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”
- Short Briefing on the JRC study “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.
- 2022 update of Trinomics subsidy report
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
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”
- Short Briefing, Main Findings of the JRC study “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
- Short overview of Paper Tiger report
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