Alternative energy

Saving wood and staying warm

How do you limit the amount of wood people need to keep warm?

To keep warm and cook their food the local people burn wood harvested from the forests. This has had a significant impact on the forests in the panda's habitat as an average household, living at an altitude of 2,000 metres can burn up to 10,000 cubic metres of firewood per year to keep warm.



You use wood saving stoves…

To reduce the amount of firewood that is consumed and at the same time ensure that families stay warm, WWF has been equipping many households with wood-saving stoves. View video

and biogas.

Many of the locals keep pigs. By collecting the pig’s manure as it falls through the floor boards of the sty, it can be turned into methane gas using a small reactor. The system is odour free and produces enough energy to cook three meals a day and keep the home warm for ten months of the year. WWF has implemented the project in several small villages in the Minshan region and it has been very successful. View video