Wood energy is the dominant source of energy for over 2 billion people, particularly in households in developing countries. Biofuels, especially fuelwood and charcoal, currently provide more than 14 percent of the world's total primary energy. Social and economic scenarios indicate a continuous growth of the demand for woodfuels that will continue for several decades.

In developing countries, the dependence on such fuels is much greater; they provide about one-third of the total energy in these countries, and as much as 80 percent of energy is derived from biofuels in some sub-regions of Africa. Wood and charcoal, the most commonly used wood-based fuels, are vital to the nutrition of poor rural and urban households in developing countries. In addition to being used for domestic cooking and heating, they are often essential in food processing industries for baking, brewing, smoking, curing and producing electricity.
In developed countries, wood energy (mainly for heat and power generation) is being increasingly used as an environmentally sound source of energy that provides a potential substitute for fossil fuels and has the ability to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The total production of wood in 2000 reached approximately 3 900 million CUM, of which 2 300 million cubic meters (CUM) was used for woodfuels. This means that approximately 60 percent of the world's total wood removals from forests and trees outside forests are used for energy purposes. In other words, energy is the main application of woody biomass from forests and trees outside forests.
FAO's programme on wood energy is designed to promote sustainable wood energy systems (SWES) as a contribution to sustainable forest management (SFM), livelihoods and food security. The programme strives to:
– strengthen the institutional capacity of member countries, stakeholders and partners for the adoption of sound wood energy policies and the implementation of cost-effective projects;
– develop, promote and monitor innovative initiatives for wood energy systems implemented by relevant stakeholders;
– reduce poverty and improve food security, with particular attention to women and children, through the promotion of more accessible and affordable woodfuels, and the reduction of indoor air pollution;
– mitigate climate change through the utilization of wood energy as an environmentally friendly source of energy.