An Assessment of Solid Biomass Consumption for Cooking and Heating Services and the Sustainability of Vegetation Resources of Northern Bauchi State, Nigeria

This study assessed the consumption of solid biomass for cooking and heating services and the sustainability of vegetation resources to meet the energy demand of Northern Bauchi State, Nigeria. This study adopted a mixed methods approach to address the research objectives. To achieve the objectives of the study mixed methods approach was adopted, integrating both the quantitative, qualitative and spatial analysis. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS Version 26 and Arch-GIS 10.3 in form of table and Maps. The study revealed that majority of the respondents (78.1%) were relying on wood fuel and charcoal for cooking and heating. The study further revealed that forest based resources were the major sources of the solid biomass and this has been one of the determinants of deforestation, degradation and fragmentation in the study area resulting to generally low vegetation index of 0.067-0.141 in the study area.In conclusion the study discovered enormous consumption of solid biomass for cooking and heating services is which being sourced from remnant of forest based resourceswhich resulted to a high pressure and threat to the sustainability of the existing vegetation resources. The study recommends for the need to replace the traditional way of cooking with advanced and high efficiency biomass cook stove. The study also shows the urgent need to protect and conserve the stressed vegetation and exploit alternative and sustainable energy sources cooking and heating.