Waste wood from the forest products industry such as bark, sawdust, board ends etc. are widely used for energy production. This industry, in many cases, is now a net exporter of electricity generated by the combustion of wastes. The size of the wood waste resource depends upon how much wood is harvested for lumber as well as pulp and paper. Finally, fuelwood can be grown in plantations like a crop. There are many different ways in which wood can be converted into useful energy.
Direct combustion is the most traditional use of fuelwood.
For thousands of years, wood has been burned to provide humans with heating, cooking and light. Appliances used for burning wood include open fires, metal stoves, and wood furnaces or boilers. In many countries, direct combustion of wood has also been used produce electricity in thermal power plants similar to small coal fired plants . Most recently, a Toronto firm has taken out a patent on a device which fits on top of a household wood stove, allowing the stove to generate electricity as well as providing heat. Burning biomass releases carbon dioxide, but if biomass is grown sustainably, the amount released is balanced by the amount of carbon dioxide taken in during photosynthesis.