[ti:Europe Turns to Firewood during Energy Crisis] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Europe's energy crisis has forced some people [00:04.88]to turn to less costly heating sources such as firewood. [00:11.56]But as demand increases, [00:14.48]the public is facing rising prices, shortages [00:19.16]and even reports of firewood theft. [00:24.04]Foresters are using GPS devices to follow their logs [00:30.16]while others fear the environmental impact [00:34.16]of increased air pollution and tree cutting. [00:39.04]In Moldova, Tudor Popescu splits firewood [00:43.72]that will heat his home in the capital of Chisinau. [00:49.12]As the nights turn colder, the load of firewood [00:53.24]has been growing higher around him [00:56.20]— his supplies for the coming winter. [00:59.76]In the past, Popescu depended on natural gas [01:04.28]for warmth in the mornings and firewood at night. [01:09.16]But gas is now in short supply, [01:12.12]following Russia's major cut to gas exports. [01:17.04]Russian energy business Gazprom [01:19.68]has threatened even more reductions. [01:23.36]"I won't use gas anymore, [01:25.40]so it's going to only be wood," Popescu said. [01:29.48]"But what I have isn't enough." [01:33.84]The demand for firewood in Europe [01:36.44]is not limited to poorer nations like Moldova. [01:40.68]Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic's state-owned forests [01:46.12]are seeing much stronger demand [01:48.64]for the limited amounts of firewood they sell [01:52.08]as part of their sustainable forest programs. [01:57.44]The German forestry service has reported getting requests for firewood [02:02.56]from people who had never sought firewood before. [02:07.08]The people seemed not to know [02:09.68]that the firewood process takes two years. [02:14.32]That is how long it takes to fully dry the wood [02:18.08]so it will burn in wood stoves, [02:21.12]said the forestry office in the southwestern state of Hesse. [02:26.96]German forest rangers also report increased incidents [02:31.40]of people gathering fallen wood in forests, [02:35.12]often not knowing it is illegal. [02:38.84]State forests in the Czech Republic [02:41.32]also report increased demand for firewood. [02:46.36]The government sells the wood for use at home, only. [02:52.96]Officials say they have had to limit the amount [02:56.56]of firewood sold to individuals. [03:00.88]In Poland, demand for small firewood from state forests [03:05.96]increased by 46 percent through the end of August from a year earlier. [03:13.32]Larger firewood demand was up 42 percent. [03:18.84]A spokesman for Poland's State Forests said, "small firewood [03:24.32]is probably the cheapest heating material in the EU countries." [03:31.04]He said theft of firewood is also on the rise. [03:36.64]To prevent theft in Germany, the forestry department [03:41.08]is experimenting with hiding GPS devices in logs. [03:46.88]The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia [03:50.00]is the latest to try the technology. [03:53.64]Foresters in neighboring Hesse have been using GPS devices [03:58.80]since 2013 and say they have been able to solve several thefts that way. [04:07.20]Austrian police recently warned people [04:10.60]to watch for those claiming to sell firewood online. [04:16.20]Police in Germany have issued similar alerts. [04:20.80]Germany's statistics agency says prices for firewood [04:25.92]and wood products used in home heating [04:29.28]rose over 85 percent in August from a year earlier. [04:35.88]Even so, heating with wood is still less costly than natural gas. [04:42.96]Gas costs 20.9 cents per kilowatt hour of heat, [04:48.40]while wood products cost 14.88 cents. [04:54.24]In Britain, prices of firewood also are going up. [04:59.56]Company Certainly Wood says it has seen [05:03.28]"a massive increase in demand" [05:06.04]even though the price is 15 to 20 percent higher than last year. [05:13.24]In Denmark, the demand for wood-burning stoves [05:16.92]is growing along with demand for firewood itself. [05:22.20]The Danish sales site DBA said searches for wood-burning products [05:28.32]have increased by over 1,300 percent in the past year. [05:36.32]At the same time, government officials and environmentalists [05:41.20]have warned Danes about the risk of burning firewood. [05:45.72]The smoke produced can be dangerous and adds to pollution, they say, [05:51.72]and the tree loss adds to climate change problems. [05:56.76]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM