Carbon Loophole: Why Is Wood Burning Counted as Green Energy?

By Fred Pearce
Yale Environment 360
December 19, 2017
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

A loophole in carbon-accounting rules is spurring a boom in burning wood pellets in European power plants. The result has been a surge in logging, particularly in the U.S. South, and new doubts about whether Europe can meet its commitments under the Paris accord. …There is one problem. Ecologists say that the claims of carbon neutrality, which are accepted by the European Union and the British government — do not stand up to scrutiny. The forests of North Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi — as well as those in Europe — are being destroyed to sustain a European fantasy about renewable energy. And with many power plants in Europe and elsewhere starting to replace coal with wood, the question of who is right is becoming ever more important.

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