The Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 includes a variety of tax measures that were introduced in Parliament on November 30, 2023, as Bill C-59. …The Government also set out in the 2023 Statement its process and timeline for implementing the remaining clean energy measures, which include… a proposed expansion of the Clean Tech ITC and Clean Electricity ITC to apply to certain equipment that uses waste biomass as a fuel source. …The purpose of this new Biomass Expansion is to reduce biowaste and support new affordable electricity and heat generation in Canada. The Biomass Expansion will capture systems that use “specified waste material” as defined in the Income Tax Regulations to generate electricity or heat. …The expanded eligibility would apply to certain integrated waste biomass systems that use “specified waste material” solely to generate electricity or electricity and heat (i.e., cogeneration systems).
As wildfires burned a record 18.5 million hectares across Canada this year, greenhouse gas emissions from those fires also soared to record heights, with preliminary estimates indicating they could be double or even triple the emissions from industrial activity. But when Ottawa releases its annual update on GHGs in 2024, those wildfire emissions won’t be part of the tally. In keeping with international reporting guidelines, Canada’s yearly National Inventory Report highlights human-caused, or anthropogenic, emissions rather than natural disturbances, such as insect outbreaks or wildfires. Wildfire emissions are included in that report, but as an information item, not part of the tally Canada presents when tracking its progress in reducing emissions. But the magnitude of this year’s wildfire emissions – and growing evidence of how climate change and wildfires are connected – is resulting in calls for more transparency in how they are reported and urgent action to try to keep them in check.
The real-versus-fake Christmas tree debate has raged for years. Fresh trees smell great but can also be messy; artificial trees are less of a hassle but also need year-round storage space. But there’s another, bigger consideration: Which type of tree is the more sustainable option? To get to the core of the issue, we spoke with Megan Quinn at the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Lienna Hoeg, Christmas tree specialist at Perennia in Nova Scotia. “Reusing the same artificial Christmas tree year after year sounds more sustainable,” Quinn says. “But it’s important to consider the climate impact of manufacturing and shipping plastic trees around the world.” …“Most fake trees are made with polyvinyl chloride, which is one of the worst plastics we can produce,” Hoeg says. …“Artificial trees are made with plastic and metal and you can’t recycle them,” Hoeg notes.
The Government of Canada on Nov. 21 announced plans to allow systems that utilize waste biomass to produce heat and/or electricity to claim the country’s Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit and Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit. …In its announcement, the agency said it is proposing to expand eligibility for the 30 percent Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit to include systems that produce electricity, heat, or both electricity and heat from waste biomass. …Department of Finance Canada is also proposing to expand eligibility for the 15 percent Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit to include systems that produce electricity or both electricity and heat from waste biomass, which would be available as of the date of Budget 2024 for projects that did not begin construction before March 28, 2023. …Drax Group plc released a statement on Nov. 24 commending the Government of Canada on the inclusion.
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada’s annual conference began with an unusually sentimental note this year: a tribute to the “godfather of wood pellets,” John Swaan. This year marks a quarter century since Swaan orchestrated the world’s first bulk shipment of wood pellets from his B.C. pellet mill to a customer overseas. In opening remarks to the conference, association past-president and senior Drax executive Vaughan Bassett shared a summary of Swaan’s industry origin story, first told by FutureMetrics’ Hannah Campbell. The story was followed by a tribute video in which WPAC executive director Gordon Murray, along with a handful of other partners and friends, shared their thoughts on John’s pioneering role in the pellet industry. An emotional Swaan took to the podium to express his thanks./cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/MUCU7WJPZBMQRJTTH3BLWNO2Y4.jpg)
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The P.E.I. government has begun to review the process of using wood to heat buildings in P.E.I. after the submission of the Forestry Commission’s review of the growing industry. …A review of the Island’s biomass heating industry presented to the government by the Forestry Commission in October prompted the province to begin amending the process surrounding the current environmental impact assessment. Jean-Paul Arsenault, chair of the Forestry Commission… says the commission wants the province to define key environmental terms such as sustainability, biomass fuel and mixed residue so that those definitions can be referenced in legislation and future government activities. “We asked ourselves ‘what does sustainability mean,’ and we couldn’t find a definition anywhere,” Arsenault said. Alex Pratt, biomass operations manager at Wood4Heating agreed with the commission’s review.
We all know that forests can be good for the climate all on their own. In the U.S., forests sequestered the equivalent of 11% percent of total U.S. industrial emissions in 2021. About fifty percent of the weight of dry wood is carbon, which means that trees and long-lived wood products store carbon. But what if there were a way to make forests better for the climate? Making a good thing better is, essentially, the goal of climate smart forestry (CSF). …Yet, the term remains vague in meaning and use. …The U.S. Forest Service is exploring development of a CSF-based approach to managing its lands, which seems like it will incorporate protection of mature and old growth forests. Keeping an eye on various government definitions will be critical, as competing definitions may lead to policy and regulatory conflicts down the road. …FSC and SFI have identified climate outcomes as a potential gap in their certification standards.
NEW YORK – Environmental organizations are increasingly focusing on landowners to help with the storage of carbon dioxide. A new carbon offset program hit the Adirondacks this month, which offers cash to woodlot owners. …The vast carbon sinks [in forests] are looked at by many scientists as natural climate solutions that can help reach ambitious climate goals such as those set in New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Two organizations zeroing in on family landowners are The American Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, which developed the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP) in 2020 with projects in Pennsylvania. Now in New York, the organization pays landowners with at least 30 acres to limit tree harvesting or practice management strategies with the help of foresters. …Upkeep and taxes on family land can be burdensome, leading to its sale. With payments from the FFCP, that land has more potential to stay the way it is. 
Voluntary carbon markets have been at the forefront of allegations of greenwashing in recent years. …Carbon credits linked to forest initiatives have attracted particularly strong criticism recently, with companies accused of using these credits as offsets to avoid responsibility for reducing their own emissions. …As a result, confidence in the market has been shaken, choking off a potentially vital financial source for forest countries. To be clear, the problems with forest carbon markets that have hit the front pages are very real. But they aren’t the full story. …We shouldn’t gloss over bad practice. But we also shouldn’t overlook the years of work done by governments to ensure forest carbon transactions can be done with integrity. This includes the creation of the U.N.’s REDD+ framework for “reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries.
Most participants argue that REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, plus enhancements of carbon stocks in developing countries) is included in the Paris Agreement, even though the acronym is nowhere to be found. That’s because of 
A new report from Greenpeace East Asia draws attention to the risks associated with carbon offsets in China. China represents a massive market for the accreditation and sale of carbon offset credits, particularly in the light of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. …Li Jiatong, Greenpeace East Asia Beijing-based project leader said: “In the past few years, the global carbon offset industry has been riddled with scandals and costly methodological errors.” Li went on to say that carbon offsetting is swiftly enveloping China, even as it is currently in a crisis of confidence around the world. …One of the main subjects of the analysis conducted by Greenpeace are the forestry carbon projects in China, which are said to frequently demonstrate inconsistent levels of quality largely due to a lack of rigorous standards and insufficient data collection. …Greenpeace East Asia is urging authorities to disregard them completely.
Earth is on track for 3 degrees Celsius of warming, and humanity needs to make deep emission cuts this decade to have a chance of fulfilling the goals of the Paris climate agreement, the United Nations said in a report released Monday. The findings come amid record setting global temperatures and as the amount of planet warming pollution in the atmosphere reaches new heights. It also underscores the enormity of the task facing climate negotiators as they prepare for talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, later this month. …The