Last week we launched a report that put forward the evidence as to why burning whole trees to generate electricity is a bad thing for the climate. Our report, Dirtier than coal, put forward two key facts: firstly, that emissions from burning whole conifer trees are 49% higher than coal, and secondly that based on current Government plans the UK will burn the equivalent of six times the total national wood harvest by 2017.
Sadly, rather than entering into a constructive debate, the industry response has focused on denying that there is an issue.
One of their main arguments is represented in the following quote from the Today programme:
“When you think of timber most people think of those planks that they use in the housing industry, what we think of is the residues and the offcuts that are left over when you harvest a tree, so what we’re burning is really not timber as people think of it, it’s the leftovers”
So, are we and will we burn trees in UK power stations? Here’s three key facts.
1) Government’s own statistics show whole trees were burnt in power stations last year
Ofgem publish statistics reported to them by power companies about what wood is burnt where. 135,000 tonnes of roundwood (i.e. the tree trunk) was reported to have been burnt in power stations last year.
2) US wood pellet companies use whole trees
The Dogwood Alliance, a US based NGO dedicated to the conservation of the Southern forests, last week published a report to the UK Government documenting evidence of US pellet plants that supply the UK using whole trees.
As an example, Georgia Biomass - a wholly owned subsidiary of RWE Innogy that provides Tilbury coal power plant with biomass takes in “more than 1 million metric tons of logs annually”. Here’s a few pics from the Dogwood report –
Enviva, who supply Drax amongst others, talk about using “round logs to produce our product”, and again there are images in the report that clearly show the use of whole trees in their plant.
3) Energy from waste is good, but it is limited
Forestry arisings, offcuts and olive pips are a fine thing to replace coal with in our power stations, offering real greenhouse gas emission reductions. But the sheer scale of demand for biomass if we continue down this path will be immense, and at the same time many other countries will be doing the same thing and wanting the same resource. As an example, the entire forestry arisings resource in the US amounts to about 0.75% of US energy needs.
What’s the solution?
Its easy. Exclude the use of whole trees for power generation from government subsidies. If power companies are so keen to say they do this anyway, why would they resist?