Energy, Poverty and Climate Change

 I am sitting in Bogor, Indonesia in the Center for International Forestry Research Guest House. I have spent the day trying to listen to/translate (not effectively) presentations in Bahasa Indonesia, meeting with internationally recognized researchers, and attempting to understand an incredibly complex problem that I have been set to research for the remainder of the summer. This summer I will be spending 2 months on the island of Lombok trying to understand fuelwood consumption and use in order to mitigate deforestation and forest degradation, and therefore limit the amount of emissions that are produced from unsustainable use of the forest. Seems pretty simple right? Just get people to stop cutting down trees so that the forest can remain untouched. Wrong, very wrong.
 
For something that seemed so simple a couple months ago it has gotten so complex it is hard to wrap my mind around all the issues that are associated with fuelwood deforestation and forest degradation. However, I find this also really exciting because I enjoy my perspective to be challenged, and I think it will also help you start thinking about these issues in different ways as well. This is important because when I first entered the field of development everything seemed so straight forward, and I could not understand why it was so difficult to answer what seems to be simple questions. I realize that this is arrogant of me now that I am actually working on these issues, but it is important to be wrong so we can learn from it.

So here is the deal. I became interested in forest issues after attending the UN climate negotiations. I followed the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), and I found it incredible that 20% of greenhouse gas emissions came from the destruction of forests. Indonesia is the 3rd largest contributor to greenhouse gases in the world behind the United States and China. However, when you think of Indonesia you do not think of a quickly developing country, at least I don't. I found that 85% of the emissions from Indonesia came from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF). Essentially, most of the emissions are coming from the cutting and burning of the forest to convert to large plantations for oil palm, to gain pulp for paper, to harvest for timber in general, to use for general agriculture, and to collect fuelwood for the local people. Indonesia also has peatlands, which are areas where the soil contains over 45% of organic matter. This means the soils are literally on fire and can smoulder for days.

 This is an incredibly serious issue if you care about climate change, biodiversity, and health. Forests are incredibly important and burning them leads to respiratory issues and can even lead to the closure of airports internationally if the smoke gets bad enough where pilots can no longer see. There are a lot of other problems associated with this, but you get the idea.

On the island of Lombok (Lombok is located right next to Bali so you know where I am talking about)  most of the deforestation and degradation comes from tobacco companies that dry their tobacco using fuelwood. There is also some illegal logging and shipment of wood to Java. The other source of deforestation and forest degradation is fuelwood consumption by the local people to cook or produce goods like tofu or candy to sell in informal markets. So the goal of my research is to understand how people are using fuelwood and to make policy recommendations to encourage people to use alternative fuels (kerosene, agricultural residue, liquid propane gas, etc.). 

This is where things get difficult. Lombok is in one of the poorest regions in Indonesia and there is poverty throughout the island. People rely on the forests for their survival to cook and produce goods. They cannot afford to use other sources of energy and getting a certain energy source to people can be difficult if they do not have roads or transportation to access a market place. The transaction costs to switch fuels are high. Additionally, even if a certain fuel is offered for free whether they can use it to cook enough food on a small burner for their whole family, or prepare traditional foods with it is questionable. For example, in Mexico using a single burner that is used with propane tanks to make tortillas has been found to be inefficient and the tortillas do not taste as good so people still use fuelwood. Using fuelwood is in many cases not a matter of choice for the people of Lombok because the options to people are limited and they cannot be expensive. So simply telling people to switch or giving fuel to people for free for a short amount of time is not sustainable or feasible in most cases. Furthermore, if the fuels that are being suggested actually lead to more carbon emissions after being harvested, transported, and used it defeats the purpose of the project to begin with.

The research I am doing this summer will look at how much fuelwood is being used in Lombok, the markets of fuel, how people use fuel for cooking and the cultural significance of fuelwood, the opportunity costs of fuelwood, the transaction costs of switching to alternative energy sources, the effects of fuelwood collection on the ecosystem, and how governance can be improved to manage forest use. A bit more complicated then you were expecting, eh? It was for me. 

I am not telling you all of this so you can be impressed by the work I am doing. I am telling you this because I think it is really important for the world to understand the complexity of these issues, and to understand international development from a different lens. Before I got into this field I just remember focusing on the outcomes and the numbers associated with development projects. I think it is good to tell people about the inputs that need to be considered with development projects as well. It is not just about saving the rainforest, but it is about sustaining and improving the quality of life of people as well.

So this is just an introduction to what I am working on, and how I am thinking about my research project as I am just starting. I am excited to learn from the people that I meet and to have my preconceived ideas challenged as I work on this project further.

 

(If you want to read more and get a better sense of the issue I wrote a paper that outlines all of this in more detail, and you can click here to read it.)