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IRIS Tasmania  >  Infrastructure  >  Energy  >  Supply  >  Wood

Wood Supply

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Maps – Energy

Firewood is a valueable source of renewable energy. The most recent data on firewood useage was collected in 2001. A survey by Aurora Energy showed that 50% of homes were using wood as a primary heating source followed by electricity, gas and oil.

Across Australia, firewood is the third largest source of energy after electricity and gas, with Tasmania the greatest consumer of firewood. Australian Bureau of Statistics data indicates that, of the Tasmanian households that use firewood, 40% collect their own wood, mainly from private land, and 60% buy most of their wood from small collectors or suppliers. From 1999-2000 figures, Tasmanian housefholds consumed 610,000 air dried tonnes of firewood each year. With the inclusion of industrial fuel wood, the total is 770 air dried tonnes of wood burnt per year.

In 2000-01, the total recorded tonnage of industrial fuelwood used in Tasmania was 163,382 air dried tonnes. This amount only includes those industries required to submit data to the National Pollutant Inventory, so there is uncertainty about the actual use of wood fuel by industry,.

Most of the wood is sourced from native forests. The main firewood cutting regions in Tasmania are the East Coat, Central Highlands and the Midlands region.

Firewood harvesting was brought under the control of the Forest Practices Act 1985 in 2002. Prior to this much of the commercial wood industry was unregulated and this activity faced a number of sustainability issues. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 provides for the identification of key processes that may threaten the survival, abundance or evolutionary development of a native species.