Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GREEN FORESEEN (Proposal title GREEce: modeliNg of the FOREst SEctor EcoNomy)
Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2020-06-30
The economic role of the forest sector in Greece is a rather neglected field of academic inquiry. Studies of the markets for Greek forest biofuels are few and far between. This reflects a general lack of investment in the forest sector of the country.
An example of this is that the country is still lacking a complete forest census. Meanwhile, the economic crisis that has plagued the country since 2008 has made matters worse, not only in terms of funds to study the sector but also in terms of environmental outcomes. For instance, as a result of the deteriorating economic situation over the past 15 years, many people have resorted to the use of fuelwood to satisfy their energy needs. This may seem like a good thing in light of the Renewables Directive's targets for renewable energy adoption. In reality, the switch to fuelwood has led to a widespread increase in illegal logging. Despite the numerous and frequent media reports, robust evidence of this is lacking. At the same time, the demand of forest biofuels has not been sufficiently documented, and certainly not in the context of the whole country. This is problematic, because without knowledge on the demand for such fuels, it is not possible to design and implement policies that address the energy needs of households in a sustainable manner.
In this context, the objectives of the GREEN FORESEEN project are to carry out a comprehensive study of the market for forest biofuels in Greece, and to assess the extend and nature of illegal logging activities in one part of the country, namely the prefecture of Thessaloniki.
An example of this is that the country is still lacking a complete forest census. Meanwhile, the economic crisis that has plagued the country since 2008 has made matters worse, not only in terms of funds to study the sector but also in terms of environmental outcomes. For instance, as a result of the deteriorating economic situation over the past 15 years, many people have resorted to the use of fuelwood to satisfy their energy needs. This may seem like a good thing in light of the Renewables Directive's targets for renewable energy adoption. In reality, the switch to fuelwood has led to a widespread increase in illegal logging. Despite the numerous and frequent media reports, robust evidence of this is lacking. At the same time, the demand of forest biofuels has not been sufficiently documented, and certainly not in the context of the whole country. This is problematic, because without knowledge on the demand for such fuels, it is not possible to design and implement policies that address the energy needs of households in a sustainable manner.
In this context, the objectives of the GREEN FORESEEN project are to carry out a comprehensive study of the market for forest biofuels in Greece, and to assess the extend and nature of illegal logging activities in one part of the country, namely the prefecture of Thessaloniki.
The project's work throughout it's lifespan has moved along the following axes:
1) Collection and analysis of micro-data from the Hellenic Statistical National Autority. In particular, the data come from the Household Budget Survey, covering a number of years, from 2004 to 2020. The data contain information on household consumption of energy, including the most frequently used forest solid fuels: fuelwood, pellets, olive kernel and briquets. They also include socioeconomic, demographic and housing data. The data coverage is the whole country by NUTS2 regions. Coupled with this, the project has collected winter-temperature data for the years 2004-2020 from the national meteorological service.
2) Collection and analysis of micro-data from a country-wide survey that was carried out in 2012 specifically on the energy consumption of Greek households.
3) The design and carrying out of a questionnaire survey covering the metropolitan area Thessaloniki, which is the second largest city in Greece, along with the rest the Thessaloniki prefecture, that includes many rural and semi-rural areas. The size of the survey sample was 970 households.The survey collected data in a much more detailed manner -especially with regard to the use of forest biofuels- than both the Household Budget Survey and the 2012 Energy survey.
In partcular it collected data on the energy consumption habits of the households, on their living conditions and socio-economics characteristics, as well as on their attitudes and believes about many environmental and social issues, amongst them the issue of illegal logging.
4) An exhaustive census of all the businesses trading forest biofuels in the prefecture of Thessaloniki and the design and carrying out of survey on a sample of these businesses. The survey collected information on the types and quantities of fuels sold, the way these businesses operate and the problems they face, as well as on the trader's views on the issue of illegal logging.
5) Carrying out interviews and collection of information from the three Forest Service departments of the prefecture of Thessaloniki about the nature and extent of the illegal logging phenomenon over the past decade.
Due to the fact that the project was carried out during the Covid pandemic, it has encountered a lot of difficulties and associated delays. As a result, it has not been possible to generate the full range of expected results. The attached figures convey an informative bird's eye view of the market for forest biofuels in the whole country.
1) Collection and analysis of micro-data from the Hellenic Statistical National Autority. In particular, the data come from the Household Budget Survey, covering a number of years, from 2004 to 2020. The data contain information on household consumption of energy, including the most frequently used forest solid fuels: fuelwood, pellets, olive kernel and briquets. They also include socioeconomic, demographic and housing data. The data coverage is the whole country by NUTS2 regions. Coupled with this, the project has collected winter-temperature data for the years 2004-2020 from the national meteorological service.
2) Collection and analysis of micro-data from a country-wide survey that was carried out in 2012 specifically on the energy consumption of Greek households.
3) The design and carrying out of a questionnaire survey covering the metropolitan area Thessaloniki, which is the second largest city in Greece, along with the rest the Thessaloniki prefecture, that includes many rural and semi-rural areas. The size of the survey sample was 970 households.The survey collected data in a much more detailed manner -especially with regard to the use of forest biofuels- than both the Household Budget Survey and the 2012 Energy survey.
In partcular it collected data on the energy consumption habits of the households, on their living conditions and socio-economics characteristics, as well as on their attitudes and believes about many environmental and social issues, amongst them the issue of illegal logging.
4) An exhaustive census of all the businesses trading forest biofuels in the prefecture of Thessaloniki and the design and carrying out of survey on a sample of these businesses. The survey collected information on the types and quantities of fuels sold, the way these businesses operate and the problems they face, as well as on the trader's views on the issue of illegal logging.
5) Carrying out interviews and collection of information from the three Forest Service departments of the prefecture of Thessaloniki about the nature and extent of the illegal logging phenomenon over the past decade.
Due to the fact that the project was carried out during the Covid pandemic, it has encountered a lot of difficulties and associated delays. As a result, it has not been possible to generate the full range of expected results. The attached figures convey an informative bird's eye view of the market for forest biofuels in the whole country.
The project's work has moved beyond the state of the art in the following ways:
1) It is the first work of its kind to study the demand for forest biofuels in the whole of Greece. Using a total sample of 64800 households from a period spanning 16 years, it far exceeds any other previous studies, which have much more limited geographical and temporal scope.
2) It is the first work that has designed a survey aiming to elicit information on all major forest biofuels used by households in one of the most populous regions in Greece.
3) It is the first time that the issue of illegal logging has been addressed in a substative way, through the means of collecting information from multiple stakeholders, such as households, biofuel traders and local authorities.
When fully realised, the findings of the project are expected to provide comprehensive insights into the landscape of forest biofuels in Greece by explaining the determinants of households' demand, factors affecting their trade and bottlenecks with regard to their sustainable uptake as well as to limiting illegal logging activities. All this wealth of information could be utilised by national and local authorities in order to ensure adequate, affordable, and sustainable supply of such renewable energy sources.
1) It is the first work of its kind to study the demand for forest biofuels in the whole of Greece. Using a total sample of 64800 households from a period spanning 16 years, it far exceeds any other previous studies, which have much more limited geographical and temporal scope.
2) It is the first work that has designed a survey aiming to elicit information on all major forest biofuels used by households in one of the most populous regions in Greece.
3) It is the first time that the issue of illegal logging has been addressed in a substative way, through the means of collecting information from multiple stakeholders, such as households, biofuel traders and local authorities.
When fully realised, the findings of the project are expected to provide comprehensive insights into the landscape of forest biofuels in Greece by explaining the determinants of households' demand, factors affecting their trade and bottlenecks with regard to their sustainable uptake as well as to limiting illegal logging activities. All this wealth of information could be utilised by national and local authorities in order to ensure adequate, affordable, and sustainable supply of such renewable energy sources.