Category Archives: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Canada just had its warmest winter ever. What’s in store for spring?

By Jordan Omstead
The Canadian Press in Global News
March 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

The warmest winter on record could have far-reaching effects on everything from wildfire season to erosion, climatologists say, while offering a preview of what the season could resemble in the not-so-distant future unless steps are taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions.  …Canada shattered temperature records this winter, and it wasn’t close, Phillips said, referring to national data going back to 1948. While winter’s end is typically marked by the equinox, climatologists look at what’s known as meteorological winter, the three-month period from December to February. Over that period, Canada was 5.2 C warmer than average, said Phillips. That’s 1.1 degrees warmer than the previous record set in 2009-2010. …Almost all of Western Canada, northern Ontario and parts of northern Quebec were under drought conditions as of the end of February, says a recent update from Environment Canada. Parts of southern Alberta and northern British Columbia reported conditions typically seen once every 50 years.

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Google Canada announces new research grants to bolster Canada’s AI ecosystem

By Google Canada
Cision Newswire
March 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, ON – Google Canada will announce new research grants that will help pave the way for the future of AI in Canada. Google.org will provide a total of $2.7 million in grant funding to the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) and the International Center of Expertise of Montreal on AI (CEIMIA) to support AI research in areas such as sustainability and the responsible development of AI. …The Google.org grant to CIFAR will support its Accelerated Decarbonization program, which brings together experts in carbon capture, storage, and utilization, biochemistry, chemistry, biology and more, to address the carbon cycle and offer new ways of solving climate-related problems. …”Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. This partnership enables our CIFAR researchers to drive impact and advance work towards a core piece of the climate change puzzle,” said, Director, Research and Lead, Impact at CIFAR.

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Government of Canada supports Indigenous climate action with new funding stream under the Indigenous Leadership Fund

By Environment and Climate Change Canada
Cision Newswire
March 12, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

SAINT JOHN, NB – Indigenous partners are making significant contributions to lowering Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions and producing green energy through Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led renewable energy projects. Supporting Indigenous climate leadership is key to helping Canada meet its 2030 emissions reduction target and net-zero emissions by 2050. Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced a new designated funding stream under the Low Carbon Economy Fund’s Indigenous Leadership Fund. The designated funding stream is open until March 31, 2027, for eligible applicants who are not already included in the funding streams for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. This can include Indigenous-owned businesses; corporations and not-for-profit organizations; Métis Settlements; and Indigenous research, academic, or educational institutions. Through this new stream, up to $7.39 million will be spent to support Indigenous-owned and Indigenous-led renewable energy, energy efficiency, or low-carbon heating projects that provide benefits to Indigenous peoples and communities.

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Canada ignored audit’s call to count logging emissions, says NDP critic

By Stefan Labbé
Business in Vancouver
March 12, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Laurel Collins & Jagmeet Singh

The NDP’s federal environment critic says Canada is ignoring calls to close loopholes in how it reports carbon emissions from logging — what some experts suggest could amount to 90 million tonnes a year. A March 2023 audit from Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Jerry DeMarco found the federal government had failed to properly account for emissions from the country’s forestry sector. …A year later, Laurel Collins, NDP member of Parliament for Victoria and the party’s environment and climate change critic, said the government’s response has been to take a “really narrow review” of how it counts forestry emissions at the same time Canada experienced its worst wildfire season in recorded history. …By maintaining the status quo and portraying the logging sector as an industry that absorbs as many emissions as it releases, Collins told Trudeau companies are unduly given an advantage over other sectors when it comes to things like carbon pricing.

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Canada’s logging emissions must be on the ledger

By Michael Polanski, Nature Canada
The National Observer
March 6, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

This month, in the wake of intensive scrutiny from policymakers and civil society, two federal departments, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Energy and Natural Resources Canada, are launching a review of how the federal government accounts for GHG emissions from the forestry sector. …Unfortunately, the review is leaving one of the biggest issues — a biased approach to reporting emissions from industrial logging — off the table. …This unbalanced accounting for wildfires leads to the misleading portrayal of clearcut logging in Canada as carbon-neutral when, in fact, logging is a carbon polluter on the scale of the high-emitting agriculture and building sectors. …Instead, the review only addresses the question of what baseline should be used to assess progress in emissions reductions in the sector (2005 or a business-as-usual reference level). It ignores calls from the environment commissioner and others to also review the way Canada estimates and reports logging emissions.

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Climate adaptation clearly reflected in Housing & Climate Task Force Blueprint

By Climate Proof Canada
Cision Newswire
March 5, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, ON – In response to the Housing & Climate Task Force’s release today of its Blueprint for More and Better Housing, Jason Clark, Chair, Climate Proof Canada, issued the following statement: “Canada needs 5.8 million new homes by 2030 to restore housing affordability. Climate Proof Canada is pleased that 18 of the recommendations from its National Climate Adaptation Summit were cited in the formation of the Blueprint. One of the requirements of the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) is that resilience must be incorporated into all infrastructure investments by 2024. …Climate Proof Canada developed a series of recommendations to guide federal investment that will enable Canada to make rapid, tangible progress on the targets set out in the NAS and become more climate resilient. A range of immediate actions that do not require additional budgetary investment was also identified.”

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Alberta scientists band together to shift climate change focus to health impacts

By Bob Weber
The Canadian Press in Global News
March 24, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

Bodies and minds are just as affected by climate change as sea ice and forests, says University of Alberta scientist Sherilee Harper. “Climate change impacts everything we care about,” she said. “It’s not just an environmental issue.” That’s why Harper, along with 30 or so colleagues from disciplines as wide-ranging as economics and epidemiology, have banded together into what she calls Canada’s first university hub to shift the view of climate change from an environmental problem to a threat to human health. “The hub is about helping people see that every climate change decision is a health decision,” said Harper. …Wildfire smoke, which last summer gave Canada some of the worst air quality on the globe. …There are mental health impacts as well, from the acute stress suffered by those forced to flee by flames. …Such hubs already exist in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, Harper said.

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Pellet producer refutes old growth logging claim

By Rod Link
Houston Today
March 20, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

The operator of pellet plants in Houston and Burns Lake is calling assertions it is chipping old-growth wood for pellets “inaccurate and misleading.” But Drax, a multi-national user of wood pellets, which it burns to help turn turbines to generate electricity, admits that nine truckloads of wood from old growth areas were mistakenly taken to its plants. “For context, this was nine out of almost 8,000 truckloads delivered to Drax’s pellet plants over the three months in question – delivering equivalent to around 0.15 per cent of the material received,” the company said in a March 13 release. The assertion Drax was converting old growth into pellets came from two environmental groups said the company’s claims in 2023 it would not be taking old-growth wood did not reflect what it was actually doing. …Michelle Connolly from Conservation North said Drax received 103 loads of logs at its Burns Lake and Houston pellet plants from old growth areas as late as January 2024.

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Dal engineer explores how agriculture and forestry by‑products could accelerate our shift to clean energy

By Stephanie Rogers
Dalhousie University
March 21, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Sonil Nanda

The only abundant source of renewable carbon is biomass or organic residue from agricultural farms, forests, livestock farming and municipal solid waste. Using it more efficiently can catalyze a shift to a low-carbon economy. To achieve the net-zero emission targets set by the Canadian government and corporations, researchers and others say it is imperative to accelerate innovation and market deployment of clean energy, biofuels, and carbon offsetting solutions. “Climate change is not a distant threat. It is a current and pressing reality that we must confront,” says Dr. Sonil Nanda, an associate professor in the Department of Engineering at the Faculty of Agriculture. …Dr. Nanda was recently awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Clean Agricultural Technology and Energy to advance his research program, which aims to demonstrate how advanced thermochemical, hydrothermal, and biological methods can be used to convert the by-products of agriculture and forestry into high-value biofuels.

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Acadian Timber Announces Sale of Voluntary Carbon Credits

By Acadian Timber Corp.
Globe Newswire
March 20, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick — Acadian Timber announced an agreement for the sale of voluntary carbon credits relating to the first reporting period of its ongoing carbon credit project. “We are pleased with the agreement to sell nearly all of our currently registered carbon credits,” commented Adam Sheparski, CEO. …The credits are expected to be delivered prior to the end of the third quarter of 2024, generating net proceeds to Acadian of approximately U.S.$14 million. Acadian’s project is registered on the American Carbon Registry and requires balancing harvest and growth, long-term planning, periodic carbon inventory verification, and maintenance of the Acadian’s sustainable forestry certification. …The project is expected to generate an additional 1.1 million credits over the remainder of the 10-year crediting period. Acadian Timber is one of the largest timberland owners in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern U.S. and has a total of approximately 2.4 million acres of land under management.

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Dal engineer explores how agriculture and forestry by‑products could accelerate our shift to clean energy

By Stephanie Rogers
Dalhousie University
March 21, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Sonil Nanda

The only abundant source of renewable carbon is biomass or organic residue from agricultural farms, forests, livestock farming and municipal solid waste. Using it more efficiently can catalyze a shift to a low-carbon economy. To achieve the net-zero emission targets… it is imperative to accelerate innovation and market deployment of clean energy, biofuels, and carbon offsetting solutions. …Dr. Nanda was recently awarded a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Clean Agricultural Technology and Energy to advance his research program, which aims to demonstrate how advanced thermochemical, hydrothermal, and biological methods can be used to convert the by-products of agriculture and forestry into high-value biofuels. By creating a circular economy for fuel production, his work promises to develop scalable and commercially viable solutions for clean energy and decarbonization that leverage currently available infrastructures for fuel production and distribution.

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Brian Mulroney ‘got’ the issue of climate change, long before others did

By Donald Wright political science professor, University of New Brunswick
The Ottawa Citizen
March 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney, whose state funeral is Saturday, is rightly remembered for his leadership on acid rain, yet he also took climate change seriously. Put simply, he got it when most world leaders didn’t, and some still don’t, or at least one doesn’t. Indeed, Mulroney was one of only two heads of state to attend the first World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere. Held in Toronto in June 1988, the conference brought together more than 300 scientists and policymakers from over 40 countries. That the conference — later dubbed the “Woodstock of climatology” — was hosted by Canada was Mulroney’s doing. It reflected his environmentalism and confirmed his belief in Canada as a middle power and helpful fixer on the global stage. Welcoming delegates to the World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere, Mulroney didn’t mince his words. It “is not just about the atmosphere, it is not just about the environment, it is about the future of the planet itself.”

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CHAR Tech and Lake Nipigon Forest Management Inc. Sign Partnership Agreement

By CHAR Technologies Ltd.
Globe Newswire
March 13, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

THUNDER BAY, Ontario — CHAR Technologies, a leader in sustainable energy solutions, is proud to announce the formalization of a partnership agreement with the First Nations co-operative Lake Nipigon Forest Management Inc., marking a significant milestone for both parties as they advance forestry sustainability programs in Northern Ontario. The partnership, Lake Nipigon Forest Sustainable Energy Solutions, builds upon the foundation laid by the Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2023. LNFMI is a forest management co-operative comprised of four local First Nation Communities who hold the Sustainable Forest License on the Lake Nipigon Forest… The Partnership will continue advancing development of the jointly-owned facility modeled after CHAR Tech’s flagship facility in Thorold, Ontario. The project is projected to annually produce 500,000 gigajoules of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) and 10,000 tonnes of biocarbon and begin operations by 2026.

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Government of Canada invests $15 Million in Clean Fuels Projects in the Niagara Region and Across Canada

By Natural Resources Canada
Cision Newswire
March 8, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

THOROLD, ON — The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced a federal investment of $15 million to support six clean fuels projects across Canada, including $10 million for two projects in the Niagara region. The investments include: Over $5 million to CHAR Technologies to support FEED studies that will enable CHAR to replicate their first-of-its-kind woody-biomass-to-renewable-energy facility in Thorold, Ontario in other parts of Canada. Supported by an existing investment of $5 million from NRCan, CHAR is finalizing its construction of its clean fuels production facility in Thorold, which will convert woody biomass to renewable energy like RNG and biocarbon. The new NRCan funding will enable CHAR Technologies to replicate this work at four new facilities in Kirkland Lake, Ontario; Drayton Valley, Alberta; and Saint Félicien and La Salle, Quebec and create a distributed network of low-carbon fuels production facilities across three provinces in Canada.

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Cellulose nanocrystals developed at McGill stand to create opportunities in Quebec’s forestry sector

The McGill Reporter
March 5, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

TEMISCAMING, Quebec — Researchers at a McGill University chemistry lab led by Professor Mark Andrews may not have imagined that their work on cellulose nanocrystals would end up creating economic opportunity in the northwestern Quebec region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Their quest to get cellulose nanocrystals to yield vibrant iridescent colours led to the founding in 2016 of Anomera. Today, the company’s range of cellulose nanocrystal products, which are created from wood pulp and wood waste, have an array of environmentally friendly applications, ranging from replacing microplastics in cosmetics to reducing the carbon footprint of products like concrete. Two years ago, Anomera opened a $30 million manufacturing facility in Témiscaming. At present, it provides jobs for nine people in the region, with another 15 employees at the company’s offices and laboratories in downtown Montreal. More importantly, Anomera provides an innovative and sustainable path to diversify Quebec’s forestry products sector.

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$500K helping Timmins forestry company reduce reliance on natural gas

By Maija Hoggett
Timmins Today
March 2, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

TIMMINS, Ontario — A local business feeling the pinch of the carbon tax will be able to reduce its reliance on natural gas with seed money from the province. Forestry Service is getting $500,600 to create a compost heat recovery system, which will allow the second-generation forestry company in Timmins to heat one of its buildings and sell some of the compost. The funding is one of 12 projects in the northeast getting a cut of $6.1 million through the third phase of the Ontario forest biomass program. …The projects announced this week, said Minister Graydon Smith, are a “diverse range of research, innovation, and modernization initiatives that will help develop the potential of Ontario’s forest biomass resources.” …The project will reduce the operation’s reliance on natural gas, extend its season in the greenhouse, and potentially allow them to sell the compost generated locally. 

Additional coverage in My Kaphearst Now: Forestry biomass projects get $60-million over three years from provincial government fund

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What’s So Green About Burning Trees? The False Promise of Biomass Energy

By Sam Davis, Partnership For Policy Integrity
Eurasia Review
March 27, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

Renewable energy comes from matter that nature produces and replenishes constantly. The power generated through this source does not significantly threaten the environment, especially in comparison with fossil fuels… according to the United Nations. Renewable energy derived from wind, solar, geothermal, hydrokinetic, and hydro energy has a much lower environmental impact than fossil fuels. It harnesses the power of readily available elements and does not diminish with use. …And because wind and sunlight are inherently free, there are no ongoing feedstock costs. Bioenergy, otherwise known as biomass energy, is, however, different. This kind of power involves using living matter or matter that was recently been alive. …Trees are also used, most oftenfrom the forests of the U.S. South, including pine and hardwood species. …Supporters argue that bioenergy is a climate-friendly, sustainable power source that helps local economies. The truth is that wood pellet plants are as dirty and problematic as coal plants. 

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US energy agency announces $6 billion to slash emissions in industrial facilities

The PressNewsAgency
March 25, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Joe Biden

The Biden administration announced it will distribute up to $6 billion to curb planet-warming emissions in some of America’s most polluting industries, including chemical, metal and cement operations. The awards, which the administration called the “largest investment in industrial decarbonization in American history,” are aimed at both advancing the administration’s climate goals and boosting domestic manufacturing. …A total of 33 projects in more than 20 states are slated to receive federal funding, ranging from $20 million to $500 million. The administration expects to leverage an additional $14 billion in private-sector investment. “These projects offer solutions to slash emissions in some of the highest emitting sectors of our economy, including iron and steel, aluminum, cement, concrete, chemicals, food and beverages, pulp and paper,” Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said. “Together, these industries make up roughly a third of our CO2 emissions of our carbon footprint.”

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The world is warming faster than scientists expected

By the Editorial Board
The Financial Times
March 24, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

…To an extent not widely appreciated, the world is now warming at a pace that scientists did not expect and, alarmingly, do not fully understand. At a Financial Times conference this month, Jim Skea, the chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said last year’s spike in temperatures was “quicker than we all anticipated”. “Ocean temperatures were just off the scale in terms of historic records and we still need to do more work to explain it.” …Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City warned that the… surprising heat revealed that “an unprecedented knowledge gap” had opened up for the first time since satellite data began to give scientists a real-time view of the climate system about 40 years ago. This gap may mean we have a shakier grasp of what lies ahead — which is worrying when it comes to forecasting drought and rainfall patterns. 

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U.S. Department of Energy: How America Can Sustainably Produce More Than One Billion Tons of Biomass Per Year

By The Department of Energy
Government of the United States
March 15, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released the 2023 Billion-Ton Report (BT23), which shows that the U.S. could sustainably triple its production of biomass to more than 1 billion tons per year. The report—the fourth in a series—finds that 1 billion tons of biomass could satisfy over 100% of the projected demand for airplane fuel in the country, allowing the U.S. to fully decarbonize the aviation industry with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). …The BT23 report analyzes approximately sixty biomass resources, several of which have never before been the subject of a DOE Billion-Ton assessment. These include winter oilseed crops, trees and brush harvested from forests to prevent wildfires, macroalgae such as seaweed cultivated in ocean farms, and carbon dioxide from industrial plants. …Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released the Plan to Enable the Bioeconomy in America: Building a Resilient Biomass Supply to boost resiliency for domestic biobased product manufacturing…

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USDA Outlines Vision to Strengthen the American Bioeconomy through a More Resilient Biomass Supply Chain

USDA Department of Agriculture
March 14, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

WASHINGTON – The USDA released a plan that will boost biomass supply chain resiliency for domestic biobased product manufacturing, while also advancing environmental sustainability and market opportunities for small and mid-sized producers. The report — Building a Resilient Biomass Supply: A Plan to Enable the Bioeconomy in America — is one of the key USDA deliverables Executive Order 14081, which was issued in 2022 and was meant to catalyze action inside and outside of government to advance America’s domestic bioeconomy. …Published alongside the Plan is an Implementation Framework that identifies actions USDA will take in the next year to increase available cultivated biomass, invest in infrastructure for biobased products, and support the responsible development of the biomass supply chain. USDA also released a fact sheet outlining the Department’s 2023 bioeconomy accomplishments, which include $772 million in investments for research, development, and infrastructure involving biofuels, fertilizer production, crop innovations, biobased products and more.

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How Clean Energy Tax Breaks Could Fuel a US Wood Burning Boom

By James Bruggers
Inside Climate News
March 15, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

Businesses that burn wood to produce energy have struggled in the US to compete economically, even as wood-pellet exports to Europe from states like Alabama and North Carolina have soared with overseas subsidies. But the industry’s domestic fortunes could soon change. With the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) designed to take on climate change through billions of dollars of direct appropriations or tax breaks, forest biomass-to-energy could potentially see sizable growth domestically. …The Biden administration, including the U.S. Treasury Department, is now navigating competing claims about the risks and benefits of burning wood to the climate and to the health of forests. Treasury will have a key role to play in deciding which businesses get tax breaks even as provisions of the IRA were written so as to not overtly pick winners and losers among various types of energy production, such as natural gas, wind, solar or biomass. …Environmental groups are watching the Treasury Department closely.

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US Securities and Exchange Commission approves rule requiring some companies to report GHG emissions

By Suman Naishadham
The Associated Press
March 6, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a rule that will require some public companies to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, after last-minute revisions that weakened the directive in the face of strong pushback from companies. The rule was one of the most anticipated in recent years from the nation’s top financial regulator, drawing more than 24,000 comments from companies, auditors, legislators and trade groups over a two-year process. It brings the U.S. closer to the European Union and California, which moved ahead earlier with corporate climate disclosure rules. …Since the SEC proposed a rule two years ago, experts had said it was likely to face litigation almost immediately. …The weakened rule doesn’t require companies to report some indirect emissions known as Scope 3. Those don’t come from a company or its operations, but happen along its supply chain or that result when a consumer uses a product, such as gasoline.

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Biomass Power Association Re-Brands as American Biomass Energy Association

American Biomass Energy Association
March 5, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Richmond, VA – The Biomass Power Association (BPA) announced today it is changing its name, effective immediately, to the American Biomass Energy Association (ABEA). The announcement was made by ABEA Executive Director Carrie Annand on the first day of the 17th Annual International Biomass Conference & Expo in Richmond. The American Biomass Energy Association will seamlessly step into BPA’s role leading the charge to advance the use of clean, renewable, and reliable domestic biomass energy through legislative and regulatory advocacy. ABEA members own and operate more than 80 biomass power plants in 20 states across the U.S. and produce eco-friendly renewable energy solutions that provide communities with always-on, locally-sourced power that replaces the need for foreign oil or burning fossil fuels. Most ABEA member companies convert wood and wood products including forest debris, wood “leftovers” from logging activities, and other discarded items into clean electricity.

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Forest Investors Debate What to Do With All Their Trees: Timber or Carbon Credits?

By Yusuf Khan
The Wall Street Journal
March 4, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

Investment managers who have bought up forestland are going tree by tree to figure out whether they should be felled for timber or kept up for carbon-credit generation. Growing demand for credits means investing in forests isn’t just about producing timber, but it can take a lot of legwork to determine what role each tree should play in a portfolio, as well as ensure it is delivering its promised environmental benefit if left standing. …Manulife, which has 5.4 million acres of forest in its investment portfolio, calculates the value of each tree to inform its harvest strategy. Every tree in a forest has to be evaluated based on species growth rates and product value. If the carbon credit value is high enough, it stays up even if for just a few more years. If not, it’s cut down for timber. …Kernohan said that until recently, forest land wasn’t valuable enough to be considered. [to access the full story a WSJ subscription is required]

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Invasive Species Threaten Climate Change Preparedness and Resilience

The Nature Conservancy
February 28, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Invasive species are a significant threat to climate-preparedness and resilience, according to a new paper published for the National Invasive Species Council by the Invasive Species Advisory Committee. The paper, Invasive Species Threaten the Success of Climate Change Adaptation Efforts, addresses one of the most critical intersections between invasive species and climate change—where invasive species are posing a direct threat to natural climate solutions and climate resilience—and provides recommendations for action at the federal level. …“Our research confirmed that US federal agencies have not yet actively integrated invasive species management into climate planning.” …According to the paper and past research, invasive species are already a major barrier to the successful implementation of climate adaptation and mitigation plans; they are currently hindering the natural environment’s ability to sequester carbon emissions and protect communities from the increased threats of climate-amplified weather events such as flooding and storm surges.

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How the drought hit WA’s farms, forests, fisheries and drinking water

By Conrad Swanson
Seattle Times
March 25, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Washington suffered during last year’s drought. Groundwater wells ran dry, fields produced fewer crops, trees died in greater numbers, fish faced disease and famine, according to a study from the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group. Now those sectors are bracing for yet another poor water year as El Niño conditions, compounded by climate change, produced well-below-normal snowpack. The state also his recently hit record high temperatures for this time of year. The state’s water woes will continue, even worsen, in the decades ahead, said Karin Bumbaco, one of the study’s authors. The Climate Impacts Group study underscores the need for scientists to gather more data, to better prepare for the inevitable, she said. …All of the 13 forestry respondents felt the drought, the report says. This includes greater tree mortality (73%), leaf or needle drop or scorched/sparse canopy (55%) and more disease and insect damage (36%).  Each of these conditions increases wildfire risk as well. 

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Golden State Natural Resources’ wood pellet project and the debate over California’s Forests

By Zoe Meyer
Sierra Sun
March 8, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR) is initiating a project aimed at enhancing the resilience of California’s forestlands by acquiring and processing surplus biomass into pelletized fuel. GSNR is optimistic that this fuel source will play a role in advancing renewable energy generation overseas as an alternative to coal. The project entails establishing two processing facilities—one in Tuolumne County, and another in Lassen County on the Modoc Plateau in Northern California. Upon completion, the pellets will be transported via rail or truck to the Port of Stockton for international shipment to countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, where they will be used in power plants. However, GSNR’s proposed wood pellet project has generated substantial controversy and apprehension, with many questioning the project’s true intentions. And the project could have direct impacts on the Truckee/Tahoe region. 

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Another snowless winter in North Carolina as US observes warmest winter on record

By Alex Schneider
Fox8 Morning News
March 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

NORTH CAROLINA — The United States recorded its warmest winter on record, according to NOAA, while the Triad observed its 17th warmest winter. With an average temperature of 37.6 degrees, this past meteorological winter was the warmest observed in the United States. That may not sound very warm, but, when compared to normal, it’s a full five degrees above the average. NOAA states that Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin all observed their warmest winters on record, while an additional 26 states observed one of their top 10 warmest winters. While we did not observe one of our warmest winters in the Triad, it was slightly above average. …More notably this winter was how much rain we observed from December through February. A total of 16.38 inches of rain fell at PTI airport during the three-month span, making it the third wettest winter in the Triad.

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Bill To Allow Biomass Power To Participate In The Renewable Fuel Standard

By Erin Voegele
Biodiesel Magazine
March 18, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on March 11 each introduced legislation that aims to allow facilities generating renewable electricity from forest biomass, such as woodchips or sawdust, to participate in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The bill, titled the “Biomass for Transportation Fuel Act,” would fully implement the eligibility for electricity generated from renewable biomass, including biogas, to participate in the RFS. The legislation directs the U.S. EPA to approve a RFS pathway for renewable electricity for biomass, but only for feedstocks already eligible under the program, such as agricultural waste, forest byproducts, and municipal/commercial food waste. The bill would make biomass removed from federal forestlands as part of wildfire hazard reduction efforts to be eligible under the RFS. Currently, only biomass collected from non-federal lands is considered eligible RFS feedstock.

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State rejects Consumers Energy plan to replace biomass power with solar

By Andy Balaskovitz
Crain’s Grand Rapids Business
March 15, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

State energy regulators have rejected Consumers Energy’s request to exit contracts in the coming months that would have resulted in the closure of two wood-fired biomass plants in Cadillac and the northeastern Lower Peninsula. The Michigan Public Service Commission in two separate cases rejected Consumers’ request to cancel contracts by the end of May involving power purchases from third-party owned biomass plants in Cadillac and in Lincoln in Alcona County. The plants were set to close by the end of May, as Crain’s Grand Rapids Business previously reported. The current contracts are set to expire in 2027 and 2028. …However, advocates for the biomass and timber industries have long argued that Michigan’s six biomass power plants play a key role in providing baseload power as well as a market for forest products that are otherwise left behind during the timber process.

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Stakeholders call for more details on Maine’s latest Extended Producer Responsibility rules draft

By Megan Quinn
Waste Dive
March 11, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

Maine’s EPR program is the first of its kind in the U.S., meaning numerous recycling and waste stakeholders are monitoring details of the program’s rollout. The latest public comment round follows a previous public comment period in October, where stakeholders reviewed a more preliminary, conceptual draft that was then revised and presented to the Board of Environmental Protection in December to kick off the formal rulemaking process. DEP expects the board to adopt the final “routine and technical” rules of the EPR program by this summer. …The draft also calls for producers to use more reusable packaging and gradually add more postconsumer recycled content. In many cases, producers will be hit with heavy fines for not complying. …Groups like the American Forest and Paper Association said Maine’s state needs assessment guidance “is still very sparse” and needs more details on the types of data the stewardship organizations should be collecting. 

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‘Pretending to grow forests in the desert’: New research questions integrity in safeguard mechanism scheme

By Krishani Dhanji
ABC News, Australia
March 26, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A major Australian study has found some of the nation’s biggest polluters are meeting their emissions obligations using carbon credits that have not actually resulted in emissions reductions. …Andrew Macintosh, one of the lead authors of the paper and an environment law and policy professor at the Australian National University first sounded the alarm two years ago, calling the carbon market “largely a sham”. His calls were rejected by a government-commissioned review, but Professor Macintosh said the new research shows further evidence that human-induced regeneration – a core part of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) scheme – hasn’t worked. …Researchers monitored 182 Human Induced Regeneration (HIR) projects, which make up about 30 per cent of all ACCUs and have cost taxpayers nearly $300 million over their lifetime. They found many of the projects to grow native forests were claiming to be regenerating them in uncleared desert and semi-desert areas.

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A major European nature protection plan stumbles at the final hurdle. ‘How could we give that up?’

By Raf Casert
Associated Press in Herald and News
March 25, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

BRUSSELS — A European Union plan to protect nature in the 27-nation bloc and fight climate change was indefinitely postponed Monday, underscoring how farmers’ protests sweeping the continent have had a deep influence on politics. The deadlock on the bill, which could undermine the EU’s global stature on the issue, came less than three months before the European Parliament election in June. The member states were supposed to give final approval to the biodiversity bill on Monday following months of proceedings… But the rubber stamp has turned into possible perpetual shelving. …The Nature Restoration plan is a part of the EU’s European Green Deal to establish ambitious climate and biodiversity targets, and make the bloc the global point of reference on all climate issues. The bill is part of an overall project for Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, demanding short and medium-term changes and sacrifices from all parts of society…

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Forestry value chain innovations can help mitigate effects of climate change

By Lumkile Nkomfe
Engineering News South Africa
March 22, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Schalk Grobbelaar

Given the climate crisis in South Africa and around the world, University of Pretoria’s Technology and Innovation senior lecturer Dr Schalk Grobbelaar argues that innovations in the forestry value chain will be key in safeguarding the environment. …He says that humans contribute to climate change in a manner that places our way of living and, in extreme cases, our survival, at risk. However, he maintains that there is hope, and that nature has already developed some of the solutions. He notes that trees can assist during their life cycle and are vital to the bioeconomy, adding that advancements in tree breeding, planting techniques, harvesting practices and product manufacturing have already contributed to enhancing the climate-balancing and biodiversity-promoting role of trees in ecosystems and have the potential to amplify their impact further. …Grobbelaar says Africa has substantial potential for developing commercial forestry operations, and South Africa can play a leading role in this challenge.

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UN weather agency issues ‘red alert’ on climate change after record heat, ice-melt increases in 2023

By Jamey Keaton and Seth Borenstein
Associated Press in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
March 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Celeste Saulo

GENEVA  — The U.N. weather agency is sounding a “red alert” about global warming, citing record-smashing increases last year in greenhouse gases, land and water temperatures and melting of glaciers and sea ice, and is warning that the world’s efforts to reverse the trend have been inadequate. The World Meteorological Organization said there is a “high probability” that 2024 will be another record-hot year. …The 12-month period from March 2023 to February 2024 pushed beyond that 1.5-degree limit, averaging 1.56 C (2.81 F) higher, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Service. It said the calendar year 2023 was just below 1.5 C at 1.48 C (2.66 F), but a record hot start to this year pushed beyond that level for the 12-month average. “Earth’s issuing a distress call,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “The latest State of the Global Climate report shows a planet on the brink. Fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts.”

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Climate cooling benefits of planting trees may be overestimated

By Moriah McDonald
Inside Climate News
March 13, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Most climate-concerned people know that trees can help slow global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but a recent study published in the journal Science shows the climate cooling benefits of planting trees may be overestimated. “Our study showed that there is a strong cooling from the trees. But that cooling might not be as strong as we would have thought,” Maria Val Martin, a researcher at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., said. Darker forests can warm the Earth because they reduce the albedo of the land they cover, meaning they absorb more sunlight and reflect less solar radiation back into space. So more heat is held by the Earth’s surface. In addition, trees… also release organic compounds decreases the destruction of methane and increases the concentrations of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, said James Weber, the lead study author.

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Wood industry has huge potential to increase revenue from selling carbon credits

Vietnam News
March 10, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

HCM CITY — Việt Nam has 14 million hectares of forests, which, if well-managed, offer opportunities for the country to capitalise on the carbon credit market, a dialogue heard in HCM City. Speaking at the Green Finance for Wood and Furniture Industry dialogue on the sidelines of HawaExpo being held in HCM City from March 6 to 9, Phùng Quốc Mẫn, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City, said: “In the event that many countries around the world, including Việt Nam, are making efforts to achieve the Net Zero goal, meaning reducing carbon emissions has become a requirement for manufacturing industries.” The Government has a series of specific action programmes, including a roadmap to develop the carbon credit market until 2028, he said. …the wood industry sees reducing emissions as an opportunity since it possesses large planted forests where carbon credits are created, he said.

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Opinion: I’m a climate scientist. If you knew what I know, you’d be terrified too

By Bill McGuire, professor emeritus, University College London
CNN
March 7, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Are you frightened by climate change? …In the words of science writer and author David Wallace-Wells, “No matter how well informed you are, you are surely not alarmed enough.” …If the fracturing of our once stable climate doesn’t terrify you, then you don’t fully understand it. The reality is that, as far as we know, and in the natural course of events, our world has never — in its entire history — heated up as rapidly as it is doing now. Nor have greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere ever seen such a precipitous hike. …What’s happening to our world scares the hell out of me, but if I shout the brutal, unvarnished truth from the rooftops, will this really galvanize you and others into fighting for the planet and your children’s futures? Or will it leave you frozen like a rabbit in headlights, convinced that all is lost? It is an absolutely critical question.

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Drax Left in Limbo As It Awaits UK Subsidy Decision on Biomass

By Eamon Akil Farhat
BNN Bloomberg – Investing
February 29, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

UK electricity generator Drax Group soared in trading after earnings beat analyst expectations, although questions remain around the outcome of a government consultation on continued biomass subsidies. The utility posted £1.2 billion in adjusted earnings… even as the high prices from Europe’s energy crisis eased. …Drax is seeking subsidies beyond 2027 to tide it over until its carbon capture project can start in 2030. The government consultation closes at the end of February with a decision expected in April. …A bridge subsidy “could provide multi-year certainty allowing Drax to secure long-term biomass supplies and continue to support energy security via flexible and reliable renewable biomass operations in advance of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage,” the company said. …Meanwhile, concerns over the carbon-neutral credentials of biomass were in focus again this week after a BBC report that said Drax sourced some of its fuel by cutting down primary forest.

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