Replacing Firewood with Electricity

In order to prevent further devastation of natural forest and vegetation, as well as to improve the living standards of farmers in mountainous areas, the Government of China has launched the programme of "Replacing Firewood with Electricity". By financing local SHP projects, the nation will provide cheaper and adequate energy to the farmers, encouraging them to use electrical cooking and heating devices. Therefore, the demands for firewood is reduced and natual vegetation is left unexploited. IN-SHP has participated in the programme by carrying out project evaluations.

35 million families (140 million people) in rural areas of China, mainly use hay for cooking and heating.

 

One family counsumes annually 7,000-10,000 kg of hay.

 

Annual consumption of firewood as cooking fuel in China amounts to 420-560 million cubic meters, decimating every year 23 million hectare of forests.

 

In the upper valley of Yangze and Yellow river, forests around the villages are depleted to depths of 10-20km, resulting in desertification and hunger for the people who depend on the forests.

If an installed capacity of 1.2kW is provided for each family, 1,800-2,500 kWh of electricity can be supplied annually by SHP to replace firewood in every home.

 

Once SHP is applied for 23 million families in the first phase, a rural population of 92 million will get 46 billion kWh of electricity.

 

To supply this energy, an electrical installed capacity of 15,000 MW will be needed requiring a total investment of 96 billion RMB. Its construction in stages needs to take only 10 years.

 

886 counties, which fall into 4 types, are chosen for forest protection practice in China, namely:

Area for farming and grassland development near the forests

Protected natural forest area

Protected area for natural resources conservation, and

Area for intensive water and soil conservation

 

Depending on the availability of local resources, further development of Micro, Mini, and Small hydro sources is required for the integrated coordination of mountains, waters, forests and people.