[Stoves] forest in Armenia

[adkarve]

I read the message by Ken Goyer from Armenia. He writes that the forest cover in Armenia has dwindled from 25% of the toal land area to 8%, and that we must find an alternative for wood. In India, agricultural waste satisfies almost 60% of the domestic cooking energy demand, and by charring and briquetting dry leaves of sugarcane, stover of crops like mustard, leaf litter from plantation crops, etc., even some of the energy demand of the cities can be satisfied. Fallen tree leaves and conifer needles can be used as fuel in the sawdust burning stove. Wood is a renewable resource. One can plant new trees to replace those that have been felled. With fast growing trees like poplar, Eucalyptus, etc. it takes only 5 years to have a forest back on deforested land. If wood has become scarce, its price must have gone up. A high price is always an incentive for private enterprise to flourish. So why not encourage farmers to grow fuelwood trees in their land? I own a small piece of land. In anticipation of the energy scarcity, I have already started to grow woody plants like bamboo and some tropical fast growing trees. Instead of having a monoculture, I am growing these plants randomly mixed.
Yours truly, 
A.D.Karve