Deforestation to save the planet? Europe’s forests are shrinking as wood is used for ‘green’ energy – Is growth possible?
Via P Gosselin
Via Klimanachrichten
(Translated/edited by P. Gosselin)
The German public radio program SWR3-Wissen has a podcast about wood burning in Europe. In the forests of Germany, less wood is removed than regrown, but in Europe it is different. Here, the forest is losing area, which also means that the carbon sinks are disappearing. But deforestation is not the only problem; Forests also store water and release it with delay. These “sponges” are lost after a clear cut. Apparently, the EU’s wood-coal replacement plans call for an expansion of that as well.
In the United Kingdom, the former Drax coal-fired power station burns a significant amount of wood.
Europe massively subsidizes deforestation energy
“Nearly nine million tons of pellets a year are burned by the Drax power plant. This is three times Germany’s wood pellet production and one-and-a-half times the UK’s timber production. With this huge amount of wood, the power plant generates 7% of the UK’s electricity needs and receives a lot of subsidies for it: 3.5 million euros per day. Like the UK, the EU is also pushing for the conversion of coal-fired power plants to wood burning – with the Renewable Energy Directive being passed in 2009. Taxes on CO2 emissions from fossil energy are increasing. , but the burning of wood is exempt.
Coal plants across Europe are converting to wood pellets
Several power plants in the Netherlands and Denmark have converted from coal to wood. French power plant operator Veolia has just announced that it is converting a coal-fired power plant in Hungary to biomass. German power plant operators are still hesitant. Operators of the Onyx coal-fired power station in Wilhelmshaven are considering burning 2.9 million tonnes of pellets a year. Vattenfall’s power plant in Berlin’s Moabit district will be converted; and East German energy company LEAG have purchased two companies that manufacture tablets.”
American forests were cut down on a large scale to make Europe “green”
Wood pellets originated in America. In this context, again referring to American documentary film burn. It’s about deforestation in the Southwestern United States. A review of the film was presented on this blog in 2020. The documentary has not lost its relevance.
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