Wood pellets: Renewable, but not carbon neutral
Turning forests into fuel comes at an environmental cost
A return to firewood is bad for forests and the climate. So reports William Schlesinger, President Emeritus of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in an Insights article published today in the journal Science.
In the race to meet clean energy standards, biomass energy is often touted as carbon neutral. To satisfy European Union (EU) demand, forests in the United States are turned into wood pellets and shipped overseas, to the tune of 7 million metric tons annually. When these pellets are burned in the EU, the electricity they generate helps fulfill Paris Agreement commitments.
The stage is also being set for a potential uptick in biomass energy in the US, as Congress may declare biomass carbon neutral in an effort to revive the American forest product industry. A tax on fossil carbon would further incentivize US demand for wood pellets.
But turning forests into fuel has hard limitations. Accounting for biomass energy often ignores the critical role forests play as a sink for carbon dioxide that might otherwise accumulate in the atmosphere. As Schlesinger reports, each year, an estimated 31% of the carbon dioxide emitted from human activities is stored in forests.
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