Here We Go Again Recent criticism of the biomass industry doesn’t add up once you look at the facts. wo steps forward, one step back. As the biomass sector continues to move forward as an important tool in the fight against climate change, there have been recent attacks that biomass is “dirtier than coal,” an argument most thought behind us. Recently in the U.K., government plans to subsi-dize wood-fired power sta-tions have drawn the ire of environmental groups such as Greenpeace that say pow-er stations that burn trees can be more damaging to the environment than coal-fired generating plants and lead to carbon debt. Response from the in-dustry has been swift and emphatic. With input from the Wood Pellet Association of Canada and the BC Bioenergy Network, the European Biomass Association (AEBI-OM) issued a statement regarding the sus-tainability and carbon neutrality of biomass. “Choosing fossil fuels over biomass does irreversible damage to our climate and limits society’s opportunities to switch to renewable energy. Leaving unmanaged forests, however, is a poor option as it would deepen the carbon debt created by prolonged burning of fossil fuels.” Paul Thompson, head of policy at the Renewable Energy Association (REA) in the U.K., which is part of the “Back Biomass” campaign, told the media that even when the biomass supply chain is factored in, its carbon footprint is dwarfed by that of coal, something the government is well aware of. That is why as part of its 2011 Renewables Obligation Banding Review, Britain’s gov-ernment suggested biomass energy could contribute up to 21% of its renewable en-ergy goals by 2020. BIOMASS CANADIAN Volume 5 No. 6 Editor -John Tenpenny (905) 713-4351 [email protected] Associate Editor -Andrew Macklin (519) 429-5181 [email protected] Editorial Director/Group Publisher -Scott Jamieson (519) 429-3966 ext 244 [email protected] Contributors -Monica Bailey, Robin Brunet, Gerald Kutney, Gordon Murray, Dr. Chuck Ray Market Production Manager Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] National Sales Manager Ross Anderson Ph: (519) 429-5188 Fax: (519) 429-3094 [email protected] Quebec Sales Josée Crevier Ph: (514) 425-0025 Fax: (514) 425-0068 [email protected] Western Sales Manager Tim Shaddick [email protected] Ph: (604) 264-1158 Fax: (604) 264-1367 Media Designer -Emily Sun Canadian Biomass is published six times a year: February, April, June, August, October, and December. Published and printed by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. Printed in Canada ISSN 2290-3097 Circulation Carol Nixon e-mail: [email protected] P.O. Box 51058 Pincourt, QC J7V 9T3 Subscription Rates: Canada -1 Yr $49.50; 2 Yr $87.50; 3 Yr $118.50 Single Copy -$9.00 (Canadian prices do not include applicable taxes) USA – 1 Yr $60 US; Foreign – 1 Yr $77 US Occasionally, Canadian Biomass magazine will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above.. No part of the editorial content of this publica-tion may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission ©2012 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca T He also argued that it’s wrong to claim that biomass leads to “carbon debt.” “With sustainable forestry and the use of a mixture of biomass sources, carbon debt can be avoided altogether. Many forests around the world are actually in carbon credit as a result of better management linked to bio-mass energy use.” Greenhouse gas emis-sions regulations are also playing a role at home in providing Canadian pel-let producers an opportu-nity to grow the domestic market by supplying coal power plants, which have to meet new emissions reg-ulations, starting in 2015. According to Dr. Chuck Ray, an associate professor of wood operations at Penn State University, the rhetoric the biomass industry is hearing from NGOs might sound familiar. In this issue’s Final Thoughts column (page 30), Ray argues that misleading in-formation about sustainable forestry, bio-energy and how the carbon cycle works is, unfortunately, all too prevalent. “In fact, the use of misleading “carbon deficit” accounting seems to be just the latest angle at stopping forest harvesting, period. Just like “clearcutting” in the 1980s and “endangered species” in the ’90s, “car-bon deficits” is the cause célèbre for those who would like to see a day when no for-est tree is ever cut down. But this too will pass, and in the end, we’ll benefit from the knowledge gained by further, more bal-anced research into the workings of forest ecosystems and the carbon cycle.” • John Tenpenny, Editor [email protected] 4 Canadian BIOMASS @CanadianBiomass
Canadian Biomass November/December 2012: Page 4
