Abstract: Over 3 billion people throughout the world rely on traditional fuels such as fuelwood. In Ethiopia, 90 percent of energy consumption comes from biomass. Such heavy reliance on this form of energy is a threat to forest ecosystems and also contributes to greenhouse gas emission. However, empirical evidences on the amount of fuelwood consumption and emission of CO2 are limited. This study was carried out to assess amount of fuelwood consumption, factors affecting fuel wood consumption rate and contribution of fuelwood consumption to carbon dioxide emission, in Adaba district South Eastern Ethiopia. The study was based on questionnaire survey from 317 randomly selected households, focus group discussion and market survey. Multiple regressions were used to determine factors that influence fuelwood consumption rate and the amount of fuelwood consumed was estimated from the market survey using descriptive statistics. The result showed that average weekly fuelwood consumption was 0.2 (±0.1) and 0.09 (±0.07) tons in Kiremit and Bega seasons respectively. During winter season pressure on forest for fuelwood is comparatively lesser since there are other alternative sources of income. The result also showed that an estimated percapita emission of 2.08 tCO2e per year. The regression result reveals that, family size and total land size owned were found to be significant and positively correlated with the probability of fuel wood consumption rate. While total livestock unit was found to be significant and negatively correlated with the probability of fuel wood consumption rate. Furthermore, price of fuel wood and fuel wood availability were not found to be statistically significant. Focus group discussion and household survey revealed that, woody vegetation species like, Juniperus procera, Olea europaea and Erica arborea are the most preferred fuelwood species. In general distributing energy saving technology like ICS, family planning and using exotic tree species like, Eucalyptus for fuelwood is crucial to ensure sustainability and benefits of forest resources.Abstract: Over 3 billion people throughout the world rely on traditional fuels such as fuelwood. In Ethiopia, 90 percent of energy consumption comes from biomass. Such heavy reliance on this form of energy is a threat to forest ecosystems and also contributes to greenhouse gas emission. However, empirical evidences on the amount of fuelwood consumption and e...Show More
