Despite the global economic recession, wood energy production
and consumption remains the most important source of renewable
heat in the UNECE region and it is expected to continue its
growth in the coming future. According to the UNECE/FAO 2009
Joint Wood Energy Enquiry, wood biomass increased by 4% in
energy consumption between 2007 and 2009 in the UNECE region.
This trend is expected to continue or even accelerate as many
European governments are setting up policies to promote wood
energy as part of their plans to meet the EU ambitious target of
20% of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. These
policies aim not only at mitigating climate change, but also at
increasing energy security by promoting alternatives to imported
and increasingly costly fossil fuels. Wood is indeed the oldest
source of energy, but only recently it has gained new attention
and has become increasingly important. In fact, for a while,
wood has been considered a cheap and time consuming type of
fuel. Traditional wood ener