[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:54:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","energy",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"global",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","0218e4ce02888100c943860d9355911d","Entry","2021-11-11T07:07:56.070Z","2023-11-27T09:10:56.333Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",61,12,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":56,"wrongPercentage":93,"name":94,"questionText":95,"statistics":96,"veryWrongStatistics":98,"correctSentence":100,"youWereWrong":101,"youWereRight":102,"dataSourceShortText":103,"dataSourceLinkLongText":104,"extendedAnswerText":105,"headingVeryWrong":106,"youWereVeryWrong":107,"headingWrong":106},"54",[38,59,76],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":54},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":29,"revision":50,"contentType":51,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"26b125855c0610d04d3bb51f3b76e537","2021-11-11T06:53:50.786Z","2023-10-11T08:24:50.038Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},6,{"sys":52},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":53},"answer",{"globalId":55,"correctAnswer":56,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":58},"54-a1",false,true,"Around 10%",{"metadata":60,"sys":63,"fields":73},{"tags":61,"concepts":62},[],[],{"space":64,"id":66,"type":21,"createdAt":67,"updatedAt":68,"environment":69,"publishedVersion":29,"revision":50,"contentType":71,"locale":34},{"sys":65},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"329025e402ca77ec7458166f35ae904a","2021-11-11T06:53:52.493Z","2023-10-11T08:24:49.995Z",{"sys":70},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":72},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":53},{"globalId":74,"correctAnswer":56,"isVeryWrong":56,"answerText":75},"54-a2","Around 25%",{"metadata":77,"sys":80,"fields":90},{"tags":78,"concepts":79},[],[],{"space":81,"id":83,"type":21,"createdAt":84,"updatedAt":85,"environment":86,"publishedVersion":29,"revision":50,"contentType":88,"locale":34},{"sys":82},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"de969b03039736823a7cc59c78d8a314","2021-11-11T06:53:54.134Z","2023-10-11T08:24:49.955Z",{"sys":87},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":89},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":53},{"globalId":91,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":56,"answerText":92},"54-a3","Around 40%",80,"Of all renewable energy used in the world today, w","Of all renewable energy used in the world today, what share comes from traditional burning of biomass like charcoal, wood and agricultural waste?",[97],"uk 0.80",[99],"uk 0.54","\nMost of our renewable energy today comes from traditional biofuel sources such as burning wood and agricultural waste materials.","When we hear renewable, we often think of wind and solar energy. We easily forget the most commonly used renewable: Burning wood and waste. ","They seem to think that renewable means only the wind and sun, while in fact a lot of renewable energy comes from burning fuels found around the home. "," Source: Renewables Global Status Report","\nMultiple sources indicate that traditional biofuels are in the range of 40% or more of all renewable energy. According to the RENEWABLES 2019 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT [2], 41% in 2016, with a steady falling trend up to then. We estimate it to be around 35-40% now, according to the most recent RENEWABLES GLOBAL STATUS REPORT from 2021 [1]. These estimates use extrapolations of trends published in IEA, World Energy Balances and Statistics, 2020 edition[6].\nTraditional biofuel use is more difficult to estimate than other fuel use, because it is largely firewood or other material gathered by households, and so it doesn’t enter markets where there are more records of how much is being used. \nNonetheless this data is the best estimate of traditional biofuel usage and is likely an underestimation of the actual use of traditional renewables, as suggested by Smil[3] who assumes the number for 2015 to be approximately 60%. We cross checked these numbers with eight experts in the field and the consensus confirmed our answer.\nIn addition to the traditional biofuels, the total renewable number here includes wind, solar, hydro and modern bioenergy.\n\n[1]  [RENEWABLES 2021 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT page 33, based on IEA](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ren21.net\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F05\u002FGSR2021_Full_Report.pdf)  \n[2]  [RENEWABLES 2019 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT page 31, based on OECD\u002FIEA](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ren21.net\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F05\u002Fgsr_2019_full_report_en.pdf)  \n[3]  [Vaclav Smil - Energy Transitions](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002FEnergy-Transitions-Global-National-Perspectives\u002Fdp\u002F144085324X)  \n[4]  [Graph Smil in science 2018](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sciencemag.org\u002Fnews\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fmeet-vaclav-smil-man-who-has-quietly-shaped-how-world-thinks-about-energy)  \n[5]  [WHO - fact sheet indoor air pollution](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.who.int\u002Fnews-room\u002Ffact-sheets\u002Fdetail\u002Fhousehold-air-pollution-and-health)  \n[6]  [OECD\u002FIEA, World Energy Balances and Statistics, 2020 edition](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.iea.org\u002Fdata-and-statistics\u002Fdata-products)\n","In many high-income countries we have moved away from the traditional way of heating and cooking, i.e. burning things collected outside in nature close to home. Instead, homes are heated in other ways that no longer include the hassle of finding the wood to burn or producing dangerous particles in the air when burned as the main energy source. We use the burning of wood for coziness and decoration, like having a fireplace in the living room to gather around. Therefore, it is easy to forget that the majority of people who have less resources still burn things they can cheaply (or freely) get for heating and cooking. We just never see this.\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nPeople hear renewable energy and immediately think of clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy. What we fail to realize is that most of the renewable energy used in the world today comes from the burning of wood and agricultural waste. This is likely because these traditional biofuels in high-income countries are now used out of comfort rather than necessity, with far more efficient cooking and heating sources now available to us.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nBurning of traditional fuels (such as wood) for cooking or heating can be damaging for our health, because of the dangerous particles released into the air. An estimated 2 million people  [die each year from indoor air pollution](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Findoor-air-pollution), of which renewable fuels such as wood and agricultural waste are significant contributors. \n\nIf we don't understand the size of the problem of burning fuels indoors, we are unlikely to see a need to tackle the problem.\n\n### Is renewable energy a modern energy?\nWe must realize that not everything that counts as renewable energy is modern energy, and that we are not only trying to transition away from unclean fossil fuels but also unclean renewable energy sources. \n\n### So why does burning biofuels count as renewable energy?\nIn theory, wood is a renewable source of energy as long as new trees grow to replace those that are used for fuel. Unfortunately, in practice that doesn’t always happen. If the forest doesn’t get enough time to grow back, then the wood was in fact not renewed. Such sustainable replanting practices are often not implemented in resource-poor areas. For this reason, other data sources on renewable energy (such as BP, IEA, AIE) have not counted traditional biofuels in their most recent figures. \n\n### Can I trust the data?\nYes. We cross-checked this estimate with three experts in the field who agreed it is a realistic estimate. But please note that traditional biofuel use is more difficult to estimate than other fuel use, because it is largely firewood or other material gathered by households, and so it doesn’t enter markets where there are more records of how much is being used. Nonetheless this data is the best estimate of traditional biofuel usage and is likely an underestimation.\n\n### Where can I learn more?\n[RENEWABLES 2021 GLOBAL STATUS REPORT](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ren21.net\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F05\u002FGSR2021_Full_Report.pdf)\n","Renewable often means fire","When we hear renewable, we often think of wind and solar energy. We easily forget the most commonly used renewable: Burning wood and waste."]