# Firewood and charcoal supply: Overview

Head-loads, sacks and lorries that fuel everyday cooking

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

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](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59733-y), Nature Communications.

#### Key facts

| **Form** | Solid fuel |
|---|---|

#### Included from the reference tables

- Bags, bundles, head-loads

#### Also in Solid and nuclear fuels
[CT Coal transport](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/)[NFT Nuclear fuel transport](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/)

Explore paths from here
 More on this tile in the tabs above: how it works, efficiency and losses, technology advances, value chain, geopolitics and regulation, unit economics, impact on the biosphere.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/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)