above-ground biomass and fuel value index of selected tree species for fuelwood production in ethiopia

The present work investigates the appropriate tree species for biomass energy utilization by determining the trees' dry biomass and fuel value index, taking into account that the developing countries rely heavily on the fuelwood for energy consumption. in ethiopia, biomass currently meets more than 89.5% of the total energy consumption. despite this reliance on biomass, there is a scarcity of fuelwood as well as data on the dry biomass potential and fuel value indices of the tree species utilized in various parts of the country. this work is carried out on the selection of trees for fuelwood purposes based on their dry biomass potential and fuel quality characteristics. five highly performed eucalyptus tree species are selected, and the above-ground biomass is measured using the destructive approach, whereas the fuel value index is computed using an effective method with four parameters (calorific value, wood density, ash content, and moisture content). these parameters are determined following the american society for testing and materials method. finally, the above-ground biomass and carbon content vary from 13.96 kg to 87.47 kg and from 6.03 kg to 37.86 kg tree^-1, respectively. the biomass and carbon content of e. globulus and e. viminalis are both high. the maximum fuel value index is 276.34 for e. saligna. the computed fuel characteristics are statistically varied among the tree species at p ≤ 0.0001. based on the tree fuel characteristics findings, e. globulus, e. viminalis, and e. saligna are identified as the best fuelwood species, and are suggested for future plantations.