Firewood and charcoal supply: Overview
Head-loads, sacks and lorries that fuel everyday cooking
What this tile covers Bags, bundles and head-loads of wood and charcoal, especially in rural areas. Share of use 4.3% share of world energy carried (2019)Share of world total energy supply (592 EJ in 2024, Energy Institute Statistical Review 2025, physical energy content) carried at least once by this mode; overlaps allowed, so shares do not add to 100 (calculated) World wood fuel removals were about 2,526 million m3 in 2019 (Nature Communications, 2025); at roughly 10 GJ per m3 (a standard conversion, not from the paper) that is about 25.3 EJ. Traditional biomass sits outside the Energy Institute's 592 EJ total, so this is a ratio to that total rather than a strict share. Source: Global wood fuel production estimates and implications, Nature Communications.
Key facts
| Form | Solid fuel |
Included from the reference tables
- Bags, bundles, head-loads
Also in Solid and nuclear fuels
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