The improvement of living standards in the rural areas of our country has the effect of increasing the energy demand meant for both household and agricultural processes. In Romania, the access to centralized thermal energy and fossil fuel (natural gas) distribution networks is limited to urban and adjacent areas. In these conditions, the main sources of energy in the rural areas are the forest fund (firewood). The uncontrolled exploitation of the forest fund as a thermal energy source as well as for industrial purposes (as a raw material in the timber industry) has led, in recent years, to its continuous degradation. Large quantities of waste (mainly sawdust) stored in inappropriate conditions, cause soil and water quality degradation. It is necessary on one hand to use new thermal energy generation sources in rural areas, and on the other hand, to use wood residues from forestry exploitation. The present paper evaluates the energy potential from wood residual products (mainly sawdust) ant the potential use as a thermal energy source for rural areas. This evaluation is meant to be a useful tool for rural areas inhabitants to increase the degree of utilization of potential energy sources witch are already available in these areas and to reduce the costs for thermal energy generation.

energy sources; wood waste; sawdust

Presentation: oral