# Firewood and charcoal supply

Bags, bundles and head-loads of wood and charcoal, especially in rural areas.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/

Transport · Solid and nuclear fuels · No. 62

- Transport
- Form: Solid fuel
 Transport · Solid and nuclear fuels · Foundation · Energy

Tanzania burns about 1 million tonnes of charcoal a year, made in about 160,000 smouldering earth kilns.

Chart: Illustration: Firewood and charcoal supply

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Wood is stacked, covered with soil and burned slowly with little air for about a week. What remains is mostly carbon, lighter to carry, but the kiln wastes most of the energy.

##### Three things to know

1. Most energy is lost in the kiln, not on the road: a traditional earth mound keeps only about 18% of the wood's energy.
2. A wholesale bag in Dar es Salaam cost about six times the village price at the kiln in 2016.
3. Head-loads of firewood weigh about 50-60 kg and are often carried from forest 1-4 km away, mostly by women.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Woodland**Trees felled or dead wood gathered
2. 2 **Earth kiln**Slow smouldering for about a week
3. 3 **Bagging**Sacks of about 72-75 kg
4. 4 **Roadside**Bicycles, motorbikes and ox carts
5. 5 **City**Lorries to depots, then small retail bags
 Covered in [Muscles, wood, water and wind: energy before fossil fuelsEnergy](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/energy/energy-before-fossil-fuels/)

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/correlation/index.md)
- [How it works](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/explain/index.md)
- [Efficiency and losses](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/efficiency/index.md)
- [Technology advances](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/advances/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/valuechain/index.md)
- [Geopolitics and regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/geopolitics/index.md)
- [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/economics/index.md)
- [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/biosphere/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/links/index.md)