John Gunn

Wood pellet heat is a new and growing heating alternative in the U.S., and it has been proposed as a climate-beneficial energy source to replace fossil fuels, though little work has been done to assess this claim.  …Through that study and subsequent work, we have learned three key lessons when it comes to the question of emissions generated by switching from fossil fuels to wood: It matters what kind of energy is being produced, and what kind of fossil fuel is being replaced, if at all; where the energy feedstocks come from matters (e.g., tops and limbs from harvests already happening, or new harvests of whole trees); and how we manage the forest—at both the stand and landscape scales—will influence whether emissions benefits will accrue in the short term, long term, or not at all.