Europe Turns to Firewood during Energy Crisis
2022-10-31
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1Europe's energy crisis has forced some people to turn to less costly heating sources such as firewood.
2But as demand increases, the public is facing rising prices, shortages and even reports of firewood theft.
3Foresters are using GPS devices to follow their logs while others fear the environmental impact of increased air pollution and tree cutting.
4In Moldova, Tudor Popescu splits firewood that will heat his home in the capital of Chisinau.
5As the nights turn colder, the load of firewood has been growing higher around him - his supplies for the coming winter.
6In the past, Popescu depended on natural gas for warmth in the mornings and firewood at night.
7But gas is now in short supply, following Russia's major cut to gas exports.
8Russian energy business Gazprom has threatened even more reductions.
9"I won't use gas anymore, so it's going to only be wood," Popescu said.
10"But what I have isn't enough."
11The demand for firewood in Europe is not limited to poorer nations like Moldova.
12Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic's state-owned forests are seeing much stronger demand for the limited amounts of firewood they sell as part of their sustainable forest programs.
13The German forestry service has reported getting requests for firewood from people who had never sought firewood before.
14The people seemed not to know that the firewood process takes two years.
15That is how long it takes to fully dry the wood so it will burn in wood stoves, said the forestry office in the southwestern state of Hesse.
16German forest rangers also report increased incidents of people gathering fallen wood in forests, often not knowing it is illegal.
17State forests in the Czech Republic also report increased demand for firewood.
18The government sells the wood for use at home, only.
19Officials say they have had to limit the amount of firewood sold to individuals.
20In Poland, demand for small firewood from state forests increased by 46 percent through the end of August from a year earlier.
21Larger firewood demand was up 42 percent.
22A spokesman for Poland's State Forests said, "small firewood is probably the cheapest heating material in the EU countries."
23He said theft of firewood is also on the rise.
24To prevent theft in Germany, the forestry department is experimenting with hiding GPS devices in logs.
25The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is the latest to try the technology.
26Foresters in neighboring Hesse have been using GPS devices since 2013 and say they have been able to solve several thefts that way.
27Austrian police recently warned people to watch for those claiming to sell firewood online.
28Police in Germany have issued similar alerts.
29Germany's statistics agency says prices for firewood and wood products used in home heating rose over 85 percent in August from a year earlier.
30Even so, heating with wood is still less costly than natural gas.
31Gas costs 20.9 cents per kilowatt hour of heat, while wood products cost 14.88 cents.
32In Britain, prices of firewood also are going up.
33Company Certainly Wood says it has seen "a massive increase in demand" even though the price is 15 to 20 percent higher than last year.
34In Denmark, the demand for wood-burning stoves is growing along with demand for firewood itself.
35The Danish sales site DBA said searches for wood-burning products have increased by over 1,300 percent in the past year.
36At the same time, government officials and environmentalists have warned Danes about the risk of burning firewood.
37The smoke produced can be dangerous and adds to pollution, they say, and the tree loss adds to climate change problems.
38I'm Caty Weaver.
1Europe's energy crisis has forced some people to turn to less costly heating sources such as firewood. 2But as demand increases, the public is facing rising prices, shortages and even reports of firewood theft. Foresters are using GPS devices to follow their logs while others fear the environmental impact of increased air pollution and tree cutting. 3In Moldova, Tudor Popescu splits firewood that will heat his home in the capital of Chisinau. As the nights turn colder, the load of firewood has been growing higher around him - his supplies for the coming winter. 4In the past, Popescu depended on natural gas for warmth in the mornings and firewood at night. But gas is now in short supply, following Russia's major cut to gas exports. 5Russian energy business Gazprom has threatened even more reductions. 6"I won't use gas anymore, so it's going to only be wood," Popescu said. "But what I have isn't enough." 7The demand for firewood in Europe is not limited to poorer nations like Moldova. Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic's state-owned forests are seeing much stronger demand for the limited amounts of firewood they sell as part of their sustainable forest programs. 8The German forestry service has reported getting requests for firewood from people who had never sought firewood before. The people seemed not to know that the firewood process takes two years. That is how long it takes to fully dry the wood so it will burn in wood stoves, said the forestry office in the southwestern state of Hesse. 9German forest rangers also report increased incidents of people gathering fallen wood in forests, often not knowing it is illegal. 10State forests in the Czech Republic also report increased demand for firewood. The government sells the wood for use at home, only. Officials say they have had to limit the amount of firewood sold to individuals. 11In Poland, demand for small firewood from state forests increased by 46 percent through the end of August from a year earlier. Larger firewood demand was up 42 percent. A spokesman for Poland's State Forests said, "small firewood is probably the cheapest heating material in the EU countries." He said theft of firewood is also on the rise. 12To prevent theft in Germany, the forestry department is experimenting with hiding GPS devices in logs. The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is the latest to try the technology. Foresters in neighboring Hesse have been using GPS devices since 2013 and say they have been able to solve several thefts that way. 13Austrian police recently warned people to watch for those claiming to sell firewood online. Police in Germany have issued similar alerts. 14Germany's statistics agency says prices for firewood and wood products used in home heating rose over 85 percent in August from a year earlier. Even so, heating with wood is still less costly than natural gas. Gas costs 20.9 cents per kilowatt hour of heat, while wood products cost 14.88 cents. 15In Britain, prices of firewood also are going up. Company Certainly Wood says it has seen "a massive increase in demand" even though the price is 15 to 20 percent higher than last year. 16In Denmark, the demand for wood-burning stoves is growing along with demand for firewood itself. The Danish sales site DBA said searches for wood-burning products have increased by over 1,300 percent in the past year. 17At the same time, government officials and environmentalists have warned Danes about the risk of burning firewood. The smoke produced can be dangerous and adds to pollution, they say, and the tree loss adds to climate change problems. 18I'm Caty Weaver. 19Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press. 20______________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22sustainable - adj. involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy resources 23ranger - n. a person in charge of managing public forests, parks 24statistics - n. numbers that represent specific information