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The Environment / Re: If we used wood for fuel, what % of our energy needs could this supply?
« on: 19/03/2024 21:58:49 »
The population of all the countries I listed totals about 100,000,000and they are probably the only ones where wood burning could be indefinitely sustainable as a source of all artificial energy.
You can estimate 10 MJ/kg as the available energy output from wood burning, about 25% of the energy density of diesel fuel. To sustain a reasonable Western lifestyle you need about 400 MJ per day, say15 tonnes of wood per year. My guess is that there is about 1011 tonnes of live wood on the planet, so you might harvest 5 x 109 tonnes per year with some hope of sustainablity.
There are 8 x 109 humans, so the demand is for 120 x 109 tonnes of wood per annum.
No chance. But with a bit of scraping and saving, you might just sustain one tenth of the present population at a recognisable (pre-industrial) standard of living by harvesting wood.
You can estimate 10 MJ/kg as the available energy output from wood burning, about 25% of the energy density of diesel fuel. To sustain a reasonable Western lifestyle you need about 400 MJ per day, say15 tonnes of wood per year. My guess is that there is about 1011 tonnes of live wood on the planet, so you might harvest 5 x 109 tonnes per year with some hope of sustainablity.
There are 8 x 109 humans, so the demand is for 120 x 109 tonnes of wood per annum.
No chance. But with a bit of scraping and saving, you might just sustain one tenth of the present population at a recognisable (pre-industrial) standard of living by harvesting wood.
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