The following selected references concern forest biomass in the Renewable Energy Directive.  

 

Policy resources

Media

Recent media stories related to forest biomass in the Renewable Energy Directive

 

NGO position statements

Multi-NGO Position Statement on Biomass for the Trilogue, November, 2022

NGO feedback on Swedish Presidency’s non-paper on bioenergy sustainability, January 2023

Open letter to Policymakers from scientists and NGOs, February, 2023

Letter to Policymakers from 115 US and Canadian NGOs, February, 2023: For how long will you keep destroying our forests for fuel?

Letter from health organizations asking policymakers to take wood-burning out of the RED

Global NGOs Biomass Delusion statement, 2017

WeMove petition endorsed by 100+ NGOs to stop counting forest biomass as “renewable energy”

 

Wood industry warnings

Complilation of warnings from wood products manufacturers – stop promoting and subsidizing forest biomass use for fuel

 

Factsheets and explainers

Debunking misleading claims in the “Joint Letter on Bioenergy” from 10 member states, January 2023

Explainer: Burning wood emits more CO2 per unit energy than burning fossil fuels

Burning salvaged wood should not count as renewable energy: Evidence from the JRC

Explainer: Replacing just 10% of Russian fossil fuels with wood will obliterate even more forests

Explainer: How to lose the forest carbon sink while harvesting “sustainably”/why sustainable biomass is not carbon neutral

Explainer: Forget what you think you know about fast-growing small trees – big trees are hugely important for mitigating climate change

Explainer: The RED’s GHG criteria for biomass are too weak – the wood pellet industry already meets these supposedly progressive standards.

Nine Points on Biomass in the RED – taking on common misperceptions

One-pager Burning forest biomass undermines climate, health, and nature goals

One-pager: For the sake of people, nature, and the climate, it’s time to take forest biomass out of the Renewable Energy Directive (land carbon sink emphasis)

Explainer: It’s time to transfer billions in biomass subsidies to heat pumps and solar

FDA position paper: How to reform EU biomass policy to achieve forest and climate restoration (February, 2021)

Fern investigation into biomass use by EPH: A carbon bomb in the heart of Europe

 

Rebutting misleading claims

Rebuttal of misleading claims in the “Joint Letter on Bioenergy” from 10 member states, January 2023

Euractiv: NGO response to forest industry 500 signatory letter, November 2022

Letter: 550 scientists respond to forest industry 500 signatory letter, January 2023

Markup, rebuttal of misleading claims about biomass from Eurlectric, winter 2022/2023

Markup, rebuttal of misleading claims from Joint Forest Owners and Managers, winter 2022/2023

 

Warnings of advisory groups

Joint Research Centre

Annotated version of Joint Research Centre 2021 report, “The use of woody biomass for energy production in the EU”

European Commission staff

European Commission. 2016. Impact Assessment: Sustainability of Bioenergy. Includes statements acknowledging burning biomass increases emissions compared to fossil fuels.

European Academies Science Advisory Council

Letter to EC President Juncker from EASAC warning of biomass emissions impacts

Norton, Michael, et al. 2019. “Serious mismatches continue between science and policy in forest bioenergy.”

 

Biomass subsidies

Stashwick, S. (2019). Burnout: E.U. clean energy subsidies lead to forest destruction, Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington DC.

Visual resources

Photos and videos

FDA YouTube Channel: Webinars, statements from policymakers, NGOs, Peter Wohlleben, etc.

Forest Defenders Alliance biomass photo library by member state – what’s being burned, how forests look post-harvest

Energy wood terminal photos from Finland, February, 2023 (thanks to “Don’t Burn Our Future” campaign)

BBC documentary, “The Green Energy Scandal Exposed” – on Drax logging primary forests in Canada for wood pellets

Short film on logging Romanian old growth forests for wood pellets

Important compilation of various films on bioenergy impacts (complied by EDSP)

Film: “Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?” – half-hour version of award-winning film on wood pellet and biomass industries. (Marlboro Productions)

 

Humor and art

Biomass fairy tale cartoons

The Pied Pieper of the Trilogue

 

Key reports & evidence

Biomass use in the EU

Burning up the carbon sink:  how logging for biomass is undermining the EU’s climate efforts

Future on Fire The EU increasingly burns logs, not just “residues,” for energy

Annotated version of the Joint Research Centre 2021 report, “The use of woody biomass for energy production in the EU”

Photos of logging sites, logs used as biomass

Videos of log yards at biomass plants

Explainer: Replacing just 10% of Russian fossil fuels with wood will obliterate even more forests

 

Why sustainability criteria fail

Paper Tiger report on why the RED II biomass “sustainability’ criteria fail forests and the climate

The myth of “sustainable” biomass – Why harvesting “sustainably” still degrades the forest carbon sink

Explainer: The RED’s GHG criteria for biomass are too weak. The wood pellet industry already meets these supposedly progressive standards.

One-pager: data on the low efficiency of burning biomass for energy in the EU

 

Air quality and CO2 impacts

One-pager on the role of biomass in contributing to the EU’s air pollution

Letter from health organizations asking policymakers to take wood-burning out of the RED

Explainer: Why biomass emits more CO2 than coal

Explainer: CO2 from burning biomass exceeded emissions from EU forest fires in summer 2022

 

Forest impacts

Explainer (slides) on loss of the forest carbon sink in Finland and Estonia

Videos on logging forests for wood pellets in British Columbia – Evidence and Explainer

 

Technical resources

Biomass use in member states

Camia, A., et al. 2018. Biomass production, supply, uses and flows in the European Union. Ispra, Italy: Joint Research Centre.

 

Global wood pellet trade

Wood pellet and bioenergy threat map (Environmental Paper Network)

Bioenergy Europe. Pellet statistical report 2019. Brussels.

Conversion factor of 2.2 units roundwood per unit pellets: Forisk Consulting LLC. 2014. Revisiting Wood-Use Conversions and Projections For Bioenergy Projects

 

Forest impacts

Southeast USA

Logging for pellets and forest destruction (Dogwood Alliance, SELC, and NRDC)

 

Canada

Old-growth inland rainforest being harvested for wood pellets
Canada’s National Observer. B.C. says firms can chip down whole trees for pellet fuel if they are ‘inferior.’

Simmons, Matt. 2020. “B.C. gives Pacific BioEnergy green light to log rare inland rainforest for wood pellets.” The Narwhal, October 9, 2020.

BBC documentary, “The Green Energy Scandal Exposed” – on Drax logging primary forests in Canada for wood pellets

 

Europe

Fiona Harvey. “Europe losing forest to harvesting at alarming rate, data suggests.” The Guardian, July 1, 2020.

Ceccherini, Guido, et al. 2020. “Abrupt increase in harvested forest area over Europe after 2015.”  Nature 583 (7814):72-77.

 

GHG emissions

Explainer: Burning wood emits more CO2 per unit energy than burning fossil fuels

 

Net CO2 emissions from bioamss exceed fossil fuel emissions for decades to centuries
Laganière, Jérôme, et al. 2017. “Range and uncertainties in estimating delays in greenhouse gas mitigation potential of forest bioenergy sourced from Canadian forests.”  GCB Bioenergy 9 (2):358-369. At: . Interactive online model

Brack, Duncan. 2017. Woody biomass for power and heat: Impacts on the global climate. London: Chatham House.

Centuries-long carbon debts from biomass harvesting in EU forests
Holtsmark, Bjart. 2012. “Harvesting in boreal forests and the biofuel carbon debt.”  Climatic Change 112:415-428.

Emissions impacts from burning forestry residues
Achat, D. L., et al. 2015. “Quantifying consequences of removing harvesting residues on forest soils and tree growth – A meta-analysis.” Forest Ecology and Management 348 (Supplement C):124-141.

Repo, Anna, et al. 2011. “Indirect carbon dioxide emissions from producing bioenergy from forest harvest residues.”  GCB Bioenergy 3 (2):107-115.

Booth, Mary S. 2018. “Not carbon neutral: Assessing the net emissions impact of residues burned for bioenergy.”  Environmental Research Letters 13 (3):035001.

Soil carbon loss from removal of forestry residues for fuel
Achat, David L., et al. 2015. “Forest soil carbon is threatened by intensive biomass harvesting.” Scientific Reports 5:15991.

Hamburg, Steven P., et al. 2019. “Losses of mineral soil carbon largely offset biomass accumulation 15 years after whole-tree harvest in a northern hardwood forest.” Biogeochemistry 144 (1):1-14.

“Lifecycle” fossil fuel emissions associated with biomass manufacture and transport

Explainer: The RED’s GHG criteria for biomass are too weak. The wood pellet industry already meets these supposedly progressive standards.

UK policy limiting eligibility of biomass for subsidies based on fossil lifecycle emissions

 

Debunking equivalence of “sustainability” with “carbon neutrality”

Ter-Mikaelian, Michael T., et al. 2015. “The Burning Question: Does Forest Bioenergy Reduce Carbon Emissions? A Review of Common Misconceptions about Forest Carbon Accounting.”  Journal of Forestry 113 (1):57-68.

Explainer: How to lose the forest carbon sink while harvesting “sustainably”/why sustainable biomass is not carbon neutral

 

Misrepresentations by the biomass and wood pellet industries

Booth, Mary S. 2016. Carbon Emissions and Climate Change Disclosure by the Wood Pellet Industry – A Report to the SEC on Enviva Partners LP. Pelham, MA: Partnership for Policy Integrity.

Air pollution

Household air pollution impacts

Deaths from air pollution by country, 2016. World Health Organization.

Lee, Kuan Ken, et al. 2020. “Adverse health effects associated with household air pollution: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and burden estimation study.”  The Lancet Global Health 8 (11):e1427-e1434.

Carvalho, H. 2019. Air pollution-related deaths in Europe – time for action. Journal of Global Health 9(2):020308.

European Environment Agency. 2019. Air quality in Europe – 2019 report. EEA Report No 10/2019. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2019.

Fern, 2018. Covered in Smoke: Why burning biomass threatens European health.

 

Other reference databases

Fern biomass issue library

Biofuelwatch biomass library

Economy, Land & Climate Insight: Forest Bioenergy – Key Research

EDSP library of articles (emphasis on Netherlands), videos, and references

Environmental Paper Network database of resources on bioenergy and forests