Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa
Biomass burning is an important source of trace gases such as CO2, CO and NO, which influence regional and global atmospheric chemistry. Biomass is burnt in bush fires as well as in households as an energy source. Even though there have been numerous studies on domestic biofuel use in Africa over...
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ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-wits-oai-wiredspace.wits.ac.za-10539-58652019-05-11T03:41:54Z Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa Tshikalanke, Rabelani Phillip spatial temporal variation domestic biofuel consumption Southern Africa Biomass burning is an important source of trace gases such as CO2, CO and NO, which influence regional and global atmospheric chemistry. Biomass is burnt in bush fires as well as in households as an energy source. Even though there have been numerous studies on domestic biofuel use in Africa over the last two decades there is still a lack of consumption data on the continent. Biofuel is used in rural and urban areas in Africa, but this project focuses on rural consumption. This project aims to quantify biofuel use at representative rural sites around southern Africa and to investigate the spatial and temporal variation. Three sites, one in the south, central and northern parts were selected in each of seven countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi). Consumption rates for all fuel types were determined by weighing the fuel used throughout the day. The survey was conducted during the months of May 2003 to February 2004. The forms of biofuel used over southern Africa were found to be wood, charcoal and to a lesser extent maize residue. To obtain a consumption estimate for the whole of rural southern Africa consumption values for Swaziland and Lesotho from previously studies were included. The total annual rural fuelwood consumption in southern Africa is estimated to be 54.7 ± 3.5 Tg with an average daily consumption of 2.55 kg person-1 day-1 . South Africa has the highest consumption of wood and Swaziland the least. While fuelwood was used in all countries charcoal was only consumed in the rural areas of South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique. Rural southern Africa is estimated to consume 8.1 ± 0.8 Tg of charcoal per year. Malawi was the only country to consume maize residue at an average rate of 0.51 ± 0.16 kg person-1 day-1, leading to a consumption of 1.8 ± 0.1 Tg yr-1 over the whole region. The total rural biofuel consumption over southern Africa was estimated to be 64.6 ± 3.6 Tg yr-1. Namibia and South Africa had increased consumption rates between August and October, and Zambia shows slightly higher consumptions between May and July. The other countries show little monthly variation with no specific seasonal trends. There was a slight positive relationship (r2 = 0.168; p = 0.065) between consumption rate and altitude, but the data is very scattered due to monthly variation. Slopes are only shown to be significant between January and March. Altitude is therefore not shown to be a significant controlling factor of biofuel consumption in this study. 2008-12-04T07:15:56Z 2008-12-04T07:15:56Z 2008-12-04T07:15:56Z Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10539/5865 en application/pdf |
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en |
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Others
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spatial temporal variation domestic biofuel consumption Southern Africa |
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spatial temporal variation domestic biofuel consumption Southern Africa Tshikalanke, Rabelani Phillip Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa |
description |
Biomass burning is an important source of trace gases such as CO2, CO and NO,
which influence regional and global atmospheric chemistry. Biomass is burnt in bush
fires as well as in households as an energy source. Even though there have been
numerous studies on domestic biofuel use in Africa over the last two decades there is
still a lack of consumption data on the continent. Biofuel is used in rural and urban
areas in Africa, but this project focuses on rural consumption. This project aims to
quantify biofuel use at representative rural sites around southern Africa and to
investigate the spatial and temporal variation. Three sites, one in the south, central and
northern parts were selected in each of seven countries (Botswana, Namibia, South
Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi). Consumption rates for all fuel
types were determined by weighing the fuel used throughout the day. The survey was
conducted during the months of May 2003 to February 2004. The forms of biofuel
used over southern Africa were found to be wood, charcoal and to a lesser extent
maize residue. To obtain a consumption estimate for the whole of rural southern
Africa consumption values for Swaziland and Lesotho from previously studies were
included. The total annual rural fuelwood consumption in southern Africa is estimated
to be 54.7 ± 3.5 Tg with an average daily consumption of 2.55 kg person-1 day-1
.
South Africa has the highest consumption of wood and Swaziland the least. While
fuelwood was used in all countries charcoal was only consumed in the rural areas of
South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique. Rural southern Africa is estimated to
consume 8.1 ± 0.8 Tg of charcoal per year. Malawi was the only country to consume
maize residue at an average rate of 0.51 ± 0.16 kg person-1 day-1, leading to a
consumption of 1.8 ± 0.1 Tg yr-1 over the whole region. The total rural biofuel
consumption over southern Africa was estimated to be 64.6 ± 3.6 Tg yr-1. Namibia
and South Africa had increased consumption rates between August and October, and
Zambia shows slightly higher consumptions between May and July. The other
countries show little monthly variation with no specific seasonal trends. There was a
slight positive relationship (r2 = 0.168; p = 0.065) between consumption rate and
altitude, but the data is very scattered due to monthly variation. Slopes are only shown
to be significant between January and March. Altitude is therefore not shown to be a
significant controlling factor of biofuel consumption in this study. |
author |
Tshikalanke, Rabelani Phillip |
author_facet |
Tshikalanke, Rabelani Phillip |
author_sort |
Tshikalanke, Rabelani Phillip |
title |
Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa |
title_short |
Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa |
title_full |
Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa |
title_fullStr |
Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern Africa |
title_sort |
spatial and temporal variation in domestic biofuel consumption rates in southern africa |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10539/5865 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT tshikalankerabelaniphillip spatialandtemporalvariationindomesticbiofuelconsumptionratesinsouthernafrica |
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1719084886407512064 |