Australia says woody biomass isn’t a renewable vitality

Worldwide controversy on whether or not or not woody biomass must be labeled as a renewable vitality supply is raging. On December 15, Australia reversed woody biomass’s renewable classification, the primary main financial system to take action.

Biomass refers to any type of natural animal or plant materials. Woody biomass is a subset comprised of residues and leftovers of the wooden processing business and of forest administration. This consists of broken bushes, low-value bushes, insect-infested or diseased branches and small-diameter woody materials. All this waste sounds promising. Would possibly as properly burn it for vitality, proper?

Associated: The potential of microalgae biomass as a renewable useful resource

The issue is that burning biomass releases extra carbon dioxide emissions per vitality unit produced than coal. And it takes a long time for that CO2 to be reabsorbed by new substitute bushes.

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Most international locations are nonetheless ignoring this inconvenient analysis. However now that Australia has determined that woody biomass burned to provide vitality can’t be labeled as a renewable vitality supply, it’s just a little awkward that different international locations think about it renewable.

Chris Bowen, Australia’s minister of local weather change and vitality, acknowledged that burning native forest biomass can’t assist Australia meet its renewable vitality goal, and the electrical energy it generates can’t be used to create tradable large-scale era certificates.

“We now have listened to the neighborhood and acted to deal with their considerations,” Bowen mentioned in a press release.

In the meantime, forested nations like Canada, Vietnam, the U.S. and components of Japanese Europe are planning a harvest adopted by an enormous effort to make wooden pellets. They’ll provide as a renewable  vitality supply to biomass-fired energy crops in Japan, South Korea, the U.Okay. and the EU, amongst different locations. Within the EU, forest advocates are nonetheless combating for a reversal on the renewable classification for woody biomass, and to finish authorities subsidies to the multi-billion greenback wooden pellet business.

Will probably be fascinating to see what occurs subsequent. Because the world’s thirteenth largest financial system, Australia is a serious participant.

“This can be a large win for the neighborhood, who need the electrical energy sector decarbonized as rapidly as doable and don’t wish to see native forests logged to allow coal-fired turbines to change to burning forests as a substitute of coal,” mentioned Bob Debus, chairman of Wilderness Australia, in a press release.

By way of Mongabay, College of California Agriculture and Pure Sources

Lead picture by way of Pexels