agriculture or in their trades and after storms or floods. About 20% of the collectors gather wood less than once a month, 44% gather it one to five times a month, and 35% gather it more than once a week. Fuelwood is collected more frequently in rural areas, especially if obtained from village land; it is collected less frequently if obtained from the land of relatives and friends or landlords. Over 68% of fueiwood collection trips are made for that purpose alone. Where these trips have multiple purposes, in decreasing order, they are most commonly for gathering fruits, nuts, or herbs, visiting relatives and friends, fishing or grazing animals. Although fuelwood collection is a socially prescribed task for adult women and children in many countries, this is not the case in llocos Norte. Adult women participate in this task in 50% of the fuelwoodcollecting households, compared to 75% for adult men and 18% for children. On average in these households, adult women spend 2.3 hours per week collecting fuelwood, adult men spend 3.3 hours per week, and children spend 1.5 hours per week. Defining two child-hours as one adult-equivalent hour, fuelwood-collecting households spend an average of 6.4 adult-equivalent hours per week in this task. Rural households tend to spend more time collecting fuelwood than urban households. If less time had to be spent collecting fuelwood, the respondents report (in decreasing order of magnitude) that members of their family would devote more time to household chores, farm work, taking care of children, visiting relatives or friends, fishing, a business or cottage industry or school work. Since some portion of fuelwood collection time is spent travelling to achieve multiple purposes and some time would not otherwise be devoted to productive economic activities, it is reasonable to 'shadow price' this time at some fraction of the wage for casual agricultural labour, P15 per person-day. The value of this time amounts to P208 at a shadow price of a third the wage rate or P312 at half the wage rate. This opportunity cost is in addition to whatever time and money the household spends in transporting fuelwood, purchasing it, growing trees and cutting fuelwood from trees that they grow themselves. The average weight of wood transported per trip varies depending on who in the family is collecting it - 23 kg for adult women, 69 kg for adult men and 38 kg for children. These differences are due to the way in which wood is carried. Adult women usually carry it in bundles or headloads. Adult men frequently bring back sledloads or cartloads. Although the bundles carried by a child are smaller than those carried by adult women, a group of children often pulls a sledload of wood. A substantial portion of the collected wood comes from dead branches and twigs that have fallen to the ground, especially if the source is forests or mountainous land, village lands or areas along river banks and the sea coast. Most of the rest is cut from live branches or twigs, particularly if it is taken from a landlord's property. About 85%
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Demandfor woodfuelsby households of the collectors claim that they never fell whole, live trees from their own land. In decreasing order, the reasons for this include legal prohibitions or restrictions set by the owners, conservation of trees for future fuelwood or polewood, maintenance of shade or beauty, soil conservation, conservation of trees for animal fodder or medicinal purposes and the difficulty of felling whole live trees. About 56% of fuelwood-collecting households think it is harder now to collect wood now than it was five years ago, 35% believe.it is about the same and 9% claim it is easier. In particular, the land of relatives and friends has become increasingly cut over, but the stocking of village land has improved due to barangay tree planting programmes. About 80% of households that perceive increased difficulty in collecting fuelwood now have to travel further or take more time to gather wood, 26% grow more of their own trees, 24% now buy a larger share of their fuelwood, 14% have increased their substitution of other fuels and only 2% have cut back on their total energy use.
Tree growing activities of households Over 61% of all households have some wild trees around their home or on the farmland that they own or rent, but only 51% of these households grow these trees for future fuelwood. Other reasons for keeping these trees include shade or beauty, yields of fruits, nuts or other foods, control of soil erosion, yields of polewood or construction wood, animal fodder and medicinal products. More than 90% of all households have planted at least one tree but many of these trees are not intended for fuelwood. Fifteen trees is the modal number planted. Rural households tend to plant more trees as do households that own more than 3 ha of land. About 6% of households have participated as 'volunteers' in tree planting projects on village or municipal lands. In one case, it was claimed that the lands that were planted belonged to the municipal mayor. In decreasing order, the most commonly planted species are
Mangifera indica, Moringa oleifera, Chrysophyllum cainito, Leucaena leucocephala, Pouteria campechiana, Persea gratissima, Cocos nucifera, Citrus grandis, Citrus microcarpa, Psidium guajava, Manilkara sapota, Annona muricata, Gliricidia sepium and Cicca acida. Households have selected these species because of the production of fruits and other foods, shade or beauty, future firewood, control of soil erosion, availability of free seeds or seedlings, production of animal fodder, resistance to droughts or typhoons, yield of medicinal products, and resistance to pests and diseases. About 89% of the households that have planted trees water them, 58% have fences to protect them, 20% prune them, 16% apply fertilizer, 12% tie or stake them, and 3% apply insecticides. Threequarters of these households report that they have never received a visit from a forester or extension agent knowledgeable about tree growing. The major constraint that keeps the rest of the households from planting trees is lack of land. Other constraints mentioned include poor soil, lack of labour, expected damage from droughts or typhoons, difficulty of protecting trees against illegal loggers, lack of assistance from a forester, difficulty of obtaining good seeds and seedlings, expected problems with pests or diseases, lack of money and no perceived need to plant trees. 586
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households
Nearly 44% of fuelwood users obtain some fuelwood from trees growing on the land that they own or rent. These trees provide 32% of the fuelwood consumed in the province. Rural households tend to grow more of their fuelwood. Fuelwood growing also tends to increase with income, probably due to a correlation with land ownership. Three-fifths of the households that take wood from the trees growing on their land do so in seasons when there is less work to do in agriculture or their trade, 35% do so all year-long, and 2% do so when their tenants have time. About 49% of these households obtain this wood less than once a month, 36% do so one to five times a month and 15% do so more than once a week. Adult women participate in this task in 41% of these households, compared to 84% for adult men and 22% for children. On average in fuelwood-growing households, adult women spend 1.2 hours per week obtaining wood, adult men spend 2.9 hours per week, and children spend 0.6 hours per week. This amounts to 4.4 adult-equivalent hours per week. At one-third the casual agricultural wage, the value of this time is worth P143 per year and at half the wage rate, it is worth P215 per year. The above figures do not include time and money costs for transport, establishment and maintenance of trees, purchase of fuelwood, or collection of fuelwood away from the household's own land. On average, in one trip to obtain fuelwood from their own land, adult women transport 38 kg, adult men transport 97 kg, and children transport 55 kg. Usually adult women carry a bundle or headload, adult men bring back a cartload and children carry bundles or sledloads. About 15% of these households report that they never cut live branches or twigs from their trees and 77% do not fell whole live trees for fuelwood.
Use of other fuels Households use a variety of biomass and fossil fuels as a supplement or substitute for fuelwood. Table 1 lists the prevalence of these other fuels and the way in which they are obtained (purchased, collected, or grown). Table 2 compares the prices of the marketed fuels per unit of net usable energy. Although Ilocos Norte is not a major coconut-producing area, some households occasionally burn coconut residuals as a supplementary fuel. The average user of these fuels burns 3.5 kg of coconut shells and a slightly lower quantity of coconut husks in a week. The annual consumption in the province totals 1 022 000 kg of coconut shells and 885 000 kg of coconut husks as fuel. Less than one-third of the coconut residuals burned are from coconuts purchased at the market. Since purchased coconuts are bought for food at P1.00 per nut, the residuals Table 1. Use and acquisition of non-wood fuels by households. Users a C o c o n u t shells C o c o n u t husks Bagasse Bamboo
Sawdust aPercentage of all h o u s e h o l d s ; BPercentage of users, totals m a y e x c e e d 1 0 0 % due to multiple sources; CAsh is a residual product from t h e combustion of w o o d .
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Ash c Charcoal Kerosene LPG Electricity
7.5 6.5 3.0 38.1 1.5 58.4 3.0 82.2 27.3 65.6
Purchasers b 37 37 4 25 100 100 100 100
Collectors b
Growers b
22 23 26 56 75 -
68 71 74 44 _ -
-
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Demand for woodfuels by households Table 2. The price of common fuels per unit heat.
Sources: op cit, Ref 11 ; op cit Ref 12; op cit, Ref 16. alf foreign exchange costs are shadow priced at 1.2, the price per unit heat rises to P0.88 for kerosene, P0.91 for LPG, and P1.10 for electricity; hair dried; CGliricidia sepium, air dried.
17AII fuel and stove prices are as of July 1981.
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Bamboo (kg) t' Wood (kg)c Keroseneb LPG (kg) Electricity (kW-h) Charcoal (kg)
Gross energy (kcal)
End-use efficiency (percentage)
Market price (P)
Market price per unit heat (P per 1 000 kcsl)"
3 4 9 11
8 6 70 70 95 28
0.19 0.23 4.67 6.26 0.75 2.00
0.61 0.70 0,73 0.76 0.91 0.92
900 160 100 800 860 6 900
can be considered a free fuel. 17 Most households that burn coconuts grow them on their own land and these nuts are available all year. Bagasse is the residual of sugarcane after the juice has been extracted. llocos Norte is not a major sugar-producing area, but some sugar is grown primarily for molasses and basi (wine) making. The households that use bagasse as a supplementary, domestic cooking fuel, consume an average of 5.5 kg per week. Most of these households grow sugar. Households in the province burn 642 000 kg of bagasse per year. Bagasse is a seasonal fuel. Bamboo is a major fuel for domestic cooking. Although bamboo has only half the heating value of wood per unit volume and burns slowly, it is a suitable fuelwood supplement. The most common species of bamboo in the province are Bambusia spinosa, Schyzostrachyum lumampao, S lima and S dielsianum. The average bamboo user burns 15.5 kg of it per week. Households in Ilocos Norte burn 23 077 000 kg of bamboo a year. Few households purchase bamboo, mostly from relatives or friends. The average price of bamboo, P0.19 per kg, has risen along with the price of wood. Most households collect bamboo away from their own land or on their own land. About 29% of these households obtain bamboo less than once a month, 55% do so one to five times a month and 15% do so more than once a week. Over 53% of bamboo collectors think it is harder to come by now than five years ago. Like wood, bamboo needs to be harvested on a sustained yield basis. Sawdust is a minor fuel in Ilocos Norte, but it is important in other provinces with a wood-processing industry. It is mostly used by households with a carpenter or furniture maker who obtains it for free as a byproduct. On average, a sawdust user burns 42.5 kg of this fuel per week. Households in the province burn 2 481 000 kg of sawdust per year. A few households use charcoal as a domestic fuel because they prefer the flavour that it imparts to certain food. Most of these households also use other cooking fuels because charcoal is expensive in Ilocos Norte. Households that cook with charcoal consume an average of 5 kg per week. Thus, about 549 000 kg of charcoal are burned for domestic cooking in the province. This amount is equivalent to 6 876 000 kg of wood at an 8% charcoal conversion efficiency. A small number of local producers sell charcoal in a few barangays for P2.00 per kg in bulk. Small bags of charcoal from the neighbouring province of Isabela sell for P4.00-5.00 per kg. Charcoal prices have risen with the price of wood. Hardly any households make their own charcoal from wood. Many households do use the ash left over in the bottom of their stove after wood is burned, but this mostly used for ironing clothes. Most households in Ilocos Norte use some kerosene, but mainly for lighting. Rural households use more kerosene than urban households
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Demand for woodfuels by households
18USFederal EnergyAdministration, Energy Interrelationships, National Technical Information Service, Report No PB--269 034, Springfield, VA, USA, 1977. 191bid.
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because they are less likely to have electricity for lights. Because electricity is often subject to daily power cuts, households with an electricity supply still find it necessary to keep kerosene or candles on hand. Only 5% of households cook with kerosene. Those who can afford a fossil fuel prefer LPG because kerosene is perceived to be less safe, smells bad and imparts an undesirable flavour to food. Although the capital costs of kerosene stoves are lower than those of LPG stoves, the fuel costs are similar. An average household that cooks with kerosene uses 2.25 1 (litres) per week for this purpose. Assuming 70% end-use efficiency, this amount is equivalent to 14 300 kcal a week.~S Kerosene costs P4.67 per litre in large bottles and P6.09 per litre in small bottles. At the lower price, the average household that cooks exclusively with kerosene would spend P550 per year on cooking fuel. However, many of these families also use some fuelwood. This average consumption of kerosene by households for any purpose is 0.65 I per year. Thus, the average user spends PI60 per year for kerosene at the lower price or P210 at the higher price. Households in the province consume 2 084 0001 of kerosene a year. Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is preferred to kerosene for cooking. However, many households have stopped using LPG to cook all meals because it has become much more expensive over the past five years. Most of these households now use wood instead of LPG except when they are in a hurry, have run out of usable wood, or have visitors. An LPG stove is a common present sent back to parents by grown children working in Manila or abroad. The average household using LPG consumes 2.1 kg of this fuel per week. At a 70% end-use efficiency, this amount is equivalent to 17 350 kcal per week. w In 11 kg tanks, LPG sells for P6.26 per kg. Thus, the average user spends roughly P700 per year for LPG. Households in the province consume a total of 2 238 000 kg of LPG per year. Overall, 70% of households in Ilocos Norte have an electricity supply; this comprises 92% of urban households and 63% of rural households. Yet, only 1.5% of households sometimes cook with this fuel. The supply of electricity is unreliable and the cost is high. The average household that uses electricity for any purpose consumes 3.3 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per week, mostly for lights and small appliances such as fans and radios. The household consumption of electricity in the province amounts to 8 446 000 kWh per year. The unit price of electricity increases with consumption. At the average level of consumption, a household's annual electric bill would be P325. Other fuels occasionally burned by households include shrubs and bushes, animal dung, coconut stalks, tobacco stalks, rice stems, rice hulls, cotton sticks, corn cobs, paper, grass and old tyres. Rice hulls and stems burn poorly, generate a lot of smoke, and have a high silica content. Cooked rice stems also have another use as animal fodder. Most agricultural residuals are highly seasonal in availability. They are usually economically impractical to transport very far because of their low value relative to their bulk and they require a lot of storage space. The briqueting of agricultural residuals into charcoal generally is not economical as a household cooking fuel.
Types of cooking stoves Many households own several different kinds of cooking stoves. About 589
Demandfor woodfuelsby households 7% cook over an open fire; 90% have a dalikan, less than 1% have a clay stove with a flue, but no chimney; less than 1% have a clay stove with a chimney and flue; less than 1% have a metal can stove; 5% have a kerosene stove; 27% have an L P G stove; and 1.5% have an electric stove. The most common type of open fire used by households consists of three stones of the same height which hold a pot and keep the kindling together. A fancier version is a metal ring which stands on a tripod over a fire to hold the pot. The efficiency of a typical open fire has been estimated at 3% to 8% although it may be 15% or more if protected from the wind and carefully managed. 2°-2z The principal advantage of an open fire is its low capital cost. A three stone stove is free and the materials for a metal ring stove cost only P5.00. Some households rely on an open fire for cooking pig fodder outside, but use another type of stove inside the house when cooking for the family. The most frequent complaints of users are than an open fire cannot be used indoors, makes too much smoke, takes a lot of work, heats unevenly and is a slow way of cooking. A dalikan is the standard household stove in Ilocos Norte. It is a relatively open hemispherical stove made of fired clay mixed with rice hulls. It does not have a chimney or a flue and can only hold one pot. The dalikan is made by hand in one municipality in the province. The normal efficiency of this stove is 8% to 11°/o. 23 The stove craftsmen sell the dalikan for P15.00 undelivered. With careful use, a dalikan can last 5 to 10 years although some households prefer to replace it in three years because it often cracks. Households like this stove because it is inexpensive to buy, is safe, can be used indoors or outdoors and lasts a long time. They complain that it makes too much smoke, burns too much fuel, takes a lot of work, cooks too slowly and is dirty or messy. Some of the households that cook with charcoal own a modified dalikan which burns charcoal more efficiently because of its flue system for air circulation. Fuelwood sticks cannot be used in this stove. This stove sells for P20.00. The 'Wonder stove' is a fired clay stove with a flue and a long, metal chimney which can be directed outside the house. It is similar in shape to the dalikan, but is more enclosed and has thicker side walls to retain heat. The tapered shape of this stove concentrates heat towards the cooking port. Metal grates facilitate conduction of heat to the pots. 24 This stove was developed by a high-school student in the province. Although it is not being mass produced at present, small quantities are being custom made and sell for P100 for the single-port model. About 50 have been sold. 2°Harry Booth, Charcoal in the Energy Cement, concrete or brick stoves are large with a high thermal mass Crisis of the Developing World, FAO, and space for four cooking ports. Sometimes, there is a chimney and Rome, 1979. 21US Peace Corps, Peace Corps Forestry flue. Since they are not portable, they are built in place by local Initiative, mimeo Government of the United craftsmen or household members. It takes 4.5 person-days of labour to States, Washington, DC, 1979. Z2Ernesto Lozada, A. Yparraguirre and P. build one of these stoves. The cost of materials for one stove exceeds Rossellon, 'Stoves and solid biofuels for P200. This is too expensive and too big for most households; however, it cooking', in Proceedings of a Regional is durable and long lasting. Workshop on Domestic Utilization of EnerThe h o m e m a d e metal can stoves used in Ilocos Norte are very simple. gy, Philippine National Oil Co, Quezon They consist of a bucket or paint can with a grate and grill inside to City, Philippines, 1982. 231bid. contain the fuel and hold the pot. There are also some holes for the 24philippines Patent Number 4027, 23 May 1 9 8 0 - 'improved portable stove of Rex draught. Sawdust, rice hulls and stems, and paper can be burned in these stoves after the flame is ignited with a little kerosene. These stoves Andres and Rosa Maria Tamayo'.
590
E N E R G Y P O L I C Y D e c e m b e r 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households
are not too efficient and require frequent replacement because holes burn through the metal. Single burner, metal, kerosene stoves cost P70. Users like them because they do not require much work, cook food quickly, can be placed on a table at a convenient height, do not make much smoke, last a long time and heat evenly. The main complaints of kerosene stove users are the fuel expense, smell and fire risk. An LPG stove costs P250 if it has one burner and P350 with two burners. An LPG oven with four burners costs P1 600. Users like LPG stoves, because they are easy to use, cook food quickly, do not produce smoke, heat evenly, last a long time, are safe, and can be placed at a convenient height. Users dislike the cost of the stove and the fuel expense. An electric hotplate costs P295 with one six inch burner, P315 with one eight inch burner, and P535 with a six inch and an eight inch burner. Electric stove users are pleased that their stoves are easy to use, smokeless, portable, cook foods quickly, are safe, and last a long time. They dislike the cost of the stove, the fuel expense and the need for a back-up stove.
Conclusion
2SEric Hyman, Analysis of Policy Options for Meeting the Demand for Woodfuels in the Province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines, PhD dissertation, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 1985. 28Eric Hyman, 'Loan financing of smallholder treefarming in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Philippines', Agroforestry Systems, Vol 1, 1983, pp 225243. 27Eric Hyman, 'Providing public lands for smallholder agroforestry in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines', Journal of Developing Areas, Vol 18, 1984, pp 177-190. 28Fernando Manibog, 'Improved cooking stoves in developing countries: problems and opportunities', Annual Review of Energy, Vol 9, 1984, pp 199-227.
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
The relationship between fuelwood supply and the demand for woodfuels by large, government or industrial facilities needs to be monitored. The future fuelwood situation for households can be improved through a mix of policy options. The principal options are tree planting programmes, the adoption of more fuel-efficient woodstoves, or the increased substitution of other fuels. A subsequent study analyses the economic benefits and costs of these policy options and considers their effects on employment and environmental qualityY That study has shown that a woodstoves project can have sizeable economic benefits. Tree farming can also be profitable where the land is submarginal for agriculture. There is some additional scope for bamboo substitution, but this resource can be depleted just as wood. Kerosene substitution has negative net economic benefits and LPG and electricity are even more costly. Governmental reforestation has often proved disappointing due to weak management, poor quality seedlings, selection of species inappropriate for the sites and inadequate maintenance and protection. Loan financing of farm forestry in the province has failed to attract many participants due to local cultural attitudes towards debt and lack of extension services. Lack of soil testing and poor supervision of labour has caused high seedling mortality among those who did take advantage of the loans. 26 A small programme of providing public lands for agroforestry/resettlement in the province resulted in participants mainly planting agricultural crops rather than fuelwood to reap higher returns. 27 Although a major woodstoves dissemination project has not been attempted in the province, these often have proved difficult to implement in other countries. 28 Some mix of options and approaches within an option might be best to reduce implementation risks.
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Eric Hyman Woodfuels (fuelwood and charcoal) are sometimes labelled 'poor man's oil'. Due to population growth and the high cost of fossil fuels in economies short of foreign exchange, the consumption of woodfuels is increasing in many less developed countries. At the same time, potential supplies of woodfuels are decreasing due to the clearing of forested land for agriculture and other purposes. The remaining supplies are increasingly located in less accessible areas. Since the wood is often gathered by users and is difficult to trace when taken from scattered trees near roads, houses, farms and community land, consumption rates are uncontrolled and unrecorded. Where fuelwood is marketed in the informal sector, sales are also unrecorded. The fuelwood market is often highly localized because of high transport costs for this bulky commodity. Shortages of woodfuels may cause serious impacts on the wellbeing of affected people, particularly the poor. Overcutting of trees for fuelwood, particularly in combination with grazing or repeated burning of the vegetative cover is characterized by potentially significant environmental impacts off site. Due to the gaps in existing information and the importance of the problem, there is a need for in-depth information on the demand and supply of woodfuels Keywords: Woodfuel; Philippines; Third at the local level. World energy demand The Philippines is in the middle range for per capita woodfuel Eric Hyman is with Appropriate Technolo- consumption in South-east Asia despite a low per capita sustainable gy International, 1331 H Street, NW, forest yield.l About 79% of all Philippine households cooked with wood Washington, DC 20005. in 1970. 2 The quantity of wood burned for fuel in the Philippines This research was supported in part exceeds commercial log production by more than a factor of seven. 3 through a grant from the Asia Foundation This household survey is part of a larger effort that covers fuelwood to the Natural Resources Management sellers and charcoal makers 4 and the demand for woodfuels by cottage Centre (NRMC) of the Philippine Ministry industries (tobacco curing, bakeries, restaurants, blacksmiths and of Natural Resources, with substantial support from the East-West Center En- production of salt, pottery, sugarcane wine and molasses). 5 The vironment and Policy Institute and the NRMC. Additional assistance was pro- methodology of the surveys is discussed elsewhere. 6 The study area is the second most deforested province in the country. vided by the Development Bank of the Philippines. In addition, Ilocos Norte is already facing a serious fuelwood scarcity because small-scale tobacco farmers require large quantities of wood in
This paper presents the results of a survey on woodfuel consumption conducted In the Province of Ilocos None, the Philippines. The survey examined household consumption of wood and other fuels such as coconut shells and husks, rice hulls and stems, bagasse, bamboo, animal dung, charcoal, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and electricity. The author describes the various pressures on the woodfuel supply in the province and patterns of consumption, collection and ways in which consumers are trying to compensate for their relatively high levels of fuelwood consumption by resfforestation and turning to other fuels. The author concludes with a number of policy options. These Include an extensire tree planting programme, the introductlon of more fuel-efficient woodstoves and the increased substitution of other fuels such as bamboo or kerosene.
0301-4215/85/060581-11 $03.00 (~) 1985 Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd
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Demandfor woodfuelsby households
1Bill Knowland and Carol Ulinski, Traditional Fuels: Present Data, Past Experience, and Possible Strategies, prepared for the US Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, 1979. 2Philippine National Census and Statistics Office, 1975 Integrated Census of the Population and Its Economic Activities, Government of the Philippines, Manila, 1975. 3Eric Hyman, 'Wood and charcoal as a direct energy source for consumption by households and rural industries in the Philippines', Likas Yaman - Journal of the Natural Resources Management Forum 3, No 4, 1981, pp 1-72. 4Eric Hyman, 'Analysis of the woodfuels market: a survey of fuelwood sellers and charcoal makers in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines', Biomass, No 3, 1983, pp 167-197. 5Eric Hyman, 'The demand for fuelwood by cottage industries in the province of Ilocos Node, Philippines', Energy- The International Journal, Vol 9, 1984, pp 1-13. 6Eric Hyman, 'How to conduct a rural energy survey in a developing country', Renewable Sources of Energy, Vol 1, 1983, pp 137-149. 7Eriberto Argete, (Remote Sensing Division, Philippine Natural Resources Management Center), personal communication, 1982. 8Eric Hyman, 'Forestry administration and policies in the Philippines', Environmental Management, Vol 7, 1983, pp 511-524. 90p cit, Ref 2. 1°Philippine National Census and Statistics Office, Integrated Survey of Households, Government of the Philippines, Manila, 1980, Bulletin No 48. ~K. Freerk Wiersum, Fuelwood as a Traditional and Modem Energy Source in the Philippines, FAO Rome, 1982, Report FO:DP/PHI/77/011, No 6.
582
flue curing. The national government is establishing two large industrial facilities in the province which would consume woodfuels, a 3MW 'dendrothermal' power plant using wood as the boiler fuel, and two pig iron blast furnaces that would utilize wood charcoal. A LANDSAT analysis of Ilocos Norte has shown that the province has only 24 400 ha of old-growth forest, most of which is inaccessible or unproductive so there is no commercial logging in the province. Degraded, second-growth forest of non-commercial species occupies 54 500 ha, often on sloping land. There are 270 000 ha of noxious cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) lands, open lands and developed areas. 7 The forestry policies and institutions relevant in the area are discussed elsewhere, s As of 1980, the population was 393 485, comprising 17 490 urban and 57 550 rural households. Net population growth in the province between 1975 and 1980 was 1.15% per year. 9"t° This low rate of increase is due to a high rate of migration in search of job opportunities. Agriculture is the most common occupation and the major crops are rice, tobacco and cotton. Land holdings are small, averaging 1.1 ha. Farmland is generally of low quality and nearly half the farmers rent land in exchange for half the produce, with the farmer supplying all other inputs. Nevertheless, mean household incomes exceed the national average due to the substantial remittances sent back by relatives in Manila and the USA. Education levels are relatively high in the region and Ilokanos are well represented in top government positions and the professions. The sample for this survey consists of 1% of the rural and urban households in each barangay of the 23 municipal districts in the province. A barangay is the smallest political unit in the Philippines, equivalent to a rural village or an urban neighbourhood. A municipal district is comparable to a county in the USA but it does not necessarily have an urban centre. At least one household was surveyed in each barangay. About 23% of the sampled households live in barangays classified as rural by the census.
Patterns o f fuelwood use Over 96% of the respondents use some fuelwood. Three-quarters of fuelwood-consuming households rely on wood for more than 60% of their domestic cooking needs. Due to the climate, there is no need to burn wood for space heating. The cooking of fodder for pigs is an important use of fuelwood since 63% of the respondents own at least one pig and hardly any households buy prepared feeds. Households measure fuelwood by a variety of units. Although there is a substantial range in the weights of these units, the median weights in decreasing order of prevalence of the units are 12 kg for a bundle or armload, 75 kg for a sledload, 200 kg for a cartload, 14 kg for a headload and 500 kg for a stacked cubic meter. Households that use fuelwood consume an average of 61 kg per week for domestic cooking (excluding cooking for pigs). This is equivalent to a per capita consumption of 0.73 m 3 (solid) per year and compares to estimates of 0.76 to 0.87 m 3 (solid) per year in others parts in the Philippines. 11 The slightly lower fuelwood consumption in Ilocos Norte results from greater substitution of other commercial fuels due to higher incomes and the low percentage of forest cover. The mean quantity of fuelwood of the two most common species used by a household in a
E N E R G Y POLICY December 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households week has a heating value of 260 000 to 300 000 kcal (kilocalories) if bone dry. 13 Air-dried wood with a moisture content of 12% to 20% has a 15% lower heating value, t3 Assuming an 8% combustion efficiency for the local, ceramic woodstove, the average household needs 21 000 to 24 000 kcal of usable heat for cooking in a week. Although green wood has a substantially lower heat content than dry wood, 32% of households burn wood within one month after it is cut. Only 46% burn fuelwood dried for more than three months. In rural areas, wood is more likely to be burned green because people are closer to the trees and can cut them when needed. Urban households that collect wood go to the countryside a few times a year and let the wood dry in storage in the interim. Purchased wood tends to be relatively dry because more time elapses as it passes through middlemen. Mean fuelwood consumption varies within the province with urbanization, wood availability and income. In urban areas, people are more likely to use alternative fuels while in rural areas, wood and agricultural residues are available for collection nearby. Wood availability is higher in the northern and western parts of the province. ~4 Poor people use more fuelwood because they cannot afford fossil fuels. In decreasing order, the species preferred for fuelwood are Gliricidia
sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, Syzygium curnini, Pithecolobium dulce, Vitex negundo, Tamarindicus indica, Samanea saman, Psidium guajava, Casuarina equisetifolia, Chrysophyllurn cainito, Macaranga tanarius and Guoia koelreuteria. Households prefer certain species because they are inexpensive or easy to find, burn at the right speed, do not make too much smoke, give a desirable taste to food and do not spark too much. Species that are disliked as fuelwood include Moringa oleifera,
Streblus asper, Mangifera indica, Semecarpus philippinensis, Ricinus communis and Annona squamosa. Households dislike certain species
~2Jose Semana and Nieva Laxamana, 'Techniques of determining wood characteristics and properties as a basis for mass selection of fuelwood specieS', in Proceedings of a Conference on Fixing Criteria for Mass Selection of Fuelwood Species,
East-West Center Resource Systems Institute, Honolulu, HI, USA, 1981. 13David Tillman, Wood as an Energy Resource, Academic Press, New York, NY, 1978. ~4Ricardo Bina, (Remote Sensing Division, Philippine Natural Resources Management Centre), personal communication, 1981. ~SHyman, op cit, Ref 5.
ENERGY
P O L I C Y D e c e m b e r 1985
because they burn too fast or too slow, are more useful for producing fruit, other foods or medicines, have an undesirable odour, spark too much or are associated with religious or superstitious beliefs. The availability of wood varies seasonally. Generally, wood is most abundant in the dry season (January to early June) and most scarce in the rainy season (mid-June through to October). The main reasons for the variation are the difficulty of cutting and transporting wood in the rain, lack of labour during peak agricultural periods, seasonal changes in the demand for fuelwood by cottage industries and storms and floods that carry wood along the river banks and sea coast. Total domestic fuelwood consumption in Ilocos Norte was 239646000 kg in 1980. If consumption increases at the rate of population growth, it will reach 298 523 000 kg in the year 2000. In comparison, the current consumption of woodfuels by cottage industries in the province is 39 908 000 kg per year, about 16% of the household consumption.15 Fuelwood may be purchased, collected away from one's own land for free, collected at a contracted price or grown. Frequently, households obtain it in more than one way.
Purchase of fuelwood Purchased wood is cut by the seller and exchanged for cash or traded goods; sometimes it is transported by the seller as well. About 47% of fuelwood-consuming households purchase some wood, but only 34% of the fuelwood burned in the province is purchased. Households are more
583
Demand for woodfuels by households
likely to purchase fuelwood if they live in urban areas, are relatively well educated, or have relatively high incomes. Households have multiple sources of purchased fuelwood, in decreasing order of frequency, these are relatives, friends and neighbours door-to-door sellers, small traders at local markets, sellers along major roadsides and landlords. About 32% of buyers have wood delivered to their homes. Only 17% travel farther than 3 km to buy wood. Rural people tend to travel farther to buy fuelwood. Wood marketed to urban areas is often sold by middlemen and may come from much farther away. Some people buy fuelwood in large quantities a few times a year and store it while others only can afford to purchase small quantities as the need arises. About 48% of purchasers buy fuelwood less than once a month, 39% buy it one to five times a month, and 12% buy it more than once a week. Purchasers in rural areas tend to buy wood less frequently. Over 87% of fuelwood purchasers pay for it in cash. The rest exchange labour or trade agricultural or cottage industry products. The mean price of fuelwood in 1981 was P0.23 per kg. 16 At this price, a household that consumes the average amount of fuelwood and buys all of its requirements would spend P720 per year for fuelwood. Prices vary a great deal with the volume of purchase, transport arrangements, location of sale and the relationship between the buyer and seller. Most household buy wood in bundles. On average 1 kg of wood costs P0.25 in bundles, P0.15 by the sledload, P0.12 by the cartload, or P0.09 by the stacked cubic meter. A third of fuelwood buyers have it delivered and pay a premium for that service. The price of fuelwood is lower in rural areas and in locations where wood is more readily available. People often sell wood at lower prices to relatives and friends or tenants, while higher prices are charged by middlemen, door-to-door sellers and small traders at local markets. Nearly all purchasers report that the price is a lot more than it was five years ago. In particular, transport costs for wood have risen much faster than stumpage prices. However, 39% of these purchasers report that they have made no changes in their consumption of fuelwood in response to the higher prices. About 36% of the purchasers now spend more time collecting fuelwood; 19% now grow more trees on their own land; 19% have increased their use of substitute fuels (most commonly bamboo or LPG); and only 2% use less fuelwood by cooking fewer meals or putting the fire out immediately after use.
Collection of fuelwood
~6At the time of this study, there were 8.0 Philippine pisos (P) per US dollar.
584
Collected fuelwood is cut from trees on public lands or private lands belonging to someone else and then transported by the user. This wood may be collected for free or at a contracted price in cash or labour with the permission of a landowner. Under the usual contracted price arrangement, the collector is responsible for felling, chopping and transporting a third of the collected wood to the landowner's home. Nearly 40% of fuelwood-consuming households collect some wood for free and another 6% collect wood at a contracted price. Over 29% of the fuelwood consumed in the province is collected for free and another 5% is collected at a contracted price. More wood is collected in rural areas than urban areas. Fuelwood collection is inversely related to the level of education of the heads of
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households
the household and their income. Households collect wood for free from multiple sources; in decreasing order of prevalence they are the land of relatives and friends, their landlord's land, along river banks or the sea coast, public forests or mountainous areas, land belonging to strangers and village lands. The contracted price arrangement is most frequently between tenants and their landlords. Almost 48% of fuelwood collectors gather it all year, the rest gather it in seasons when there is less work to do in agriculture or in their trades and after storms or floods. About 20% of the collectors gather wood less than once a month, 44% gather it one to five times a month, and 35% gather it more than once a week. Fuelwood is collected more frequently in rural areas, especially if obtained from village land; it is collected less frequently if obtained from the land of relatives and friends or landlords. Over 68% of fueiwood collection trips are made for that purpose alone. Where these trips have multiple purposes, in decreasing order, they are most commonly for gathering fruits, nuts, or herbs, visiting relatives and friends, fishing or grazing animals. Although fuelwood collection is a socially prescribed task for adult women and children in many countries, this is not the case in llocos Norte. Adult women participate in this task in 50% of the fuelwoodcollecting households, compared to 75% for adult men and 18% for children. On average in these households, adult women spend 2.3 hours per week collecting fuelwood, adult men spend 3.3 hours per week, and children spend 1.5 hours per week. Defining two child-hours as one adult-equivalent hour, fuelwood-collecting households spend an average of 6.4 adult-equivalent hours per week in this task. Rural households tend to spend more time collecting fuelwood than urban households. If less time had to be spent collecting fuelwood, the respondents report (in decreasing order of magnitude) that members of their family would devote more time to household chores, farm work, taking care of children, visiting relatives or friends, fishing, a business or cottage industry or school work. Since some portion of fuelwood collection time is spent travelling to achieve multiple purposes and some time would not otherwise be devoted to productive economic activities, it is reasonable to 'shadow price' this time at some fraction of the wage for casual agricultural labour, P15 per person-day. The value of this time amounts to P208 at a shadow price of a third the wage rate or P312 at half the wage rate. This opportunity cost is in addition to whatever time and money the household spends in transporting fuelwood, purchasing it, growing trees and cutting fuelwood from trees that they grow themselves. The average weight of wood transported per trip varies depending on who in the family is collecting it - 23 kg for adult women, 69 kg for adult men and 38 kg for children. These differences are due to the way in which wood is carried. Adult women usually carry it in bundles or headloads. Adult men frequently bring back sledloads or cartloads. Although the bundles carried by a child are smaller than those carried by adult women, a group of children often pulls a sledload of wood. A substantial portion of the collected wood comes from dead branches and twigs that have fallen to the ground, especially if the source is forests or mountainous land, village lands or areas along river banks and the sea coast. Most of the rest is cut from live branches or twigs, particularly if it is taken from a landlord's property. About 85%
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
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Demandfor woodfuelsby households of the collectors claim that they never fell whole, live trees from their own land. In decreasing order, the reasons for this include legal prohibitions or restrictions set by the owners, conservation of trees for future fuelwood or polewood, maintenance of shade or beauty, soil conservation, conservation of trees for animal fodder or medicinal purposes and the difficulty of felling whole live trees. About 56% of fuelwood-collecting households think it is harder now to collect wood now than it was five years ago, 35% believe.it is about the same and 9% claim it is easier. In particular, the land of relatives and friends has become increasingly cut over, but the stocking of village land has improved due to barangay tree planting programmes. About 80% of households that perceive increased difficulty in collecting fuelwood now have to travel further or take more time to gather wood, 26% grow more of their own trees, 24% now buy a larger share of their fuelwood, 14% have increased their substitution of other fuels and only 2% have cut back on their total energy use.
Tree growing activities of households Over 61% of all households have some wild trees around their home or on the farmland that they own or rent, but only 51% of these households grow these trees for future fuelwood. Other reasons for keeping these trees include shade or beauty, yields of fruits, nuts or other foods, control of soil erosion, yields of polewood or construction wood, animal fodder and medicinal products. More than 90% of all households have planted at least one tree but many of these trees are not intended for fuelwood. Fifteen trees is the modal number planted. Rural households tend to plant more trees as do households that own more than 3 ha of land. About 6% of households have participated as 'volunteers' in tree planting projects on village or municipal lands. In one case, it was claimed that the lands that were planted belonged to the municipal mayor. In decreasing order, the most commonly planted species are
Mangifera indica, Moringa oleifera, Chrysophyllum cainito, Leucaena leucocephala, Pouteria campechiana, Persea gratissima, Cocos nucifera, Citrus grandis, Citrus microcarpa, Psidium guajava, Manilkara sapota, Annona muricata, Gliricidia sepium and Cicca acida. Households have selected these species because of the production of fruits and other foods, shade or beauty, future firewood, control of soil erosion, availability of free seeds or seedlings, production of animal fodder, resistance to droughts or typhoons, yield of medicinal products, and resistance to pests and diseases. About 89% of the households that have planted trees water them, 58% have fences to protect them, 20% prune them, 16% apply fertilizer, 12% tie or stake them, and 3% apply insecticides. Threequarters of these households report that they have never received a visit from a forester or extension agent knowledgeable about tree growing. The major constraint that keeps the rest of the households from planting trees is lack of land. Other constraints mentioned include poor soil, lack of labour, expected damage from droughts or typhoons, difficulty of protecting trees against illegal loggers, lack of assistance from a forester, difficulty of obtaining good seeds and seedlings, expected problems with pests or diseases, lack of money and no perceived need to plant trees. 586
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households
Nearly 44% of fuelwood users obtain some fuelwood from trees growing on the land that they own or rent. These trees provide 32% of the fuelwood consumed in the province. Rural households tend to grow more of their fuelwood. Fuelwood growing also tends to increase with income, probably due to a correlation with land ownership. Three-fifths of the households that take wood from the trees growing on their land do so in seasons when there is less work to do in agriculture or their trade, 35% do so all year-long, and 2% do so when their tenants have time. About 49% of these households obtain this wood less than once a month, 36% do so one to five times a month and 15% do so more than once a week. Adult women participate in this task in 41% of these households, compared to 84% for adult men and 22% for children. On average in fuelwood-growing households, adult women spend 1.2 hours per week obtaining wood, adult men spend 2.9 hours per week, and children spend 0.6 hours per week. This amounts to 4.4 adult-equivalent hours per week. At one-third the casual agricultural wage, the value of this time is worth P143 per year and at half the wage rate, it is worth P215 per year. The above figures do not include time and money costs for transport, establishment and maintenance of trees, purchase of fuelwood, or collection of fuelwood away from the household's own land. On average, in one trip to obtain fuelwood from their own land, adult women transport 38 kg, adult men transport 97 kg, and children transport 55 kg. Usually adult women carry a bundle or headload, adult men bring back a cartload and children carry bundles or sledloads. About 15% of these households report that they never cut live branches or twigs from their trees and 77% do not fell whole live trees for fuelwood.
Use of other fuels Households use a variety of biomass and fossil fuels as a supplement or substitute for fuelwood. Table 1 lists the prevalence of these other fuels and the way in which they are obtained (purchased, collected, or grown). Table 2 compares the prices of the marketed fuels per unit of net usable energy. Although Ilocos Norte is not a major coconut-producing area, some households occasionally burn coconut residuals as a supplementary fuel. The average user of these fuels burns 3.5 kg of coconut shells and a slightly lower quantity of coconut husks in a week. The annual consumption in the province totals 1 022 000 kg of coconut shells and 885 000 kg of coconut husks as fuel. Less than one-third of the coconut residuals burned are from coconuts purchased at the market. Since purchased coconuts are bought for food at P1.00 per nut, the residuals Table 1. Use and acquisition of non-wood fuels by households. Users a C o c o n u t shells C o c o n u t husks Bagasse Bamboo
Sawdust aPercentage of all h o u s e h o l d s ; BPercentage of users, totals m a y e x c e e d 1 0 0 % due to multiple sources; CAsh is a residual product from t h e combustion of w o o d .
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
Ash c Charcoal Kerosene LPG Electricity
7.5 6.5 3.0 38.1 1.5 58.4 3.0 82.2 27.3 65.6
Purchasers b 37 37 4 25 100 100 100 100
Collectors b
Growers b
22 23 26 56 75 -
68 71 74 44 _ -
-
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Demand for woodfuels by households Table 2. The price of common fuels per unit heat.
Sources: op cit, Ref 11 ; op cit Ref 12; op cit, Ref 16. alf foreign exchange costs are shadow priced at 1.2, the price per unit heat rises to P0.88 for kerosene, P0.91 for LPG, and P1.10 for electricity; hair dried; CGliricidia sepium, air dried.
17AII fuel and stove prices are as of July 1981.
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Bamboo (kg) t' Wood (kg)c Keroseneb LPG (kg) Electricity (kW-h) Charcoal (kg)
Gross energy (kcal)
End-use efficiency (percentage)
Market price (P)
Market price per unit heat (P per 1 000 kcsl)"
3 4 9 11
8 6 70 70 95 28
0.19 0.23 4.67 6.26 0.75 2.00
0.61 0.70 0,73 0.76 0.91 0.92
900 160 100 800 860 6 900
can be considered a free fuel. 17 Most households that burn coconuts grow them on their own land and these nuts are available all year. Bagasse is the residual of sugarcane after the juice has been extracted. llocos Norte is not a major sugar-producing area, but some sugar is grown primarily for molasses and basi (wine) making. The households that use bagasse as a supplementary, domestic cooking fuel, consume an average of 5.5 kg per week. Most of these households grow sugar. Households in the province burn 642 000 kg of bagasse per year. Bagasse is a seasonal fuel. Bamboo is a major fuel for domestic cooking. Although bamboo has only half the heating value of wood per unit volume and burns slowly, it is a suitable fuelwood supplement. The most common species of bamboo in the province are Bambusia spinosa, Schyzostrachyum lumampao, S lima and S dielsianum. The average bamboo user burns 15.5 kg of it per week. Households in Ilocos Norte burn 23 077 000 kg of bamboo a year. Few households purchase bamboo, mostly from relatives or friends. The average price of bamboo, P0.19 per kg, has risen along with the price of wood. Most households collect bamboo away from their own land or on their own land. About 29% of these households obtain bamboo less than once a month, 55% do so one to five times a month and 15% do so more than once a week. Over 53% of bamboo collectors think it is harder to come by now than five years ago. Like wood, bamboo needs to be harvested on a sustained yield basis. Sawdust is a minor fuel in Ilocos Norte, but it is important in other provinces with a wood-processing industry. It is mostly used by households with a carpenter or furniture maker who obtains it for free as a byproduct. On average, a sawdust user burns 42.5 kg of this fuel per week. Households in the province burn 2 481 000 kg of sawdust per year. A few households use charcoal as a domestic fuel because they prefer the flavour that it imparts to certain food. Most of these households also use other cooking fuels because charcoal is expensive in Ilocos Norte. Households that cook with charcoal consume an average of 5 kg per week. Thus, about 549 000 kg of charcoal are burned for domestic cooking in the province. This amount is equivalent to 6 876 000 kg of wood at an 8% charcoal conversion efficiency. A small number of local producers sell charcoal in a few barangays for P2.00 per kg in bulk. Small bags of charcoal from the neighbouring province of Isabela sell for P4.00-5.00 per kg. Charcoal prices have risen with the price of wood. Hardly any households make their own charcoal from wood. Many households do use the ash left over in the bottom of their stove after wood is burned, but this mostly used for ironing clothes. Most households in Ilocos Norte use some kerosene, but mainly for lighting. Rural households use more kerosene than urban households
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
Demand for woodfuels by households
18USFederal EnergyAdministration, Energy Interrelationships, National Technical Information Service, Report No PB--269 034, Springfield, VA, USA, 1977. 191bid.
E N E R G Y POLICY December 1985
because they are less likely to have electricity for lights. Because electricity is often subject to daily power cuts, households with an electricity supply still find it necessary to keep kerosene or candles on hand. Only 5% of households cook with kerosene. Those who can afford a fossil fuel prefer LPG because kerosene is perceived to be less safe, smells bad and imparts an undesirable flavour to food. Although the capital costs of kerosene stoves are lower than those of LPG stoves, the fuel costs are similar. An average household that cooks with kerosene uses 2.25 1 (litres) per week for this purpose. Assuming 70% end-use efficiency, this amount is equivalent to 14 300 kcal a week.~S Kerosene costs P4.67 per litre in large bottles and P6.09 per litre in small bottles. At the lower price, the average household that cooks exclusively with kerosene would spend P550 per year on cooking fuel. However, many of these families also use some fuelwood. This average consumption of kerosene by households for any purpose is 0.65 I per year. Thus, the average user spends PI60 per year for kerosene at the lower price or P210 at the higher price. Households in the province consume 2 084 0001 of kerosene a year. Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is preferred to kerosene for cooking. However, many households have stopped using LPG to cook all meals because it has become much more expensive over the past five years. Most of these households now use wood instead of LPG except when they are in a hurry, have run out of usable wood, or have visitors. An LPG stove is a common present sent back to parents by grown children working in Manila or abroad. The average household using LPG consumes 2.1 kg of this fuel per week. At a 70% end-use efficiency, this amount is equivalent to 17 350 kcal per week. w In 11 kg tanks, LPG sells for P6.26 per kg. Thus, the average user spends roughly P700 per year for LPG. Households in the province consume a total of 2 238 000 kg of LPG per year. Overall, 70% of households in Ilocos Norte have an electricity supply; this comprises 92% of urban households and 63% of rural households. Yet, only 1.5% of households sometimes cook with this fuel. The supply of electricity is unreliable and the cost is high. The average household that uses electricity for any purpose consumes 3.3 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per week, mostly for lights and small appliances such as fans and radios. The household consumption of electricity in the province amounts to 8 446 000 kWh per year. The unit price of electricity increases with consumption. At the average level of consumption, a household's annual electric bill would be P325. Other fuels occasionally burned by households include shrubs and bushes, animal dung, coconut stalks, tobacco stalks, rice stems, rice hulls, cotton sticks, corn cobs, paper, grass and old tyres. Rice hulls and stems burn poorly, generate a lot of smoke, and have a high silica content. Cooked rice stems also have another use as animal fodder. Most agricultural residuals are highly seasonal in availability. They are usually economically impractical to transport very far because of their low value relative to their bulk and they require a lot of storage space. The briqueting of agricultural residuals into charcoal generally is not economical as a household cooking fuel.
Types of cooking stoves Many households own several different kinds of cooking stoves. About 589
Demandfor woodfuelsby households 7% cook over an open fire; 90% have a dalikan, less than 1% have a clay stove with a flue, but no chimney; less than 1% have a clay stove with a chimney and flue; less than 1% have a metal can stove; 5% have a kerosene stove; 27% have an L P G stove; and 1.5% have an electric stove. The most common type of open fire used by households consists of three stones of the same height which hold a pot and keep the kindling together. A fancier version is a metal ring which stands on a tripod over a fire to hold the pot. The efficiency of a typical open fire has been estimated at 3% to 8% although it may be 15% or more if protected from the wind and carefully managed. 2°-2z The principal advantage of an open fire is its low capital cost. A three stone stove is free and the materials for a metal ring stove cost only P5.00. Some households rely on an open fire for cooking pig fodder outside, but use another type of stove inside the house when cooking for the family. The most frequent complaints of users are than an open fire cannot be used indoors, makes too much smoke, takes a lot of work, heats unevenly and is a slow way of cooking. A dalikan is the standard household stove in Ilocos Norte. It is a relatively open hemispherical stove made of fired clay mixed with rice hulls. It does not have a chimney or a flue and can only hold one pot. The dalikan is made by hand in one municipality in the province. The normal efficiency of this stove is 8% to 11°/o. 23 The stove craftsmen sell the dalikan for P15.00 undelivered. With careful use, a dalikan can last 5 to 10 years although some households prefer to replace it in three years because it often cracks. Households like this stove because it is inexpensive to buy, is safe, can be used indoors or outdoors and lasts a long time. They complain that it makes too much smoke, burns too much fuel, takes a lot of work, cooks too slowly and is dirty or messy. Some of the households that cook with charcoal own a modified dalikan which burns charcoal more efficiently because of its flue system for air circulation. Fuelwood sticks cannot be used in this stove. This stove sells for P20.00. The 'Wonder stove' is a fired clay stove with a flue and a long, metal chimney which can be directed outside the house. It is similar in shape to the dalikan, but is more enclosed and has thicker side walls to retain heat. The tapered shape of this stove concentrates heat towards the cooking port. Metal grates facilitate conduction of heat to the pots. 24 This stove was developed by a high-school student in the province. Although it is not being mass produced at present, small quantities are being custom made and sell for P100 for the single-port model. About 50 have been sold. 2°Harry Booth, Charcoal in the Energy Cement, concrete or brick stoves are large with a high thermal mass Crisis of the Developing World, FAO, and space for four cooking ports. Sometimes, there is a chimney and Rome, 1979. 21US Peace Corps, Peace Corps Forestry flue. Since they are not portable, they are built in place by local Initiative, mimeo Government of the United craftsmen or household members. It takes 4.5 person-days of labour to States, Washington, DC, 1979. Z2Ernesto Lozada, A. Yparraguirre and P. build one of these stoves. The cost of materials for one stove exceeds Rossellon, 'Stoves and solid biofuels for P200. This is too expensive and too big for most households; however, it cooking', in Proceedings of a Regional is durable and long lasting. Workshop on Domestic Utilization of EnerThe h o m e m a d e metal can stoves used in Ilocos Norte are very simple. gy, Philippine National Oil Co, Quezon They consist of a bucket or paint can with a grate and grill inside to City, Philippines, 1982. 231bid. contain the fuel and hold the pot. There are also some holes for the 24philippines Patent Number 4027, 23 May 1 9 8 0 - 'improved portable stove of Rex draught. Sawdust, rice hulls and stems, and paper can be burned in these stoves after the flame is ignited with a little kerosene. These stoves Andres and Rosa Maria Tamayo'.
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Demand for woodfuels by households
are not too efficient and require frequent replacement because holes burn through the metal. Single burner, metal, kerosene stoves cost P70. Users like them because they do not require much work, cook food quickly, can be placed on a table at a convenient height, do not make much smoke, last a long time and heat evenly. The main complaints of kerosene stove users are the fuel expense, smell and fire risk. An LPG stove costs P250 if it has one burner and P350 with two burners. An LPG oven with four burners costs P1 600. Users like LPG stoves, because they are easy to use, cook food quickly, do not produce smoke, heat evenly, last a long time, are safe, and can be placed at a convenient height. Users dislike the cost of the stove and the fuel expense. An electric hotplate costs P295 with one six inch burner, P315 with one eight inch burner, and P535 with a six inch and an eight inch burner. Electric stove users are pleased that their stoves are easy to use, smokeless, portable, cook foods quickly, are safe, and last a long time. They dislike the cost of the stove, the fuel expense and the need for a back-up stove.
Conclusion
2SEric Hyman, Analysis of Policy Options for Meeting the Demand for Woodfuels in the Province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines, PhD dissertation, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 1985. 28Eric Hyman, 'Loan financing of smallholder treefarming in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, Philippines', Agroforestry Systems, Vol 1, 1983, pp 225243. 27Eric Hyman, 'Providing public lands for smallholder agroforestry in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines', Journal of Developing Areas, Vol 18, 1984, pp 177-190. 28Fernando Manibog, 'Improved cooking stoves in developing countries: problems and opportunities', Annual Review of Energy, Vol 9, 1984, pp 199-227.
ENERGY POLICY December 1985
The relationship between fuelwood supply and the demand for woodfuels by large, government or industrial facilities needs to be monitored. The future fuelwood situation for households can be improved through a mix of policy options. The principal options are tree planting programmes, the adoption of more fuel-efficient woodstoves, or the increased substitution of other fuels. A subsequent study analyses the economic benefits and costs of these policy options and considers their effects on employment and environmental qualityY That study has shown that a woodstoves project can have sizeable economic benefits. Tree farming can also be profitable where the land is submarginal for agriculture. There is some additional scope for bamboo substitution, but this resource can be depleted just as wood. Kerosene substitution has negative net economic benefits and LPG and electricity are even more costly. Governmental reforestation has often proved disappointing due to weak management, poor quality seedlings, selection of species inappropriate for the sites and inadequate maintenance and protection. Loan financing of farm forestry in the province has failed to attract many participants due to local cultural attitudes towards debt and lack of extension services. Lack of soil testing and poor supervision of labour has caused high seedling mortality among those who did take advantage of the loans. 26 A small programme of providing public lands for agroforestry/resettlement in the province resulted in participants mainly planting agricultural crops rather than fuelwood to reap higher returns. 27 Although a major woodstoves dissemination project has not been attempted in the province, these often have proved difficult to implement in other countries. 28 Some mix of options and approaches within an option might be best to reduce implementation risks.
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