Over 100 participants from 30 countries and various stakeholder groups attended a workshop on “National Wood Resource Balances” organized by the Timber Section of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Geneva, 31 March – 1 April.
Wood energy, as a renewable source of energy, continues to increase in importance at a time of rising global prices for fossil fuels, continuing concerns over security of energy supply and new commitments to reduce CO2 emissions. At the same time, growing demand for woody raw material by the wood-processing industries has led to an acute need for up-to-date and reliable statistical information on wood sources and uses to ensure that the limits of sustainability are not crossed. This information is either not available or weak in many countries.
Empirical research, such as household and industry surveys, is needed to close these gaps and improve data and statistics. Christopher Prins, Chief of the UNECE/FAO Timber Section, said that “wood from the forest, but also from urban trees, orchards, wood residues from the industry and recovered wood, is at present the most important source of renewable energy in Europe. If Governments do not clearly understand how much is coming from what sources and for what uses, rational policymaking becomes rather difficult. The workshop has served to significantly improve knowledge and understanding – a number of countries are reporting four times more wood energy than before – but further empirical research is needed on both sources and uses of wood.”
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