Sustainable fuelwood use in rural Mexico. Volume 1: Current patterns of resource use.

摘要

The present report summarizes the results of the first phase of a project of cooperation between the Mexican National Commission for Energy Conservation (CONAE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) on sustainable biofuel use in rural Mexico. This first phase has been devoted to (i) conducting an in-depth review of the status of fuelwood use in rural and peri-urban areas of Mexico, (ii) providing improved estimates of biomass energy use, (iii) assessing the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of fuelwood use, and (iv) identifying preliminary potential lines of action to improve the patterns of biomass energy use in Mexico; in particular, identifying those interventions that, by improving living conditions for rural inhabitants, can result in global benefits (such as the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions). A comprehensive review of the existing documentation of biofuel use in rural and peri-urban Mexico was conducted. Reports from official, academic, and non-governmental organizations were gathered and analyzed. A computerized rural energy database was created by re-processing a national rural energy survey. Because of the paucity of information about biofuel use in small rural industries, most of the analysis is devoted to the household sector.