Biomass fuels have been criticized for causing deforestation, land degradation and loss of biodiversity, but bamboo may offer a sustainable solution.

The website, Go For Wood, carries an article looking at the potential for bamboo in generating electricity in rural areas.

This can either be achieved on a small scale through gasification or on a larger scale through conventional combustion. Both options have proven successful in trial projects in India by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), where the initiatives “have also transformed local communities by creating new livelihood options,” says the article.

Bamboo has many advantages, including being fast growing, producing high yields and it can be continually harvested. Bamboo is also suitable for restoring degraded lands.

Bamboo’s potential in energy provision was the topic of a side event organized by the World Agroforestry Centre at the 12th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP12). See the article: Could bamboo be the bioenergy of the future?

Read the full story: Bamboo biomass: the bioenergy of the future?