Environmental Impacts of Biomass Energy Sources in Rwanda

Abstract

Rwanda is adopting a new concept of using an alternative energy source as a cooking fuel, where more than the majority of the population live in a rural area and use wood for all heating needs. Biomass in the form of firewood and charcoal plays a significant part in Rwanda's economy. This accounted for 83 per cent of Rwanda's energy consumption in 2020. Biomass technology can be converted into fuel through some different processes, including solid fuel combustion, digestion, pyrolysis, fermentation and catalyzed reactions. With the government engaging in improving the health and protection of the environment, it becomes mandatory to look for alternative fuels not harmful or way to improve the methodology and the quality of stoves used in the country. In this study, the impacts of using biomass energy were assessed and mitigation measures were also proposed. The result shows that reducing reliance on unsustainable use of wood fuel and adds ongoing efforts in Rwanda to transition from the traditional use of biomass to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or other improved cooking technology for fuel in a sustainable way. Along with this, the use of biomass for fuel is having harmful effects through health impacts and emissions. The article fills an important gap on the energy literature on Rwanda, as it gives detailed info on the cooking sector.