Electric grid near Monrovia, transporting electricity from the Mount Coffee hydroelectric dam.
Photo Credit:

Page Resources

• Summary of economy data
• National Energy Sector White Paper
• USTDA on the Energy Sector in Liberia

Woodfuel: Household Energy Demand in Liberia

The area of Liberia is 112,000 square kilometres, more than half of which is covered by natural forest. At the end of 1982 the population was estimated to be about two million, with 35% classified as urban. The economy was divided into two significant and quite discrete sectors, an enclave sector consisting of mining, forestry and rubber concessions dominated by multinational companies, and a subsistence agriculture sector. The latter supported more than 60% of the population and all-agricultural activities employed close to 64% of the work force. Industry and the service sector employed about 7% and 14% of the work force.

Unemployment figures varies and can perhaps be as high as 30% in the urban areas. The enclave sectors were the main source of foreign exchange hence the global demand for Iron ore, and to a lesser extent rubber and timber, largely determined the economic performance of the modern sector. Thus, the massive supply of woodfuel and other minor forest products becomes a means of responding to these pressures from unemployment and household energy demand.

Woodfuel resources in Liberia 

Liberia has a forest cover of more than 80% of its landscape and in gross terms, the annual production of fuel quality bio-mass substantially exceeds demand. However, woodfuel demand is national particularly in the urban centres. Monrovia, which is gradually growing at the rate of 4 - 5 percent per year after the civil war, upsetting the previous growth rate of 5 - 6 percent per year between 1983 - 1993 as reported by the Energy Commission. In the urban sectors of the economy, mostly Monrovia and other sub-cities, charcoal dominates the household energy market and hence with higher efficiency of conversion from wood to charcoal. Similarly, in the hinterland, the demand for fuelwood (Firewood) has grown rapidly in response to the gradual growth of the population. This has been at the expense of the rainforest. Between 1983 and 1993, the Energy Commission estimated biomass fuel at 69% of final consumption of which was 8% of charcoal for the urban household market, and 61% for the rural consumption market. Although the population has decreased, the need for woodfuel in the household market is increasing rapidly in the absence of other sources of household energy supply such as kerosene, cooking gas and electricity, etc. This also has consequences on the costs attached to these commodities thus putting aggregate consumption at 94% in the household energy sector.

Economy Overview 

Here is a summary of economy data covering the period from 1999 to 2004, highlighting the economy, the production and consumption of electricity, import and exports in Liberia.   Current data, when compiled and concluded, will be made available.

Economy Overview and Energy Production 
Charcoal production 1994 - 1998
Firewood and charcoal production and supply are generally managed by a large number of Liberian smallholders and entrepreneurs. Despite the constraints of traditional technology and poor transport infrastructure, the market is supplied adequately and efficiently. The provision and supply of these commodities have become a major industry and commercial activities in most parts of the country, mostly the urban sector. Besides accommodating household energy needs, about 35 percent of former industrial workers and ex-combatants now residing in Liberia have engaged in charcoal production and trade as means of survival in the private sector. The role of government in woodfuels supply should therefore be in support of the private sector by providing incentives to use the most economic woodfuel resources and to upgrade the efficiency of conversion methods from wood to charcoal as it is practised in other African or third world countries.

For example, the carbonisation of retired rubber trees should be highly promoted as an integral part of the rehabilitation of the small holder rubber industry and the poor majority of the population who are unemployed, yet seeking employment. In addition, more efficient metal kilns and charcoal stoves offer some prospect of reducing pressure on the remaining closed native forests which are within reach of the major urban areas and should therefore be encouraged to be specific as it is done in Ghana.

Of the two major sources of charcoal production in Liberia (rubber trees and the rain forest) coal produced from the rubber tree comprises the higher volume of supply to Monrovia and most urban cities between 1983-1993. About 10-15% is believed to have come from the University forest plantation, and 20-25% from the nearby native mangrove and community forests in Montserrado county and surrounding areas. Recent estimates put us to about 60-70% between 1993-1996 due to inaccessibility of the tropical rain forest to charcoalers during the war. Today, for the reasons given above, one can really consider the carbonisation process to cover up about 80-90% and this may be more if the present trend of lack of electricity, high gas-oil prices and higher costs of kerosene continue in the consuming household market. However, the carbonisation of fuel-wood into charcoal is been distributed at sub-national level (county level) base upon some influential factors such as the level of security in the area concern, the level of demand, assets to alternative sources of household energy, and the accessibility to roads network etc.