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© iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry IntroductionBiomass fuels contribute to the largest share of the energy uses in Bangladesh. Currently, biomass is the fourth largest source of energy which supplies 15% of the energy use in the world (Sudha & Ravindranath 1998). Only in the developing countries, traditional biomass fuels meet a large percentage (38%) of the total energy needs (Sudha et al. 2003). In some countries like Bangladesh, its use is as so high as 75-90%, mainly used for cooking and heating (Sudha et al. 2003). Woody and non-woody biomass in the form of fuelwood, crop residues and cowdung dominates as the energy source in the low income country. Rural households are the major consumer in this respect.About 77% of the populations in Bangladesh live in the rural areas and they need energy for their domestic use like cooking, crop processing, lighting, agricultural industries, social welfare and commercial activities (BBS 2006). Because of over exploitation of natural and homestead forests, fuel shortage intensity is being increased day by day. In Bangladesh, biomass plays an important role, especially in the rural areas, where most of the people live. The overuse of fuelwood is significantly sharing the deforestation process. In addition to this, there is an increased use of crop residues and cowdung as fuel which is depriving the agricultural soil of valuable nutrients and organic matter. However, the fuel choice by the households is influenced by the income, family size, educational status and the occupation of the household members (Rao & Reddy 2007). Sarker & Islam (1998) studied the household biomass fuel energy situation in the poor forest regions of Bangladesh. Miah et al. (2003) studied the biomass fuel use by the rural households in Chittagong region, Bangladesh. Jashimuddin et al. (2006) investigated the preference and consumption pattern of biomass fuel in some disregarded villages of Bangladesh. Akhter et al. (1999) studied the homestead biomass fuel energy situation of a forest rich district, Cox's Bazar. Rao & Reddy (2007) studied the variations of energy use by Indian households. Wijayatunga & Attalage (2002) analyzed the household cooking energy demand and its environmental impact in Sri Lanka. Xiaohua & Zhenming (1996) carried out a survey of rural household energy consumption in China.To know the biomass consumption and expenditure pattern in the rural households, no study was so far found in the Meghna floodplain zone of Bangladesh. Thus, the study was conducted to understand the biomass fuel consumption and its expenditure by the rural households in the specified geographical location. The findings of the study are expected to contribute to the sustainable energy development in Bangladesh. Methodology Study areaThe study was conducted at Raipura Upazila (local government unit under a district in Bangladesh) of Narsingdi district ( Fig. 1 Rural households in the developing countries constitute the largest share of the biomass fuel consumption. It is also a major source of energy in...

Communications research scholars, political scientists, and policy analysts have significantly recognized the role of news media in reporting and portraying public issues. Nowadays, climate change is an important global environmental concern for the world communities. Study on the media coverage of climate-change issues is vitally important to know the present situation of both the global and regional climate, as well as to assess the causes, mitigation and adaptation techniques, and its adverse impacts. This study demonstrates the coverage of newspapers in Bangladesh on climate change from May 2006 through June 2009 for the three most popular newspapers of Bangladesh, namely The Prothom Alo, The Daily Ittefaq, and The Daily Star. Natural disasters was the major climatechange issue that received the most coverage, along with agriculture, biodiversity, global warming, climate change, crime, water scarcity, food scarcity, politics, wetlands, tourisms, rivers, forestry and miscellaneous issues. Local communication concerned with climate-change issues was given preference in the coverage by the newspapers throughout the study period. The study will be useful for awareness-program formulation on climate-change mitigation and adaptation in Bangladesh.

Use of biomass fuel in traditional cooking stove (TCS) is the long-established practice that exhibits incomplete combustion and generates substances with global warming potential (GWP). Improved cooking stove (ICS) has been developed worldwide as an alternative household fuel burning device, a climate change mitigation strategy as well. A study was conducted in the female Forest User Groups (FUGs) of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh to assess the status of ICS disseminated by the Forest Department (FD) under Nishorgo Support Project along with the community's biomass fuel consumption pattern. Consumption of wood fuel was highest (345 kg month-1 household-1) followed by agricultural residues (60 kg month-1 household-1), tree-leaves (51 kg month-1 household-1) and cow-dung (25 kg month-1 household-1). Neighboring forest of the sanctuary was revealed as the core source for wood fuel with little or no reduction in the extraction even after joining the FUG. Twenty two species, both indigenous and introduced, were found in preference for wood fuel by the community.None of the respondents were found willing to use ICS although 43% of them owned it; either as the status symbol or to meet the condition of the FD to continue membership in FUG. Seven negative features of the disseminated ICS were identified by the households that made them unwilling to use it further. Manufacturing faults may be responsible for the ICS's demerits and FD's negligence was liable to the failure of convincing the community. A proper examination of the disseminated ICS's efficacy is crucial with active involvement of the community members. The Sustainable Energy Triangle Strategy (SETS) could be implemented for this purpose. Findings of the study would be of immense importance in designing the strategy for the introduction of ICS in Bangladesh.

Energy planning is an important task for every nation. Understanding the energy preferences of households influences a major part of energy planning and policy. In the preference system, socio-economic driving forces act critically, dictating energy use. Thus, the present study was undertaken to understand the socio-economic driving forces for energy preferences in developing countries, considering the Energy Ladder and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Results show that biomass still plays a vital role in meeting energy demand in many regions of developing countries, and household income is the most common factor in energy preference. However, the macro-economic condition is the primary driving force. With this understanding, the study argues that Bangladesh is still in the first half of the inverted U-shaped EKC for energy use at household level, and also confirms that the Energy Ladder is true at the second stage of the EKC in Bangladesh. Finally, the study suggests that alternative shorter paths in the EKC for energy use should be developed in Bangladesh. The study will be important for energy policy and planning in Bangladesh.