Picture the final court room scene. The accused has blared his innocence throughout the hearing. All arguments have been heard, and it’s time for judgement. The gallery sits anxiously awaiting the judge’s final decision. Suddenly, there’s a knock on the courtroom door, and person strides confidently to the prosecutor’s desk. Quiet whispers are heard. And suddenly it’s game over for the defendant. His defence is not true. A photograph has been found.
The bioenergy industry claims they only use ‘waste wood’ and ‘mill residues’ to make wood pellets burned in EU power plants. Or, they claim they’re only using leftovers from forestry operations, little scrap of branches and tree tops that would simply decompose on the forest floor. So why not burn them instead? No harm done. They’re not burning trees – just scraps! It all sounds so benign, as if it’s actually beneficial. Why not use waste wood to generate electricity? It’s all so reasonable!
Except there’s the photograph. The one that shows it isn’t true.
In the Netherlands, the website of this wood pellet company claims they source their wood from ‘wood shavings.’
But this truck was caught by the Google street view car entering the site of this company’s pellet factory. The truck is not transporting “wood shavings” – it’s carrying logs. Big ones, too.
The bioenergy industry can say what it wants to say. But the Google Street View car doesn’t lie.
Image: © 2020 Google