[Stoves] Minimum Biomass requipment

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Friends

In his book "China's Environmental Crisis" (Sharpe Inc 1993) Vaclav Smil
wrote, "The annual harvest of fuelwood prorates at 3 Kg of duel a day per
household, while the survey shows that 11 Kg of woody matter a day is the
existential minimum." (p.64)

As always, I caution that there is probably a technology level in mind when
making such statements.  However the remark provokes the question, "How much
biomass does a rural family need to burn per day, were modern stoves as
defined on this discussion list to be used?"

It is clear that people are using a lot of non-woody biomass (crop residues)
to meet their cooking and heating needs.  I feel there are not enough stoves
around that will burn it effectively.

Comments?

Thanks
Crispin