Forest, Forestry and Energy in Mongolia toward Cleaner Production ^†

This review focuses on the current situation of energy resources and usage in Mongolia in order to reduce the air pollution problems that are caused by the heavy and inefficient utilization of coal, which for instance causes 80% of the air pollution in the capital of Mongolia, which could be reduced by shifting to cleaner energy sources, such as woody biomass. The forest of Mongolia is over-aged, poorly stocked at around 50% below its potential, the deadwood accumulation accounts for 46.5 m³ per hectare, and approximately 77% of the total harvested wood is firewood. Therefore, there is a potential to use the unused forest resources as an alternative energy source. As a result, small- to medium-scale biomass-powered power plants can be introduced based on the availability of the resources. Therefore, further studies on the availability of resources are essential for the successful utilization of the unused forest biomass.