ABSTRACT
A lack of adequate energy supplies has increasingly hampered the development of the rural sector of many developing countries; at times it has even threatened their very survival. Two principal aspects of this shortage of energy can be distinguished. In the first place, the demand for fuelwood, the most important source of traditional energy for uses such as cooking and heating, has grown far faster than supply. In the second place, the development of the rural sector in the past has relied heavily on relatively cheap commercial fuels. The dimensions of the fuelwood crisis are such that it is unlikely the measures will be sufficient to solve the short-term problems. Possibilities range from the introduction of conventional fuels like coal, through biomass-based fuels like charcoal, ethanol, methanol, and biogas, to the direct conversion of solar energy to heat. Charcoal is produced as a result of the chemical reduction of organic material under controlled circumstances.
