Category Archives: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

As climate costs mount, businesses talking more about spending to adapt: report

By Ian Bickis
Business in Vancouver
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Work on climate change has largely focused on preventing it from getting worse, but as a new RBC report points out, businesses are also starting to think more about potential spending on adaptation and preparation as the costs of disasters pile up. The report says that extreme weather and natural disaster costs already totalled US$368 billion last year, 14 per cent above the long-term average since 2000, and that this year could match or exceed the total. The trend is expected to get worse, because as the report notes there’s expected to be a 2.7 degree rise in average temperatures by 2100 based on current global policies and actions, while an optimistic scenario pegs the rise at 1.9 degrees. The costs stemming from rising temperatures are leading to more attention in boardrooms, with the report noting mentions of climate change on the rise in both U.S. and Asia.

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Could Canada’s carbon capture ambitions catch a chill from Iceland’s struggling Mammoth project?

By Darius Snieckus
The National Observer
June 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

Iceland and Canada lie over 4,500 kilometres apart on a world map, yet news that a pioneering carbon removal project near Reykjavik is falling well short of expectations a year after its launch has hit home with some North American sector skeptics closely watching the climate technology’s progress. Switzerland’s Climeworks, which has raised US $800 million, opened the world’s largest operational direct air capture (DAC) plant, known as Mammoth. But the facility, which uses what look like walls of giant fans to capture CO2 directly from the air and then pumps it deep underground, has not measured up to expectations. …The slow start has sparked discussion in clean energy circles over the wisdom. …Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada could be a leader in carbon capture and storage as part of a controversial effort to decarbonize oil and gas, including extending tax credits and setting carbon dioxide removal targets.

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From ‘greenwashing’ to ‘green hushing’ — companies complain new law stifles environmental efforts

By Brandie Weikle
CBC Radio News
June 17, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Michael McCain

Some corporate leaders say new anti-greenwashing legislation has had the unintended effect of dissuading companies from taking climate action. But environmental organizations and others say that’s a cop out. Bill C-59’s changes to the Competition Act were meant to prevent companies from misrepresenting the environmental benefits of their products or practices.” The bill also gave the Competition Bureau more power to penalize companies that can’t back up their claims. But critics say requiring all such claims conform to “internationally recognized methodology” leaves too much room for interpretation and makes companies vulnerable to legal action. Michael McCain, the executive chair of Maple Leaf Foods, calls this “green hushing.” …The changes create so many “obstacles and consequences” to touting a company’s environmental efforts, that the companies stop doing them. Royal Bank has “retired” its commitment to facilitate $500 billion in sustainable finance by this year, pointing to changes in the Competition Act.

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‘Win-win’: new maps reveal best opportunities for global reforestation

By Damian Carrington
The Guardian UK
June 11, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States, International

New maps have revealed the best “win-win” opportunities across the world to regrow forests and tackle the climate crisis, without harming people or wildlife. The places range from the eastern US and western Canada, to Brazil and Columbia, and across Europe. If reforested, this would remove 2.2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, about the same as all the nations in the European Union. Previous maps have suggested much larger areas but were criticised for including important ecosystems. …The result was a map showing 195 million hectares of reforestation opportunity, an area equivalent to the size of Mexico but up to 90% smaller than previous maps. …“Reforestation is not a substitute for cutting fossil fuel emissions, but even if we were to drive down emissions tomorrow, we still need to remove excess CO2,” said Dr Susan Cook-Patton, at The Nature Conservancy and author of the new study, published in the journal Nature Communications

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Safe Wood Pellet Storage

Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 12, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada, FutureMetrics and Ørsted are hosting a one-day workshop—Safe Wood Pellet Storage: Preventing, Detecting, and Managing Self-Heating Incidents in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 3, 2025. Join industry experts for a crucial discussion on the risks, detection, and prevention of self-heating incidents in wood pellet storage. This workshop will offer invaluable insights into major incidents, technical causes, risk mitigation strategies, and emergency response procedures, assisting professionals in enhancing safety standards across storage facilities. This workshop is a must-attend event for professionals seeking to enhance pellet storage safety, mitigate fire risks, and improve operational resilience in large-scale storage environments. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with leading specialists and drive industry-wide improvements forward.

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Pellets: A ‘Backyard Solution’ for Energy Needs

By Jonathan Levesque, Biomass Solution Biomasse
Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 5, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Jonathan Levesque

Transforming wood waste into versatile wood pellets makes sense for Canada’s forest industry, the local and national economy and a world that needs clean, dependable energy. It’s been a busy time delivering news about biomass energy. In May, I represented the Wood Pellet Association of Canada at the Energizing Efficiency conference held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, delivered the webinar Driving Decarbonization and Cost Savings with Bio-heat during Bioheat Week and was a featured guest on the Reimagined Energy podcast. Pellets are a reliable and inexpensive source of energy for Canadians that can help with our heating needs. Rising energy costs mean wood pellet heat is competitive with heat pumps, cheaper than baseboard heating and less than oil and propane. In Canada, we do not have enough electricity to address the needs of the future. …Bioheat is an on-demand form of energy that can help alleviate pressure on the electrical grid.

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Perkins&Will Vancouver wins award for commitment to circularity

By Peter Caulfield
Construction Connect Canada
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Perkins&Will Vancouver has won in the Commitment to Circularity category at the 2025 Carbon Leadership Forum in British Columbia. The award is for “exceptional initiatives and projects that embrace and tangibly advance circularity or circular concepts within the B.C. building sector.” Embodied carbon refers to the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a building product’s life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal. This includes emissions from manufacturing, transportation and construction. Circular design and construction reduces embodied carbon by minimizing the environmental impact of building materials during their lifecycle. Circular design reuses materials and recycles and uses low-carbon and sustainably-sourced materials. Circularity Vancouver-style involves deconstructing single-family homes so their building materials can be reclaimed and used to construct new buildings, instead of being trucked off to the landfill.

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How Great Bear Carbon is Bringing Indigenous Governance and Stewardship to the Volunteer Carbon Market

By Andrew Seale
RBC Royal Bank
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

The Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia’s North and Central Coast sequesters millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide across 6.4 million hectares of snow-capped mountains, ancient western red cedars, and Sitka spruce. It is considered one of the world’s largest carbon sinks—meaning it absorbs more carbon dioxide (CO2) than it releases. Under the Great Bear Carbon banner, a collection of coastal First Nations has entered the voluntary carbon offset market. The organization generates carbon offsets by preserving trees and ecosystems that naturally store CO2, with each carbon offset verifying the removal of one tonne of carbon from the atmosphere. Businesses, governments and individuals can purchase carbon offsets to compensate for their environmental impact. The Great Bear Carbon program helps raise revenue to support the local First Nations and their stewardship efforts.

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Why Mercer International is Looking to Sequester Carbon at Scale in Alberta

By Knowlton Thomas
Calgary.tech
June 17, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Earlier this year, Burnaby’s Svante Technologies made inroads in Alberta. The move eastward is partially powered by a newly formed partnership with Mercer International. The Canadian cleantech’s carbon capture project is targeting biogenic CO2 emissions from Mercer’s Peace River pulp mill. …One of the strategies the firm intends to adopt in Canada is carbon sequestration. Within Alberta, carbon sequestration is a sensible tactic to apply, according to Mercer International’s chief executive officer, Juan Carlos Bueno. “The reason why we’re doing it there is because the mill is located in Alberta, where you have geological formations that are suitable for sequestering CO2,” Bueno informed Andrew Snook of Pulp & Paper Canada. …Finalizing investment in the project, however, is no small consideration. There is a price tag north of $500 million and moving forward would require extensive support from both the Province of Alberta and Government of Canada.

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We need to talk about the fossil fuel elephant in the room

By Julia Beatty, Shuswap Climate Action Society
The Salmon Arm Observer
June 18, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada West

Currently, parts of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia are being ravaged by early and extreme wildfires. …Copernicus reported that wildfires in Canada in 2023 emitted 1,740 megatonnes of C02e, which is nearly three times Canada’s human-contributed emissions in 2022. …Forest and wildfire researchers are telling us that climate change is creating the conditions for the unprecedented wildfire destruction we are seeing. …What can be done to prepare for increasingly intense wildfire seasons? Addressing the problem requires a multi-pronged approach encompassing prevention, preparedness and response. …However, reducing carbon emissions is crucial to avoid further warming and reduce extreme weather events. As citizens we must speak up and demand that all levels of government and industry strive to lower greenhouse gas emissions while preparing for and adapting to a future with increasing risk of fire.

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Rhetoric–not evidence–continues to dominate climate debate and policy

By Kenneth P. Green, Senior Fellow, The Fraser Institute
Cision Newswire
June 17, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

VANCOUVER, BC – …The study published by the Fraser Institute, Four Climate Fallacies, dispels several myths about climate change and popular—but ineffective—emission reduction policies, specifically:

  • Capitalism causes climate change: …the more economically free a country is, the more effective it is at protecting its environment and combatting climate change.
  • Even small-emitting countries can do their part to fight climate change: Even if Canada reduced its greenhouse gas emissions to zero, there would be little to no measurable impact in global emissions, …the main drivers of emissions, which are ChinaIndia and the developing world.
  • Vehicle electrification will reduce climate risk and clean the air: …they often are not, and further, have offsetting environmental harms, reducing net environmental/climate benefits.
  • Carbon capture and storage is a viable strategy to combat climate change: While effective at a small scale, the benefits of carbon capture and storage … on a massive scale are limited and questionable.

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The Carbon Tax’s Last Stand – and What Comes After

By Stuart Muir
Resource Works
June 12, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

For years, Canada’s political class sold us on the idea that carbon taxes were clever policy. Not just a tool to cut emissions, but a fair one – tax the polluters, then cycle the money back to regular folks, especially those with thinner wallets. It wasn’t a perfect system. The focus-group-tested line embraced for years by the Trudeau Liberals made no sense at all: we’re taxing you so we can put more money back in your pocketbooks. …That whole model has been thrown overboard, by the very parties had long defended it. …The betrayal is worse in BC …Instead of returning the money, the provincial government slowly transformed the tax into a $2 billion annual cash cow. But here’s the thing: maybe the carbon tax model deserved a rethink. Maybe it’s time for a grown-up look at what actually works. With B.C. now reviewing its CleanBC policies: what’s working, and what’s not?

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How carbon capture works and the debate about whether it’s a future climate solution

By Tammy Webber
The Associated Press in ABC News
June 26, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Power plants and industrial facilities that emit carbon dioxide are hopeful that Congress will keep tax credits for capturing the gas and storing it deep underground. The process, called carbon capture and sequestration, is seen by many as an important way to reduce pollution during a transition to renewable energy. But it faces criticism from some conservatives, who say it is expensive and unnecessary, and from environmentalists, who say it has consistently failed to capture as much pollution. …The most commonly used technology allows facilities to capture and store around 60% of their CO2 emissions during the production process. Anything above that rate is much more difficult and expensive, according to the IEA. …Even so, carbon capture is an important tool to reduce CO2 emissions, particularly in heavy industries, said Sangeet Nepal at the Carbon Capture Coalition. “It’s not a substitution for renewables … it’s just a complementary technology”.

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Burying forest waste could slow heating of planet, study finds

By Saul Elbein
The Hill
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

The world’s sawmills and plantation forests offer a powerful weapon against climate change, a new study has found. A paper published in Nature Geosciences found that burying the vast quantities of wood waste produced in the course of logging and processing trees could markedly slow Earth’s heating. Heat waves like the one currently afflicting the East Coast in the U.S. have been made far more likely by centuries of unchecked burning of fossil fuels — which release heat-trapping chemicals like carbon dioxide. …But in addition to the need to halt that burning, researchers found that burying waste from trees … offers an unparalleled way to counteract its impacts. …the study burying waste could reduce the Earth’s heating by 0.42 degrees Celsius, or about one-sixth of the estimated 3 degrees Celsius that scientists believe the Earth is on track to heat up by the end of the century.

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Space-laser AI maps forest carbon in minutes—a game-changer for climate science

By University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
ScienceDaily
June 14, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Satellite data used by archaeologists to find traces of ancient ruins hidden under dense forest canopies can also be used to improve the speed and accuracy to measure how much carbon is retained and released in forests. Understanding this carbon cycle is key to climate change research, according to Hamdi Zurqani, for the Arkansas Forest Resources Center and the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The center is headquartered at UAM and conducts research and extension activities through the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. …In a study recently published in Ecological Informatics, Zurqani shows how information from open-access satellites can be integrated on Google Earth Engine with artificial intelligence algorithms to quickly and accurately map large-scale forest aboveground biomass, even in remote areas where accessibility is often an issue.

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Forest Products Industry Promotes Modernizing Clean Air Act Permitting Program in House Committee on Energy and Commerce Hearing Testimony

American Wood Council
June 11, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

WASHINGTON —  On behalf of the American Wood Council (AWC) and the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), AF&PA Vice President of Public Policy Paul Noe gave oral testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Environment in their hearing titled, “Short-Circuiting Progress: How the Clean Air Act Impacts Building Necessary Infrastructure and Onshoring American Innovation.” In his testimony, Noe applauded legislation that would allow the paper and wood products industry to make capital investments to modernize their manufacturing facilities. …discussion was heard by the committee on two bills that would make critical revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) setting and implementation process that would reduce the type of permit gridlock created when the particulate matter NAAQS was significantly lowered by the previous administration. “We strongly support Congressmen Rick Allen and Buddy Carter in their efforts to address the impacts of air permitting issues on U.S. manufacturing,” said Noe. 

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Does planting trees really help cool the planet?

By Julie Bernstein
University of California, Riverside
May 29, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

Replanting forests can help cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total effect won’t cancel out human-generated warming. …In a new study published in Communications Earth & Environment, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, showed that restoring forests to their preindustrial extent could lower global average temperatures by 0.34 degrees Celsius. That is roughly one-quarter of the warming the Earth has already experienced. The study is based on an increase in tree area of about 12 million square kilometers, which is 135% of the area of the US. …It is believed the planet has lost nearly half of its trees since the onset of industrialized society.  “Reforestation is not a silver bullet,” said Bob Allen, at UC Riverside and the lead author. “It’s a powerful strategy, but it has to be paired with serious emissions reductions.”

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Proposed California project pivots from wood pellets to wood chips

By Erin Krueger
Biomass Magazine
June 26, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The board of Golden State Natural Resources on June 25 voted to revise its plans for the proposed development of two wood pellet plants in California and will instead move forward with the development of two smaller-scale wood chip projects. GSNR is a nonprofit public benefit corporation … their initial plans focused on the conversion of woody biomass gathered as part of forest treatment and restoration activities into wood pellets… The board, however, voted to move forward with a plan to revise the scope of the project, which could include reducing the size and throughput of both facilities while transitioning from producing wood pellets for export to the production of wood chips for domestic use. GSNR noted wood chips could have applications in domestic alternative energy production, such as sustainable aviation fuel, marine biofuels, or in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage applications. Alternatively, wood chips can be used to produce wood products, such as oriented strand board. 

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California nonprofit revises plan for controversial wood pellet project

By Edvard Pettersson
Courthouse News Service
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

A California nonprofit organization has decided to revise its controversial plan to build two wood pellet processing plants that would turn excess biomass in the state’s forests into pellets to be shipped overseas for use in renewable energy generation. Golden State Natural Resources said Wednesday it will develop a reduced-scale project focused on domestic, rather than international, use of sourced wood, producing wood chips instead of pellets. The project will target emerging demand in California and nearby regions for sustainable energy and alternative wood products. The organization’s proposed Forest Resiliency Project has drawn the ire of environmentalists who say California needs to rethink “falling for the biomass delusion.” Golden State Natural Resources was formed by rural counties to reduce massive wildfires fueled by overgrown, undermanaged forests. The project aims to use low-value forest material like ladder fuels and dead trees to lower wildfire risk and improve forest health. 

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A forest the size of North America would be needed to offset Big Oil’s reserves, study finds

By Hayley Smith
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The world would need to plant a forest the size of North America in order to offset planet-warming emissions from the 200 largest oil and gas companies, new research has found. A study published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment analyzed the economic and ecological benefits of planting trees as a means of balancing potential carbon dioxide emissions from the projected burning of oil reserves held by the fossil fuel industry. …The burning of fossil fuels represents about 90% of planet-warming emissions. …But, as the paper notes, “fossil-fuel companies currently face little incentive to reduce the extraction and use of fossil fuels, and regulatory measures to limit these activities have been slow to materialise.” …Indeed, the researchers acknowledged that the study has limitations as it relies on broad assumptions, including that all existing fossil fuel reserves will be sold and burned.

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Researchers: paper mills generate more greenhouse gases than reported

By Shari Phiel
The Camas-Washougal Post-Record
June 19, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: US West

A new report from Environmental Integrity Project — a national watchdog group founded by Eric Schaffer, former director of the Environmental Protection Agency — claims some paper mills could be generating up to three times more greenhouse gas emissions than reported. Researchers spent six months reviewing state and federal data for 185 pulp and paper mills across the country, combing through thousands of public records, and visited three mills: one in South Carolina, one in Virginia and the Port Townsend Paper Co. mill north of Seattle. “Even in the digital age, we need paper products. But there is no reason a clean sheet of paper needs to be made with dirty fuels and antiquated methods,” Environmental Integrity Project executive director Jen Duggan said in a news release. Of the 185 mills reviewed, 73 percent have outdated boilers still in operation, many dating back to World War II, according to the report

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Rayonier touts alternative energy opportunity as way to boost revenue

By Mark Basch
The Jacksonville Daily Record
June 12, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Mark McHugh

Rayonier was long known as a forest products company before forming a real estate development subsidiary 20 years ago to profit from its vast land holdings. …In a June 4 presentation to Nareit’s REITweek investor conference, Rayonier CEO Mark McHugh said an emerging trend driving demand for its land is “the energy transition, the need for renewable power and decarbonization solutions.” Rayonier controls about 2 million acres of timberland, some of which has other uses besides harvesting trees. “Increasingly, we’ve come to see ourselves as more of a land resources company,” McHugh said. …“That would include things like leasing land for solar or leasing land for wind farms,” he said. “It would also include leasing land and pore space for carbon capture and storage.” McHugh said leasing land for carbon capture increases the value about fivefold. The company has more than 150,000 acres under lease at the end of 2024.

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Milestone reached on bioenergy plant in Newton County, Texas

By Scott Lawrence
KFDM News
June 10, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

TEXAS — A plan to open a bioenergy plant in Newton County has reached a new milestone with a landmark deal to supply wood for the site in Bon Wier. Mike Lout with KJAS, reports Nick Andrews, President and CEO of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based USA Bioenergy, announced on Tuesday that his company has signed a deal with the LP Corporation to supply the wood. According to LP, the agreement would provide up to 2.2 million tons of wood biomass for an initial term of 20 years that could not only help USA Bioenergy in Bon Wier, but also the logging and timber industry across Southeast Texas and west Louisiana. Andrews has said the main focus of the plant will be to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel commonly known as “SAF” or bio-jetfuel for the airline industry.

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‘Georgetown is at a crossroads;’ 650+ residents sign petition against new biomass plant

By Perrin Moore
ABC15 News
June 9, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

GEORGETOWN, South Carolina — Over 650 Georgetown residents have signed a petition opposing a proposed biomass plant at the site of the International Paper mill that closed last year. The group Citizens for Georgetown says it is working to revitalize the town’s waterfront through “thoughtful redevelopment.” 653 people are opposing the plant that would generate energy for Santee Cooper from tree waste. …Citizens for Georgetown Chairman Tom Swatzel. “Now, we face a critical choice: leave decades of pollution in the land and water, continue with heavy industry OR clean up the site and reimagine these properties into a vibrant, sustainable future that benefits all residents.” …State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch expressed cautious optimism over the proposed plant, saying that it could involve an investment of nearly $4 billion and create new jobs.

 

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Unprecedented fires fueled by climate change threaten iconic World Heritage forests

UNESCO World Heritage Conservation
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

In an update to the joint UNESCO-WRI-IUCN report “World Heritage forests: carbon sinks under pressure”, new data reveals that fires have accounted for approximately 75% of tree cover loss in World Heritage sites. Steadily increasing tree cover loss due to fires, fueled by climate change, has led to record high emissions, and threatens the robust carbon sinks of forests in World Heritage sites. Since 2001, approximately 4.5 million hectares of forest—more than the area of Switzerland—have been lost across World Heritage sites, with fires responsible for around 75% of that loss. The vast majority — approximately 80% — of all fire-related tree cover loss occurred in high-latitude forests, primarily across North America and Siberia. Forests in Australia account for an additional 15% of the loss, while all other regions contributed approximately 5%.

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Why forests are the next frontier in climate investment

Environmental Finance
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Andrew Boutwell

Investors increasingly understand the role sustainable forestry can play in the path to a net zero economy, argues Andrew Boutwell, Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Management at Forest Investment Associates. Investors increasingly see forests as platforms for a broader set of value streams, for example ranging from carbon credits and conservation finance to renewable energy siting, mitigation banking, and participation in the growing bio-economy. As the pricing of natural capital becomes more sophisticated and land markets respond to climate adaptation needs, we believe diversified forest portfolios will be well-positioned to capture these uplift opportunities. This shift is driving renewed focus on land use optimisation through data, analytics, and active management. From converting marginal plantations to solar use, to improving productivity on high-quality soils, to conserving ecologically sensitive areas, diversified forest portfolios enable strategic flexibility. For investors, this means cash flow from timber alongside exposure to a growing set of land-based value drivers aligned with climate-smart use.

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Woodchips from endangered possum habitat sold to Domino’s for woodfired pizza

By Angela Heathcote
ABC News Australia
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

When Domino’s advertised its “smokehouse” pizzas in 2023, it trumpeted that the meat was smoked over timber logged from “Aussie Mountain ash”. It also advertised that the timber was certified as sustainable. But what the advertising didn’t promote was that mountain ash forests are critically endangered, with logging listed as one of the key processes threatening them. And now the ABC can reveal the certification that assured consumers that logging was sustainable was breached in seven different ways, according to the organisation that accredits certifiers. Those breaches included potentially stealing the trees from the neighbouring state forest, ignoring protections for waterways and logging potential endangered species habitat. “I think Australians should be absolutely appalled that the world’s tallest flowering tree is chipped up to make woodchips to smoke pork bellies to put on pizzas. It’s ridiculous. What are we talking about? Endangered possum pizzas?” Professor Lindenmayer said.

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Policymakers often ignore forest regeneration in fight against climate change, research finds

By Stefanie Eschenbacher
Reuters
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Naturally-regenerating forests are often ignored by policymakers working to curb climate change even though they hold an untapped potential to rapidly absorb planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, scientists found in a research paper published Tuesday. These so-called secondary forests, which have regenerated themselves after being razed, often for agriculture, can help bring the world closer to the net-zero emissions target needed to slow global warming, the research published in the journal shows. That is because these young forests, which are made of trees between two and four decades old, can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to eight times faster per hectare than forests that were just planted, they found. It comes as companies worldwide are raising millions of dollars to regrow forests from scratch to generate carbon credits they can sell to polluting industries seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

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Policymakers often ignore forest regeneration in fight against climate change, research finds

By Stefanie Eschenbacher
Reuters
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Naturally-regenerating forests are often ignored by policymakers working to curb climate change even though they hold an untapped potential to rapidly absorb planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, scientists found in a research paper published Tuesday. These so-called secondary forests, which have regenerated themselves after being razed, often for agriculture, can help bring the world closer to the net-zero emissions target needed to slow global warming, the research published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows. That is because these young forests, which are made of trees between two and four decades old, can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to eight times faster per hectare than forests that were just planted, they found. … “It’s a constant cycle of deforestation,” said Nathaniel Robinson, one of the authors and a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry.

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Rise in legal challenges over carbon credit schemes

By Isabella Kaminski
The Guardian UK
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Judges across the world are proving sceptical of companies’ attempts to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by buying carbon credits, a report has found. In an analysis of nearly 3,000 climate-related lawsuits filed around the world since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics found action against corporations in particular was “evolving”, with growing scrutiny of how companies plan to meet their stated climate commitments. Dozens of legal challenges over the past decade have raised arguments related to carbon credits, and many have been successful. Last month, Energy Australia acknowledged that carbon offsets did not prevent or undo damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. …Cases such as these “focus on the integrity of carbon credits and the claims that can be made regarding the carbon emissions of a product or service when credits are purchased to ‘offset’ emissions from that product or service”, the LSE report found.

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Protecting Naturally Regrowing Forests Is a Crucial — and Overlooked — Climate Solution

By David Gibbs, Susan Cook-Patton and Nathaniel Robinson
World Resources Institute
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Protecting and restoring forests are essential for curbing climate change. But while efforts often focus on conserving mature forests and planting new trees (both of which are badly needed), a critical piece of the puzzle is often overlooked: managing naturally regrowing forests to increase the carbon they remove. Until now, scientists did not have a detailed picture of the carbon removal value of naturally regrowing forests. But new research by The Nature Conservancy, WRI and partners shows that naturally regenerating “secondary forests” (which have regrown after being cleared by harvests, severe fires, agriculture or other disturbances) could be especially powerful for fighting climate change. It is the first to show where, and at what ages, they can have the biggest impact. We found that secondary forests between 20 and 40 years old can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to 8 times faster per hectare than new natural growth —if they’re allowed to reach those older ages.

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Healthy production systems are key to sustainable biomass supply

European Commission Joint Research Centre
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

While biomass production and extraction in the European Union continue to grow, its long-term viability is at risk due to declining ecosystem conditions. A new report calls for more coherent governance and urgent actions to ensure that biomass production and use are compatible with ecological limits and policy goals… The report shows that while forest conditions have improved in 33 forest ecosystems, their situation declined significantly in northern Scandinavia, the Carpathians, and the Iberian Peninsula. Based on forest growth modelling simulations, which assume that current trends of 2% GDP growth persist, we could be facing an increase in roundwood demand of 30% by 2050, compared with 2020 figures. Under the current forestry regimes, this could result in demand for wood exceeding available domestic EU supply by 6%.

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UK to Scrap Green Levies for Heavy Industry in Push for Growth

By Philip Aldrick
Bloomberg News in the Financial Post
June 22, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Keir Starmer

LONDON — Energy costs will be cut for as many as 7,000 UK businesses as the government scraps green levies to level the playing field with foreign rivals and boost growth under its new ten-year Industrial Strategy. Big users of electricity will be exempted from several climate schemes from 2027 to reduce their bills by as much as 25% and protect 300,000 skilled jobs, the government said. Separately, heavy industries like steel, chemicals and glass will have their network charges, paid to maintain the grid, discounted by 90% from next year – up from 60% currently. …Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the strategy “marks a turning point for Britain’s economy.” …Labour insisted the exemptions would complement its “long-term mission for clean power” and… will be “funded through reforms to the energy system,” specifically higher UK carbon pricing. As part of the recent trade deal with the European Union, the government agreed to rejoin the EU carbon market.

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FutureMetrics: Changing UK Policy Could Boost Demand For Thermally Treated Wood Pellets

By Erin Voegele
Biomass Magazine
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

FutureMetrics LLC on June 17 published a white paper discussing how expected changes to U.K. bioenergy subsidies could cause the Drax and Lynemouth Power Stations to consider using thermally treated wood pellets. The two facilities are the world’s largest consumers of wood pellet fuel for power generation. Drax operates four 650 megawatt (MW) units that were converted from coal to wood pellets, while Lynmouth operates three 140 MW units that were converted from coal to wood pellets. Together, the facilities consume 8 to 9 million metric tons per year of wood pellets. Most of that fuel is sourced from North America and must be kept dry during storage and transportation. …FutureMetrics explains that this interim subsidy program is expected to create significant changes to the generation profiles of the Drax and Lynmouth facilities, as operations will only be supported when power from the plants is needed to meet demand. 

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Ancient trees are shipped to the UK, then burned – using billions in ‘green’ subsidies. Stop this madness now

By Dale Vince, owner of Ecotricity
The Guardian
June 21, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Dale Vince

[Opinion by Dale Vince] How green is this? We pay billions of pounds to cut down ancient forests in the US and Canada, ship the wood across the Atlantic in diesel tankers, then burn it in a Yorkshire-based power station. Welcome to the scandal of Drax, where Britain’s biggest polluter gets to play climate hero. The reality is that billions in public subsidies has enabled Drax to generate electricity by burning 300m trees. Now the government is trying to force through an extension that would grant Drax an estimated £1.8bn in public subsidies on top of the £11bn it has already pocketed, keeping this circus going until at least 2031. This isn’t green energy. The mathematics alone should horrify anyone who cares about value for money or the environment. Burning wood creates 18% more CO2 emissions than coal. Even if you replant every tree Drax destroys, it takes up to a century for new growth to reabsorb the carbon released.

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Biomass satellite returns striking first images of forests and more

The European Space Agency
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Today, at the Living Planet Symposium, ESA revealed the first stunning images from its groundbreaking Biomass satellite mission – marking a major leap forward in our ability to understand how Earth’s forests are changing and exactly how they contribute to the global carbon cycle. But these inaugural glimpses go beyond forests. Remarkably, the satellite is already showing potential to unlock new insights into some of Earth’s most extreme environments. Biomass – an Earth Explorer research mission developed within ESA’s FutureEO programme – was launch less than two months ago. This new mission is, therefore, still in the process of being commissioned, but its first set of images are stunning none the less. …Biomass is the first satellite to carry a P-band synthetic aperture radar, its signal capable of penetrating forest canopies to measure woody biomass – trunks, branches and stems. These measurements serve as a proxy for carbon storage, the assessment of which is the mission’s primary objective.

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Innovative guide to scaling up smart use of fast-growing trees

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
June 18, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The International Commission on Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees Sustaining People and the Environment (IPC) hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today published a comprehensive guide on the innovative use of fast-growing trees to help sustain people and the environment amid the climate crisis. The report explains the qualities of different species of fast-growing trees and the economic and environmental benefits they bring in a wide range of settings when managed sustainably. It also outlines the potential to maximise those benefits globally using the latest science and innovative practices. “Fast-growing trees have a strategic role to developing a thriving global bioeconomy,” said Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division. “They also provide livelihoods for local communities and hold significant potential for combating climate change.”

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DS Smith activates €90m biomass boiler at Rouen mill

Bioenergy Insight Magazine
June 18, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

DS Smith has brought online a €90 million biomass boiler at its Rouen paper mill in Normandy, France – one of Europe’s largest mill energy transitions to date. The new system replaces the site’s coal-fired boiler with a low-carbon, circular solution powered by locally sourced biomass waste. The project is expected to cut CO₂ emissions by 99,000 tonnes annually – equivalent to removing 40,000 cars from the road or powering 13,000 French homes each year. The boiler will process around 94,000 tonnes of biomass fuel each year, including industrial and municipal waste wood – mainly from the Paris and Normandy regions – as well as paper production by-products. Up to 70,000 tonnes of wood waste will be diverted from landfill annually, supporting DS Smith’s 2030 zero-landfill target.

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Who really holds the rights to trees and carbon in the Philippines?

By Angela Arnante
BusinessWorld
June 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The Phillipines sits on a goldmine of forest and carbon wealth. But an unclear and short-sighted property rights regime is choking its potential; existing rules are partially to be blamed. Forest lands, which are State-owned lands, span 15.8 million hectares or half of the country’s total land area. The 1987 Constitution states that all lands of the public domain, forest lands included, belong to the State. It can either manage them directly or partner with private entities, as long as Filipino citizens own at least 60% of the company involved and these agreements last 25 years, renewable for another 25. This legal framework along with existing policies, designed to regulate the exploitation of natural resources like mining and logging, now constrains investment in regenerative and non-extractive activities such as reforestation and carbon sequestration… The current tenure framework on forest lands does not match the biological and economic realities of forest and carbon development.

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New Zealand government sued over ‘dangerously inadequate’ emissions reduction plan

By Eva Corlett
The Guardian
June 10, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Hundreds of top environment lawyers are suing the New Zealand government over what they say is its “dangerously inadequate” plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. It is the first time the country’s emissions reduction plan has faced litigation, and the lawyers believe it is the first case globally that challenges the use of forestry to offset emissions. …two groups representing more than 300 lawyers filed judicial review proceedings against the government in Wellington’s high court on Tuesday. The groups … claim … the government has abandoned dozens of tools to tackle emissions, failed to adequately consult the public, and too heavily relies on high-risk carbon capture strategies such as forestry. …They claim that the government is relying on “high risk” methods such as planting hundreds of thousands of hectares of introduced pine trees to offset emissions, and capturing carbon underground, with few alternatives to fall back on if something goes wrong.

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