Forest ProductRenewable
Standing TimberIndustrial RoundwoodSoftwood LumberHardwood LumberWood-Based PanelsPlywood
What is it?
Wood cut to be burned - firewood and the charcoal made from it. Still the largest single use of wood on Earth by volume.
Why does it matter?
Roughly half of all wood harvested worldwide is burned for cooking and heating, overwhelmingly in countries where it is the primary household fuel. Any statement about global wood demand that only counts lumber and paper is describing a minority of the harvest.
Deeper written sections for this material have not been published yet. Everything below is drawn straight from the source datasets and is complete.
Read the numbers correctly.
Cubic metres of solid volume, which for fuelwood is a statistical estimate rather than a measured trade figure in most countries - much of it is gathered, not sold. Charcoal is in tonnes and is not comparable.
Largely informal and local. The traded fraction is charcoal, which concentrates the energy enough to be worth transporting.
What it is used for
All end markets →| End market | What it does there | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Bioenergy & Heating | Firewood and charcoal, the majority of world use | Defining |
