Category Archives: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Wood Pellet Association of Canada conference panel discusses emerging competition and market dynamics

By Andrew Snook
Canadian Biomass Magazine
September 23, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

During the Wood Pellet Association of Canada 2026 Conference in Victoria, B.C., the Emerging Competition & Market Dynamics panel discussion focused on the global wood pellet market and how it is entering a period of rapid change and intensifying competition. …the panel was comprised of Hannah Adler, Argus Media; William Strauss, FutureMetrics; Manolis Karampinis, Bioenergy Europe; and Didzis Palejs, Latvian Biomass Association. The panel addressed the potential for long-term oversupply in the wood pellet market caused by the expected reduction in demand from the Drax Group’s power station in the U.K. …While the wood pellet sector is expected to go through a few rough years, Strauss believes the future for the sector remains bright. …While Japan remains a key customer of wood pellets for Canada, Adler said that demand has slowed down with the phasing out of the Feed-in-Tariff and Feed-in-Premium schemes.

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Washington nears final step in joining California-Quebec carbon market

By Aspen Ford
The Washington Standard
September 23, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States

Taking the stage at Climate Week in New York City, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his authorization to move forward with linking Washington into its carbon market that’s shared with Quebec, Canada, the next-to-last step in California’s process to complete the merger. On the same day, Washington state officials completed the rulemaking process to allow the linkage. California and Quebec will still need to complete regulatory changes, the final step, before merging can occur. In June, the three jurisdictions signed a linkage agreement to fully join operations in 2027. Washington hopes that joining the older and well-established carbon market will stabilize prices for businesses, which have swung wildly in recent years on the state’s 5-year-old market. …For more than a decade, California’s carbon market has sought to cut climate pollution by setting a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and requiring major polluters to buy allowances to cover their share of emissions. In 2014, its market linked with Quebec. 

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Canada is now more than 20 years behind reaching its 2030 emissions target

By Canadian Climate Institute
PR Newswire
September 11, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA, ON–New analysis of Canada’s current emissions trajectory finds the country is not expected to hit its 2030 emissions target before 2050, let alone achieve net zero emissions by then. Under today’s policies–including the implementation agreement for the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)–Canada would be more than 20 years behind schedule in achieving its international climate commitments, according to research by the Canadian Climate Institute’s 440 Megatonnes project. Unless governments across the country implement stronger policies, the Institute’s analysis finds that national emissions in 2040 will be at least 202 million tonnes above levels aligned with a pathway to net zero emissions. The gap is roughly equivalent to leaving an extra 44 million gasoline-powered cars on the road by 2040–or nearly the total combined emissions of Ontario and British Columbia. If the country remains on its current course, by 2050 Canada’s emissions would be 460 megatonnes higher than the legislated target of net zero.

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The trade war could sideline climate or become an opportunity

The National Observer
September 8, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

As Canada confronts a trade war with the US, climate action risks becoming collateral damage. But the same economic shock could also allow Canada an opportunity to rethink its energy future. This tension was at the centre of Canada’s National Observer’s newest conversation hosted by Linda Solomon and David McKie. …The trade dispute is already hitting major Canadian industries, Snieckus said, pointing to steel, forestry and automotive manufacturing, as well as thousands of small and medium-sized businesses. At the same time, Canada has considerable leverage because of the resources our neighbours rely on. But the discussion repeatedly returned to a bigger question: where does climate action fit when economic sovereignty becomes the immediate priority? Max Fawcett argued protecting Canadian sovereignty has to come first because climate policy itself depends on it. …Darius Snieckus said the trade war could become an “industrial policy shock” that ultimately leaves Canada more economically diversified and energy secure.

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Climate change could increase pest and disease damage across North American forests

By Demetra Maragos
CTV News
September 4, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States

New research suggests climate change could leave Canada’s forests increasingly vulnerable to pests and disease in the coming decades, while a federal climate report projects a sharp increase in the area burned by wildfires across the country. A federal government report warns average temperatures in Canada could rise by at least 3.5 C by the end of the century, even if the world achieves net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, researchers at the University of British Columbia say climate change is expected to increase pest and disease damage across much of North America’s forests. The UBC study found more than 80 per cent of the forest area examined could experience higher levels of damage by the middle of the century. “Climate can influence the performance of both trees and the pests,” said Dr. Zihui Wang, a researcher in UBC’s Department of Botany.

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Canadians should prepare for a 5 C hotter future, report warns

By David Thurton
CBC News
September 3, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Canadians will have to prepare for a future that’s 5 C hotter, according to a new report summarizing the latest science on climate change. The second edition of Canada’s Changing Climate Report, a synthesis of the science on the impact of a warming planet on Canadians, confirms with greater confidence that burning fossil fuels are responsible for climate change. The report assess what Canada would look like under different scenarios depending on whether countries fulfil their climate commitments. …The report finds that if global governments keep pursuing their current climate policies, Canada… is projected to warm through this century with an estimated temperature increase of 5 C. In Nunavut, warming in winter could exceed 10 C. If the world, however, dramatically reduces GHGs and achieves net-zero around 2075, Canada’s climate is projected to stabilize and average warming would increase by 3.5 C. …Canada’s environment minister said Canada remains committed to reducing its emissions and achieving net-zero by 2050.

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Donald Trump’s trade war is accelerating Canada’s retreat from climate policy

By Linda Solomon Wood
National Observer
September 3, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States

Donald Trump’s trade war is accelerating Canada’s retreat from climate policy. When trade talks between Canada and the United States broke down on August 22 and Trump imposed tariffs of 50 per cent on almost $30 billion of Canadian goods, Canada had to respond. And it is responding. Prime Minister Mark Carney is standing up to Trump. I admire him for that. Canada cannot allow an American president to threaten our economy every time he doesn’t get what he wants. We need new markets, new trading partners and far less dependence on the United States. But something else is happening in the rush to protect ourselves. Climate policy is getting trounced. The oil-and-gas emissions cap has been abandoned. The Clean Electricity Regulations and other climate measures have been weakened. The federal government has moved toward expedited approvals for energy infrastructure.

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Feds say their climate law is unenforceable

The Edmonton Sun
September 1, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Mark Carney government is arguing in court that the signature piece of Justin Trudeau’s climate action plan — the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act — is unenforceable. Also, that it’s not the job of the courts to rule on federal climate policy. That may come as a shock to Canadians who remember the Trudeau government crowing when the Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that Trudeau’s carbon pricing law was constitutional, after it was challenged by Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan as an intrusion into provincial authority. But that was then, and this is now. CBC reports that a group of environmental activists are asking the federal court to compel the government to update its 2030 emission targets, which are no longer realistic, or declare the current plan is a violation of the act. The government argues its net zero law only says the government may decide to amend its emission targets, but does not require it.

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Wood Pellet Association of Canada Summer Newsletter

Wood Pellet Association of Canada
August 26, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

In this edition of the WPAC newsletter, you’ll find:

The Headlines

  • Attend WPAC’s 2026 Conference, September 22-23, 2026 in Victoria, BC!
  • Strength in Numbers: The Value of WPAC Membership
  • Advancing Safety in Biomass Storage: Insights from the Safe Wood Pellet Storage Workshop in Japan
  • Witnessing Wildfire Forest Recovery: My Visit to the Cariboo Chilcotin Region
  • Reliable, Efficient Bioheat Can Reduce Electrical Grid Pressure

Safety First Focus

  • Building a Safer Wood Pellet Industry: Takeaways from 2026 WPAC Safety Summit
  • Rotary Drum Dryer Safety: Habits That Prevent Fires Before They Start
  • Continuing Progress: WPAC Safety Committee Process Safety Implementation 
  • Kevin Storie at Drax Smithers: WPAC Safety Hero
  • Congrats to WPAC’s Latest Safety Hero—Scott McPhee at Drax in Burns Lake

Upcoming Events

  • International Training Seminar Sustainable Bioenergy Heating – September, Linz, Austria

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Dark boreal forests of Canada absorb enough heat to cancel up to a fifth of their climate benefit, scientists warn

By United Nations University
EurekAlert!
August 20, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada – Dense evergreen plantations in Canada’s boreal forest absorb so much winter sunlight that the resulting surface warming can offset 6 to 20 percent of the climate benefit they are credited with. Canada’s current carbon accounting frameworks measure the carbon stored but largely omit the heat absorbed by these forests, according to a new Policy Brief from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). The result is inflated mitigation estimates and public investment in forests that may not deliver the cooling they promise. The Policy Brief “From Carbon Accounting to Net Cooling: Securing the Albedo-Carbon Double Win in Canada’s Boreal Forest” argues that Canada should judge reforestation by its net effect on temperature rather than by tonnes of carbon stored. “Canada has an opportunity here that few countries have,” said Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH. 

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Canada’s Forests Are Shifting From a Recovery-Driven Carbon Sink to a Disturbance-Driven Carbon Source

Global Change Biology
June 5, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Canada’s terrestrial ecosystems are critical to the global carbon cycle and are responding to unprecedented climate change and wildfire disturbance. However, our understanding of Canada’s carbon cycle is incomplete. There are no published physically coherent (i.e., those that respect conservation laws) wall-to-wall estimates of all major carbon pools and fluxes for Canada. …Here, we synthesize information from the site to Canada-wide scale with a land surface model and the most comprehensive wildfire and wood harvest estimates available to provide the first physically coherent wall-to-wall estimates of all major carbon pools and fluxes for Canada. Using factorial model runs, we show that Canada’s terrestrial ecosystems have been a carbon sink since the mid-20th-century, due to wildfire and timber harvest before 1940. Since the early 2000s, wildfire disturbance has been driving Canadian forests towards becoming a carbon source. Continued increases in wildfire activity will further weaken, and may ultimately reverse, Canada’s role as a carbon sink.

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Protecting our fresh water is crucial in face of climate change, other threats

By Clifford Lincoln, retired federal Liberal MP
The Montreal Gazette
August 10, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Clifford Lincoln

As climate change brings cataclysmic shifts to normal life patterns all across the globe, Canada’s fresh water remains an existential resource. …I reflected on this… upon learning that the Colorado River and other major US river systems are facing record-low levels, amounting to a potential crisis for domestic consumption, agricultural irrigation and hydroelectric generation. Given the capricious envy and unpredictability of US President Trump, it would be no surprise if our water became the next target of his aggression. Thanks to a visionary Canadian, the protection of our water — that all-precious resource and generational blessing — is safeguarded by statute into the future. As climate change brings cataclysmic shifts to normal life patterns all across the globe… fresh water remains that existential resource that ensures sustenance of life. We should strive to preserve it for those who will follow.

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As wildfires rage, it’s a moment for carbon removal technology to shine

By Na’im Merchant and Grant Canary
The Globe and Mail
August 4, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

There have been more than 800 wildfires across Canada so far this year and nearly four million hectares of land has been burned. …In addition to the fires’ immediate damage to our natural landscapes and well-being, there’s another way to think about their climate implications: a healthy forest spends decades pulling carbon out of the air and locking it away in tree trunks, branches and roots. A wildfire undoes that long-term work almost overnight, and releases all of that carbon. …Carbon removal is distinct from carbon capture… it’s a distinct process that pulls carbon already in the atmosphere back out, rather than just capturing it as it’s produced, and this deserves a policy environment to catalyze it. …Some carbon-removal companies take fire-killed trees that have no other use, which would otherwise decompose or fuel the next fire, and bury it in engineered, low-oxygen sites where its carbon stays locked away for a century or more. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]

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Three-Fourths of Carbon Emissions From 2023 Record-Breaking Wildfires in Canada Traced to Soil and Peat Combustion

Advancing Earth and Space Sciences
July 27, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

The 2023 wildfires in Canada burned a record-breaking area, contributing 23% of global wildfire carbon emissions that year. Yet, the relative contributions from live biomass versus soil and peat organic matter combustion were previously unknown. Our analysis reveals a total of 554 million tonnes of carbon released by the 2023 wildfires in Canada, with 76% originating from soil and peat combustion, and 24% from live biomass burning. As Canada stores about one-fifth of the world’s soil organic carbon, these findings underscore the growing vulnerability of northern soil carbon stocks to intensifying wildfires, amplifying climate feedback risks.

Additional coverage in the Globe and Mail, by Ivan Semeniuk: High proportion of Canadian wildfire smoke originates below ground, scientists report

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Air Canada and Airbus launch joint initiative to scale domestic Canadian Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Air Canada
July 20, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

MONTRÉAL — Air Canada, the country’s largest airline and flag carrier, and Airbus, a global leader in aerospace manufacturing with the largest commercial aircraft industrial footprint in Canada, are uniting their shared commitment to aviation decarbonisation. To lead the way in advancing these goals, the two aviation pioneers are proud to announce their intent to establish a jointly funded Sustainability Co-Investment Platform. This agreement states a shared objective to invest up to approximately C$13.7 million, through the platform to support a commercial-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry in Canada. Both companies are confident that, with a supportive public policy framework in place, this investment can serve as a catalyst for the broader Canadian SAF ecosystem. Key focus areas include accelerating a jointly agreed Canadian SAF project toward a Final Investment Decision. 

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Reliable, Efficient Bioheat Can Reduce Electrical Grid Pressure

By Jonathan Levesque
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
July 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Jonathan Levesque

Using low-carbon, locally sourced wood pellets and biomass to heat homes and commercial and industrial buildings offers a practical way to reduce strain on Canada’s energy grid, while lowering heating costs for consumers. …In May, I represented the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) at the Energizing Efficiency Conference in Fredericton, New Brunswick. While much of the conference focused on electrification and energy efficiency, WPAC highlighted the important role that biomass heating can play in reducing emissions while relieving pressure on electrical systems. I also delivered Canadian Biomass’ webinar Bioheat: Delivering Decarbonization, Affordability and Energy Resistance. …Unlike heat pumps, which require increased electrical input in cold weather, modern biomass systems maintain high efficiency and full heating capacity even in the coldest winter conditions. …Greater adoption of bioheat would reduce reliance on less-efficient, higher-emission electricity generation for heating, helping stabilize power rates both now and in the future.

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El Niño is here, and it’s already looking like it could be ‘mind-blowing’

By Nicole Mortillaro
CBC News
July 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States, International

The long-anticipated El Niño is here. …In its monthly update in June, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), issued an El Niño advisory, confirming that the warmer conditions had developed in the specific part of the Pacific Ocean known as Niño 3.4. In order to be considered an El Niño, temperatures need to be 0.5 C above the average. Ocean temperatures are now close to 2 C above average. …The strongest El Niño in recent years was the one in 2015-2016, where the ocean temperature anomaly was roughly 2.75 C. ….Nat Johnson, a meteorologist at NOAA’s geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory, said the transition from a La Niña to El Niño has been very quick. …Meanwhile, in Canada, the effects will be seen in the winter months, bringing milder temperatures, but also drier conditions, something that is of great concern for wildfire development in the spring in Western Canada.

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How Ottawa can protect Canadians from extreme weather while saving billions

By Ryan Ness
Canadian Climate Institue
July 16, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Canada’s climate future continues to arrive faster than its defences. A scorching heat wave is bearing down on much of the country, with warnings from the Prairies through Ontario into Quebec. It follows another that gripped Eastern Canada just two weeks ago. …Across Toronto, trains and subways were slowed or cancelled as the heat threatened to warp the rails. Nearly 40 people ended up in Toronto emergency rooms with heat-related illness, a tally public health officials say understates the real toll. The financial cost of extreme weather keeps climbing. Canadian Climate Institute found that, without adaptation, worsening heat and intense rainfall could add $14 billion per year to the cost of maintaining public infrastructure by the 2050s. Wildfire smoke is now linked to thousands of premature deaths annually and costs billions. Each of the past five years ranked among the top 10 costliest for extreme weather insurance claims, with 2024 the worst on record at $9.1 billion. 

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Wood Pellet Association announces Don Roberts – conference keynote

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
July 14, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

The 2026 WPAC Conference is shaping up to be an exciting event, and we are pleased to welcome our keynote speaker, Don Roberts, President & CEO of Nawitka Capital Advisors Ltd. Drawing on his experience advising investors and industry leaders, Don Roberts will offer his perspective on the drivers of investment and project development in Canada’s forest sector. From competing uses of fibre and shifting sources of value to where capital is—and isn’t—flowing, Don will discuss the opportunities and challenges facing Canada’s forest-based bioeconomy. Attendees will gain insights into: How projects move from concept to construction; Canada’s competitive position relative to Europe and Asia; The role of policy, capital and market signals in shaping investment decisions; and What is needed to strengthen Canada’s forest-based bioeconomy.

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Fraser Institute study questions reliance on carbon capture for climate policy

By Jon Tupper
The Fraser Institute in CruzRadio
July 8, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

VANCOUVER — Technological limitations, high costs and infrastructure challenges raise questions about relying on carbon capture, utilization and storage as a cornerstone of federal and Alberta climate policy, according to a new Fraser Institute study. The study argues current carbon capture, utilization and storage technology, commonly known as CCUS, is unlikely to deliver emissions reductions on the scale envisioned by governments and industry. The findings come as Ottawa and Alberta advance plans for a new West Coast oil pipeline alongside development of the Pathways carbon capture and storage project in the oilsands. Kenneth Green, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute and author of the study, said the historical performance of carbon capture projects raises questions about using the technology as a central climate policy. …It also argues large-scale CCUS projects have frequently failed to meet projected carbon capture targets while experiencing significant cost overruns.

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How Energy Security Concerns Are Driving Biofuels Boom

By Anuradha Raghu, Elizabeth Elkin, Rakesh Sharma, and Eko Listiyorini
Bloomberg Industries
July 6, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States, International

Demand for biofuels has been growing in many parts of the world. …Disruption to oil exports via the Strait of Hormuz this year created a further incentive to switch to biofuels to ensure energy security. While biofuels can’t fully replace petroleum, they can be blended into gasoline and diesel, allowing countries to stretch existing fuel supplies. Many environmentalists contest the idea that biofuels are a sustainable alternative source of energy. And as more farmland is used to produce them, there’s less available to make food, increasing the risk of global food shortages and hunger in the poorest nations. …The priciest biofuel is sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, which uses advanced refining processes to convert waste oils into jet fuel that can be blended for use in aircraft. There’s also so-called advanced or second-generation biodiesel, made from non-food sources such as crop waste, wood chips and even algae, which avoids competing with food crops.

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Building Canada Stronger — Join the Conversation at the 2026 WPAC Conference

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 30, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

Get ready for WPAC’s annual conference, September 22-23, 2026, in beautiful Victoria, BC! This year’s theme, Building Canada Stronger: Navigating the Global Wood Pellet Transition, covers securing supply, resilient energy and next-gen bioenergy. Day 2 focuses on the innovation, decarbonization and domestic markets. Sessions include:

  • BECCS, CDRs and Carbon Markets: Examine how bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can deliver benefits beyond emissions reduction, including fibre utilization, export competitiveness and forest sector resilience. Also explore Canada’s readiness, global project developments and the role of carbon markets and investment signals.
  • Strengthening Canada’s Energy Resilience with Biomass: Heat, Industry, and Domestic Supply: Explore how biomass can help strengthen Canada’s energy security by delivering reliable, low-carbon heat across diverse applications. Discover the projects, infrastructure and logistics needed to scale domestic biomass energy nationwide.
  • Industry Leadership Session—What We Do Next: Engage with WPAC Board members to discuss the strategic priorities for WPAC and the Canadian wood pellet sector in the next few years.

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Joint Australia-Canada-United Kingdom Statement on Energy and Climate Cooperation

By Environment and Climate Change Canada
PR Newswire
June 25, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

Julie Dabrusin

Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom recognise the immediacy with which we must act to secure a clean energy future, following a prolonged period of global disruptions to energy security, markets and supply chains. We affirm that accelerating the clean energy transition, and shifting from fossil fuels to clean electricity, will greatly reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets and improve long-term energy supply resilience, affordability, and economic competitiveness. …Our three nations … are rapidly transitioning to decarbonise our economies, powered by clean energy; making record investments in clean energy and electrification…; enhancing our grids to deliver reliable, clean power…, while creating new job opportunities across our regions. … To further these efforts, we have committed to working together on building and contributing to diverse, secure and sustainable supply chains that can power the world with clean energy, including the critical minerals, technologies and components required for grid flexibility, reliability and resilience. 

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Federal government sued over climate policies: ‘It must keep its word’

The National Post
June 16, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada

OTTAWA — Three young women and two environmental groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government seeking to force it to develop an action plan to meet its key climate goals. The lawsuit comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government shifts Canada’s climate and energy priorities, rolling back key environmental policies while advancing major energy and infrastructure projects to reduce dependence on the United States. Announcing the lawsuit, plaintiff Shirley Barnea, a university student from Quebec, said authorities had an obligation to build a sustainable future for younger generations. …The legal action aims to compel the government “to chart a credible, up-to-date course of action” and “to protect Canadians from the worsening impacts of climate change,” according to a statement from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), which is also a party to the lawsuit.

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Drax cleared after investigation into sourcing of wood pellets

By Lauren Almeida and Jillian Ambrose
BBC News
June 18, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

UK — The City watchdog has closed an investigation into the owner of the Drax power plant after an almost 10-month review into whether the company’s sustainability claims mislead shareholders. The Financial Conduct Authority said it had “reviewed thousands of pages” of “complex material” relating to the company’s sourcing of wood pellets for the Drax power plant in Selby, North Yorkshire, but “did not find evidence that justified any further action”. The regulator began the investigation last year into whether Drax’s annual reports and accounts between 2021 and 2023 misled shareholders or left out important information investors needed to know about the origins of its biomass fuel. …Ofgem found at the time that there was no evidence to suggest the breach was deliberate, and said instead that it was “technical in nature”. It also found no evidence that the biomass sourced was unsustainable or that Drax had wrongly laid claim to renewable energy subsidies.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says El Niño expected to grow to ‘historic strength’

By Tiffany Crawford
Vancouver Sun
June 13, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

Here’s the latest news concerning climate change and biodiversity loss in B.C. and around the world, from the steps leaders are taking to address the problems, to all the up-to-date science. Human activities like burning fossil fuels and farming livestock are the main drivers of climate change, according to the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change. The panel, which is made up of scientists from around the world, including researchers from B.C., has … issued a code red for humanity and warns the window to limit warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial times is closing. …El Niño — a climate cycle that causes unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, altering global weather patterns — has begun and is expected to grow to historical strength, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this week. …Human activities pushed global warming to 1.37 C above pre-industrial times in 2025, and its level is projected to surpass 1.5 C in about four years…

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Seniors’ caravan rolls through Revelstoke in call for Canada to tackle climate change

By Evert Lindquist
The Aldergrove Star
September 14, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada West

A cohort of climate-conscious senior citizens caravanning across Canada to converge on the country’s capital, in a call for commitments to countering the consequences of extreme weather, stopped in Revelstoke last Thursday. The golden-agers travelling from Victoria launched Sept. 9, meeting with scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki in Vancouver and aiming to reach Ottawa by end of this week. An East Coast caravan departing from Nova Scotia is also bound for Parliament Hill. Seniors’ Climate Witness’s (SCW) members include Amalia Schelhorn, Bill Darnell, Brian Short, Dawn Moorhead, Michael Polanyi and Yves Parizeau from Victoria, Brooke Lydbrooke and Sharon Bider from Toronto, and Etienne Eason from Ottawa. …In an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney in August, they said they’re visiting communities that’ve experienced the impacts of this summer’s wildfire season. This includes evacuations, choking smoke, forestry loss and declines in tourism.

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A Year of Growth for University of British Columbia Forestry & Environmental Stewardship’s Combined Heat and Power Academy

By Forestry & Environmental Stewardship
University of British Columbia
August 28, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada West

Over the past year, the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Academy at the Alex Fraser Research Forest (AFRF) has welcomed participants from Indigenous, remote, and forest-dependent communities across Canada to explore a question that many communities are asking: how can local forest resources help build a more resilient energy future?  “Communities across Canada are looking for practical solutions that can strengthen local energy resilience while creating economic opportunities,” said Mustafa Onder Ersin, Project Manager of the CHP Academy Community Bioenergy Systems Training Program. “The CHP Academy was created to help communities explore those opportunities through hands-on learning, practical demonstrations, and knowledge sharing.” Hosted at the AFRF, managed by UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship, the Academy provides a unique setting where participants can learn about renewable energy systems within an operational forestry environment.  

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How B.C.’s forest policy is making Canada’s climate problem worse

By Stewart Muir
Resource Works Society
July 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

BC’s wildfire emissions in 2023 exceeded those of seven of the world’s ten largest national emitters. …At the same time, provincial policy has systematically reduced the managed forest harvest and shuttered 21 mills since 2023. …The policy of locking forests away from active management—while presented as environmental protection—is contributing to the very climate outcome it claims to prevent. Decadent, unmanaged stands are the fuel that feeds catastrophic wildfire. A well-managed, productive forest economy would reduce Canada’s climate impact more than any policy of exclusion. …The argument for locking forests away from harvest assumes that standing forests are always a carbon sink—absorbing more CO₂ than they release. This is true for young, actively growing forests. It is not true for old, decadent stands. …The solution is not less forestry. It is more forestry—done well, done sustainably, and done with the explicit goal of reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions: uncontrolled wildfire in unmanaged forests.

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As the world burns, the powerful deny and delay

By David Suzuki
Pique News Magazine
July 11, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West

David Suzuki

We could be happier, healthier and more economically secure—if we were to act on the knowledge that many of our problems are related. …But we’re not only up against a “polycrisis,” we’re also facing varying degrees of denial. At its most blatant, the US president has labelled the clear and overwhelming scientific and observable evidence for human-caused climate disruption as a “hoax” and is promoting climate-altering fossil fuels over renewable energy. Denial in Canada may not be as blatant, but it’s still dangerous. Prime Minister Carney is arguing that climate policies are “too expensive for Canadians.” …It’s absurd. Record high temperatures and humidity are killing hundreds of thousands of people a year worldwide. …We’ve seen increasingly intense wildfires destroying entire towns. …But short-term profit for the sake of constantly growing the economy and gross domestic product outweighs concerns about the enormous costs of accelerating climate change. It’s suicidal.

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Building a Safer Wood Pellet Industry: Key Takeaways from the 2026 Wood Pellet Association of Canada Safety Summit

By Fahimeh Yazdan Panah
Wood Pellet Association of Canada
July 7, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada West

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) and its Safety Committee are committed to fostering a safety culture across the forest products industry. One way we do this is by hosting safety events, including the 2026 Wood Pellet and Bioenergy Safety Summit, held in Prince George, British Columbia, last month. The Summit brought together 30 industry leaders, safety professionals, and regulators for two days of focused discussion, collaboration, and learning. Co-hosted by the BC Forest Safety Council and WorkSafeBC the event emphasized a shared commitment to advancing safety practices across the sector, with sessions covering technical hazard prevention, operational excellence, worker well-being and mental health. …The WPAC Safety Summit underscored that building a safer wood pellet and bioenergy industry requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach. …In the spirit of openness, the presentations for many of the Summit sessions are available on pellet.org.

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Belledune Joint Venture Secures Long-Term Biomass Supply Agreement with NB Power, Marking Major Project Milestone

By Belledune Joint Venture
PR Newswire
September 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada East

BELLEDUNE, NB — The partners of the Belledune Joint Venture (temporary name) today welcomed NB Power’s decision to proceed with the conversion of the Belledune Generating Station to sustainably sourced advanced pellets and to enter into a long-term biomass supply agreement with the Joint Venture. The partners appreciate the confidence shown by NB Power. The partners welcome this vote of confidence from NB Power. The decision paves the way for the continued development of the Belledune Joint Venture project, a partnership bringing together Pabineau First Nation, Eel River Bar First Nation, Arbec Forest Products and Airex Energy. Located at the Port of Belledune within its Green Energy Hub, the facility will transform sustainably sourced forestry residues into torrefied pellets to support the conversion of the Belledune Generating Station, helping preserve an important source of generation capacity for New Brunswick. 

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NB Power to announce conversion of major power plant

By Adam Huras
The Telegraph-Journal
September 16, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada East

NB Power is pushing ahead with the conversion of its Belledune Generating Station from coal to biomass. A Thursday announcement is expected to reveal the proponents that will supply the repurposed power plant – one of New Brunswick’s largest – with 300,000 tonnes of wood pellets annually. Among them is expected to be a partnership proposing to build a torrefied wood pellet production facility at the Port of Belledune. “Once it’s officially confirmed, we are going to have a plant right at the port,” said Pabineau First Nation Chief Terry Richardson in an interview. “What’s great about this project is it’s Canadian technology, Canadian companies, and First Nations all partnering together.” Brunswick News reported in May on a partnership between Pabineau First Nation, Eel River Bar First Nation, Arbec Forest Products, and Airex Energy, a Quebec company proposing to build a torrefied wood pellet production facility at the Port of Belledune. [A Telegraph-Journal subscription is required for full access]

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Can biomass breathe new life into Nova Scotia’s struggling forestry sector?

By Glenn MacDonald
The Chronicle Herald
September 4, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada East

For generations, Nova Scotia’s forests have been a foundation of the province’s economy. But the traditional business model built around sawmills, pulpwood and large-scale paper production has been under growing pressure. The closure of the Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County in 2020 exposed just how vulnerable the sector had become. …Now, industry leaders are looking toward an emerging opportunity: turning branches, bark and other low-grade fibre into energy. …Nova Sustainable Fuels is planning a multibillion-dollar renewable-energy project that would use biomass from Nova Scotia’s forestry and forest-based industries to produce sustainable aviation fuel, providing an alternative to conventional petroleum-based aviation fuel. For an industry struggling to find markets for its fibre, projects such as that could represent an important new customer. Stuart said a biomass market could also complement efforts to improve the health of Nova Scotia’s forests. [A Chronicle Herald subscription may be required for full access]

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Climate Change Made Canada’s Forests Much More Likely to Burn

By Coco Liu
Bloomberg News
August 6, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

The planet’s warming had a strong influence on destructive wildfires in Canada that have raged across Ontario and the Northwest Territories since late June, making the extreme fire weather that fueled them at least twice as likely, according to a report published Thursday by World Weather Attribution. With global temperatures roughly 1.4C above pre-industrial levels, Canada is experiencing a notable rise in extremely hot and dry weather — the ingredient required to turn minor ignitions into infernos. Researchers found that the severe conditions behind the recent blazes in Ontario are now twice as probable as they would be in a world untouched by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The change is even more stark in the Northwest Territories: There, a week of fire weather as extreme as this year’s — which would occur once-a-decade without global warming — is now estimated to return every two years.

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Ontario dismantled its climate policy. Now it’s burning

By Mark Winfield, professor, York University
The Hamilton Spectator
July 25, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada East

The wildfire situation in northwestern Ontario has drawn growing global attention. There have been extraordinary stories of close calls and narrow escapes from the rapidly advancing fires. Complaints are coming (ironically) from the United States over the impacts of the resulting fire smoke on American cities. In the short term, attention is rightly focused on the immediate responses to the fires. …At the same time, the fires need to be viewed in a longer-term context. Increased incidences of large-scale forest fires, particularly in the boreal region stretching across Canada from Labrador to the Yukon, have been a predicted impact of climate change in Canada for more than three decades. …The province needs to both adapt to the reality of a changing climate and its consequences and develop a serious strategy for not making the problem worse. So far, Ontario is failing on both fronts.

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Hydro-Québec to build biomass cogeneration plant for Atikamekw community in Quebec

Bioenergy Insight Magazine
July 8, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada East

Hydro-Québec has reached an agreement with the Atikamekw community of Opitciwan and Société en commandite Onimiskiw Opitciwan (SCOO) to build a 4.8MW forest biomass cogeneration plant that will replace the community’s diesel-fired power generation, with commercial operation expected to begin this month. Under the 25-year agreement … the utility will also fund the acquisition and installation of a dryer at the Opitciwan sawmill, majority-owned by the Conseil des Atikamekw d’Opitciwan (CAO). The project is estimated to cost C$60.2 million (around $45 million), with funding contributions from the Quebec provincial and Canadian federal governments alongside investment from CAO and SCOO. The Atikamekw are a First Nations people numbering around 8,000 across several communities in northern Quebec; Opitciwan itself is home to close to 3,000 residents. …”Replacing the current diesel plant with one that’s powered by forest biomass from the sawmill is a huge step forward,” said Denis Clary, President of SCOO.

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Deadly silence: The world can’t afford to ignore climate change much longer

By William Becker
The Hill
September 14, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Our government could do something about climate change, but it refuses. In fact, most elected leaders and political candidates don’t even talk about it. As the fossil-fuel industry increasingly allied itself with Republicans to block climate action over the decades, Democrats became the party more willing to address it. But now, even many Democrats have gone quiet. As the November midterms approach, think tanks and consultants are advising them to avoid the topic global warming because “it is not a priority for voters.”  The silence is called “climate hushing,” the strategic choice to avoid talking about global warming to avoid political backlash, polarization or economic anxiety. In other words, our elected leaders should avoid mentioning the huge elephant in the room, even as it gets more dangerous. Hardly an evening newscast goes by today without reports of major weather disasters and millions of Americans under threat of fire, flood, killer heat or other calamity. 

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Satellite observations underestimate widespread carbon accumulation in mature forests

BioEngineer
August 29, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

For decades, mature forests have been treated as if their ability to store additional carbon gradually fades toward a biological ceiling. Once trees fill the available space and their canopies close, conventional satellite measurements often suggest that forest biomass changes very little. A new analysis, however, indicates that this apparent stability may be partly an illusion created by the way satellites observe forests. Across the conterminous United States, mature forests continue to accumulate carbon over large areas, but much of that growth is being missed by current satellite-derived biomass estimates. …The researchers compared several independent ways of detecting forest change, including satellite-derived biomass estimates, lidar observations, forest inventories and ecosystem models. …The contrast between the measurements was striking. Satellite estimates indicated that biomass in mature forests had undergone nearly neutral change over recent decades, implying little overall gain or loss. Forest inventories, by comparison, estimated that mature forests were accumulating about 102 teragrams of carbon each year. 

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Why Biogenic CO₂ Could Become a New Revenue Stream for Pulp Mills

Resource Wise
August 24, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

For decades, the economics of a pulp mill have centered primarily on fiber, energy and established byproducts. But as low-carbon markets develop, another potential source of value is emerging from the mill itself: biogenic carbon dioxide. Biogenic CO₂ is generated from biomass rather than fossil sources. As governments and companies look for ways to reduce emissions, captured biogenic CO₂ can potentially serve two very different low-carbon markets: as feedstock for synthetic fuels and as a source of permanent carbon dioxide removal. That is beginning to change the conversation around carbon capture. Rather than viewing CO₂ solely as an emissions-management challenge, some pulp mills may increasingly be able to view it as a potential product. For pulp mills, that creates an important strategic question: Which market offers the greatest value for each ton of captured CO₂? …Biogenic CO₂ is just one of several emerging opportunities reshaping the economics of pulp production.

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Ancient forests took 100,000 years to recover from the last global warming period similar to today – Wyoming fossils reveal what happened

By Regan E. Dunn
The Conversation
August 13, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Regan Dunn

Fifty-six million years ago, Earth’s forests reached a tipping point. They had grown dense, lush canopies at the start of one of Earth’s most intense episodes of greenhouse warming. But those canopies began to thin. As global temperatures rose by as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius), heat and drought put stress on the forests, killing large numbers of trees. Forest canopies opened, exposing the ground to more sunlight and altering the movement of water through the landscape. In southern Wyoming, ferns briefly flourished where relatives of elms, walnuts, dawn redwood and avocado trees once thrived. Then palms and other warmth-loving plants spread northward. In a new study in the journal Science, my colleagues and I show how those Wyoming forests lost 60% of their canopy during this period, known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, and how it took them well over 100,000 years to recover.

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The Traceability Test Within The European Union Deforestation Regulation

By Keith Loria
Biomass Magazine
August 13, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

The European Union Deforestation Regulation has been postponed, amended and simplified since it came about in 2023, yet the central compliance challenge confronting wood pellet producers has barely changed. Producers shipping into the European Union will need to demonstrate that their fiber is legal and deforestation-free, identify the plots where the wood was harvested and preserve the connection between those plots and the finished product. That requirement reaches beyond conventional sustainability certification and deep into supplier networks that were not designed to provide plot-level information. …The delay has given the industry a longer runway, but the remaining work lies at the hardest end of the supply chain: beyond the pellet plant, beyond direct suppliers and back to the land itself.  Producers that can make that connection auditable will enter the next phase with more than a completed due diligence statement; they will possess a clearer view of the fiber networks on which their businesses depend.

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Why Wall Street Wants You to Believe Burning Trees Is Clean Energy

By Michael Dorsey
Real Clear Policy
August 12, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Under U.S. federal policy, wood pellets are classified as carbon neutral renewable energy. That label, assigned in an overlooked 2018 rider buried in a massive appropriations bill, is worth billions of dollars. The people who lobbied hardest to put it there were investors who may make billions as a result of that controversial decision. Enviva, the world’s largest wood pellet producer, was built with private equity money. Riverstone Holdings first invested in 2010 through its $4.3 billion Riverstone/Carlyle renewable energy fund, then led a recapitalization worth more than $1 billion in 2020, bringing in money from investment firms Goldman Sachs, Mubadala, Fortress, and Neuberger Berman. None of them were betting on wood, but on a label. Take away the renewable designation and the business disappears. It only works when governments agree to count pellets as “clean.” …Congress should immediately strip the carbon neutrality language from spending bills, keep biomass out of clean energy tax credits, and let the EPA follow the evidence.

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Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever

By Seth Borenstein
The Associated Press in Oregon Public Broadcasting
August 10, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. July averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree. Records go back to 1895 “It’s not good when you’re breaking records from the Dust Bowl,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections. …The heat was so widespread that every one of the Lower 48 states was at least 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than the 20th century average, said Russ Vose, chief of monitoring at NOAA. …What’s happening now is due to the burning of coal, oil and gas, scientists said. “Extremely high temperatures across the continental U.S. this summer, along with intense drought and fire conditions, are absolutely consistent with the climate change signal,’ said Katharine Jacobs, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona.

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Rep. Kiley Introduces Bill to Incentivize New Biomass Facilities

US Congressman Kevin Kiley
July 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Kevin Kiley

Washington, D.C. – This week, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA) introduced H.R. 9746, the Biomass Facility Construction Act. This legislation would create a tax credit totaling 30% of the cost of construction for biomass facilities and allow them to concurrently receive the existing tax credit for energy produced via biomass. “Our forests are overgrown and in desperate need of cleanup,” said Rep. Kiley. “A large contributor to this heightened wildfire risk is the buildup of limbs, leaves, shrubs, bushes, and dead wood, otherwise known as biomass. When biomass accumulates in our forests, it creates more fuel for wildfire.” A large part of wildfire mitigation efforts is cleaning up this biomass, but contractors struggle with disposing of this material because there aren’t enough biomass facilities to bring it to. To help address the lack of facilities, this legislation provides a tax credit for biomass facility construction and energy production. 

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With climate change accelerating, should we build in fire-prone areas?

By David Gallipoli
Idaho Statesman
July 16, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

IDAHO — On the afternoon of July 6, I looked toward the foothills from the Boise Bench and saw smoke. …With all the other fires burning in the West, wondered when our turn would come. Eighty-five percent of wildfires are human caused — and while the cause of the Claremont Fire has yet to be determined, it is certain that human activity played an important role. Science journalist and meteorologist Bob Henson writes that “extreme heat is among the most studied consequences of human-caused climate change, and the connections between a warming planet and amplified, localized extreme heat are not only intuitive but well-documented.” …Professor Friederlile Otto of Climate Science at Imperial College London writes, “we remain on a one-way trip towards a more dangerous future, and it’s time we hit the brakes… and implement solutions to protect our health and the health of the place we call home.”

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Trees keep absorbing carbon long after they stop growing

By Columbia Climate School
ScienceDaily
July 9, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

Trees do not necessarily keep growing for as long as they keep photosynthesizing, according to a new study published in Science Advances. Researchers found that oak trees continue absorbing carbon dioxide well after their annual growth has ended, suggesting forests may store less carbon in wood than many climate models currently predict. The discovery challenges a long standing assumption that higher rates of photosynthesis naturally lead to greater tree growth. If trees continue taking in carbon without turning much of it into new wood, less carbon may remain locked away over the long term. …Scientists have generally expected that rising atmospheric CO2 levels would boost photosynthesis, leading to faster growth and increased long term carbon storage. The new findings suggest …trees may continue absorbing carbon, [but] much of it does not necessarily become new wood. Instead,[it’s] used for other functions, reducing the amount of carbon stored in forests compared with previous expectations.

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US leads global CO2 emissions increase in 2025, report finds

By Seher Dareen
Reuters
June 29, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

LONDON — The United States accounted for about a third of the rise in global carbon emissions in ​2025, as higher gas prices pushed power producers ‌back to coal, an Energy Institute report showed. Highlights from the report include:

  • US coal ​consumption jumped 10% last year, reversing a shift ​towards cleaner fuels and helping lift overall ⁠emissions.
  • Global carbon emissions from the energy sector rose ​1.1% to 35,806 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
  • Europe’s carbon emissions from the energy sector increased by 0.5%, while China’s rose by 0.7% in ​2025.’
  • Electricity demand rose ​faster than ⁠supply, increasing 3% year-on-year, driven by electric vehicles, data centres and artificial intelligence.
  • Global oil consumption ​rose 1.3% in 2025 to 103 million ​barrels ⁠per day, compared with a 1.1% increase in 2024.
  • In China, gasoline and diesel use declined ⁠last year, extending a ​trend in 2024.

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Wood Pellets, Chips Reduce GHG Emissions By 65-100%

By Biomass Thermal Energy Council
Biomass Magazine
June 14, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

The Biomass Thermal Energy Council and Life Cycle Associates announced the release of the “Life Cycle Analysis of Renewable Fuel Standard Implementation for Thermal Pathways for Wood Pellets and Chips” study. The Study found that biomass fuels, in the form of wood pellets and chips, result in a 65% to over 100% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in comparison to heating oil, which exceeds the targeted 60 percent GHG reduction requirement for cellulosic biofuels replacing heating oil under the US EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program. The Study was conducted under grant issued by the USDA’s Forest Service. “It has long been known that using wood fuels for heat reduces greenhouse gas emissions by displacing the use of conventional fossil fuels, like heating oil and natural gas,” said Peter Thompson, BTEC deputy director. “This new study quantifies the GHG advantages of wood fuels for the record and highlights the avoided emissions from the resource’s alternative fates.”

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Crude Tall Oil—A Byproduct of the Kraft Pulping Process—Is Gaining Value in Low-Carbon Fuel Markets

ResourceWise Forest Products Blog
June 16, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States

For decades, crude tall oil (CTO) was viewed primarily as a byproduct of the kraft pulping process. While valuable, it still served a secondary purpose to a mill’s core business. Today, that perspective is changing. As renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and other low-carbon fuel markets expand, crude tall oil is increasingly being recognized as a strategic feedstock. …The shift illustrates a broader trend across the bioeconomy: low-carbon markets are creating new value streams for materials that have traditionally been viewed as industrial byproducts. …Tall oil fatty acids (TOFA) are particularly used as feedstocks for renewable diesel production. Because CTO is considered a waste- or residue-based feedstock in many markets, it can help fuel producers meet increasingly stringent carbon-reduction requirements while supporting compliance with renewable fuel policies. As governments raise decarbonization targets and fuel producers seek lower-carbon inputs, interest in forest-derived feedstocks continues to grow.

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California’s Climate Offsets Go Up in Smoke

By Shawn Regan, senior fellow, Manhattan Institute
City Journal
September 22, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: US West

The wildfires that have raged across Oregon and Washington this year burned millions of acres. But beyond the immediate destruction, the fires have destroyed something less visible: tens of millions of dollars in California carbon credits, paid for by businesses and consumers under the state’s climate mandates. The fires have scorched tens of thousands of acres enrolled in forest-carbon projects under California’s cap-and-trade program. The system allows companies to meet part of the state’s climate rules by purchasing credits from forest owners… sometimes outside of the state. The destruction is the latest evidence that California’s forest-offset program is ineffective at best, counterproductive at worst. …California has tried to account for wildfire risks by establishing a “buffer pool,” to which each project is required to contribute as a kind of insurance policy. When a fire destroys a forest-carbon project, credits from the pool are canceled to cover the loss. But this approach has proven inadequate. 

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Controversial biofuel company backs out of southern Oregon project

By Jonathan Bach
The Oregonian
September 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The company behind a remote southern Oregon biofuel facility is selling off its interests because it says it can’t power the plant in a cost effective way. NXTClean Fuels of Houston acquired the former Red Rock Biofuels facility in Lakeview in April 2023 with plans to establish its “Lakeview RNG” plant. It was designed to produce renewable gas, renewable diesel and clean hydrogen. NXTClean Fuels said it planned to sell the site to Tiger Industrial Holdings, which would prepare the site for further redevelopment by Vericarbon, a Utah-based company focused on generating carbon offset credits. NXTClean Fuels has also proposed a controversial $2.5 billion biofuel refinery along the Columbia River at the deepwater port of Port Westward industrial. Environmental groups have sued to reverse that project’s permit approvals. Biofuels are processed from plants and waste products such as used cooking oil and wood chips, but their production can carry environmental costs.

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Washington County supports Port Angeles site proposal for bioenergy development

By Emily Hanson
The Peninsula Daily News
July 27, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

PORT ANGELES, Washington — The Clallam County commissioners are set to throw their support toward a company exploring the possibility of repurposing the former McKinley Mill site. The commissioners discussed a letter of support for Candelaria Industries’ Biopower Redevelopment Proposal with the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities’ request for proposals for repurposing closed wood products facilities for bioenergy development. Candelaria Industries purchased the former McKinley Mill site in June and is evaluating potential reuse of the industrial property and existing infrastructure. …On June 15, the endowment launched a funding opportunity to assessed closed wood products facilities for bioenergy development, the site states. Up to $500,000 in funding is available “to test the renewable energy and economic potential of idled industrial sites in forest-dependent regions,” according to the site.

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Georgia Forestry Innovation Initiative Selects Industry Collaborator for Pilot Plant Development

Georgia Tech News Center
September 21, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

ATLANTA, Georgia — The Georgia Forestry Innovation Initiative (GFII), a collaborative effort led by Georgia Tech and the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC), announced the selection of The Langdale Company as its industry collaborator for development of a pilot-scale manufacturing facility designed to accelerate commercialization of innovative forest-based products and technologies. The pilot facility is expected to support development of technologies that convert underutilized woody biomass, forestry residuals, and mill byproducts into higher-value chemicals, advanced materials, carbon products, fuels, and other forest-derived products. …The pilot facility will serve as a critical bridge between laboratory-scale research and commercial deployment, enabling emerging technologies to be tested, optimized, and validated under real-world operating conditions. The initiative aims to create new markets for Georgia’s abundant forest resources while supporting economic development, manufacturing growth, and innovation throughout the state.

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University of Georgia Study Finds Rural Views of Forest Bioenergy Shaped by Politics, Trust

By Beth Anton
Renewable Energy Magazine
September 2, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US East

GEORGIA — A peer-reviewed University of Georgia study has found that rural forest landowners in the southeastern United States do not assess wood-based bioenergy or climate change solely through economic considerations. Their views are shaped by political beliefs, cultural values, personal experience, trust in markets and perceptions of local communities, the researchers reported in 2025. The study, published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science, examined how forest landowners and other stakeholders connect — or do not connect — climate change with the development of energy produced from woody biomass. The findings are significant because landowners’ willingness to supply forest materials is important to the operation and expansion of bioenergy facilities. “Neither bioenergy nor climate change is an isolated issue, but rather they are embedded within a matrix of cultural values, political ideologies, and personal lived experiences,” the researchers wrote.

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Climate change worsens wildfire conditions in Michigan

By Anna Barnes
Michigan Public NPR
July 22, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: US East

Jonathan Overpeck

President Trump and other republican legislators are blaming Canada’s wildfires on the country’s mismanagement of forests. …Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the school for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a climate researcher, said while forest management is useful in wildfire management, the real issue is climate change. “What we really need to do is work together as two countries, not just to manage forests better, fight fires better, but to fight climate change together,” he said. “That’s the big reason this is happening in Canada and the US and unless we do this together, climate change will get worse and the fires will get worse.” …Overpeck said there are many signs of climate change in Michigan. One is an increase in storm activity. As the storms move Northeast, that leaves the Southwest with worsening drought conditions. And as the climate warms, the aridification …also moves closer to the Midwest.

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Getting warmer: Slower forest growth means less carbon storage

By Caitlin Hayes
Cornell University Chronicle
June 25, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: US East

Ithaca, NY — Forests and land play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide emissions, but current models and forecasts don’t incorporate a new and surprising ecological discovery: Despite more available carbon, climate change and warmer temperatures are slowing forest growth. A new study considers for the first time the impact of the discovery on climate models, finding that one of the most-used land models for determining the impacts of climate change may overestimate forests’ future potential for carbon storage by as much as 30%. “Knowing how well the land will be able to keep taking up carbon in the future is really important,” said first author Brendan Clark. “But the land models are probably underestimating the effects of hotter, drier air on actual growth.” …Clark first learned about the new ecological findings from co-author and ecologist Shan Kothari, at the University of Alberta, and immediately wondered how they might impact climate models. 

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Louisiana governor signs wood pellet bill

By Erin Krueger
Biomass Magazine
June 18, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: US East

Jeff Landry

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry on June 1 signed a bill that aims to boost development of the state’s wood pellet manufacturing industry. The bill was unanimously approved by both the Louisiana House and Senate in May. The bill, HB 670, was introduced in late February by state Rep. Charles Owen and amended twice as it moved through House committees. The new law aims to benefit the state’s wood pellet manufacturing industry by streamlining permitting, developing a skilled workforce and facilitating the efficient transportation and export of wood pellets. To support the wood pellet industry, then newly signed law allows Louisiana Economic Development, a cabinet-level agency focused on business growth, to support the recruitment, retention, and expansion of wood pellet manufacturing facilities in this state within existing statutory authority and subject to the availability of funds. 

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The Dissolving Pulp Market — Lessons from 15 Years & What Comes Next

CelCo Cellulose Consulting
September 24, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Don’t miss this highly anticipated session with Lars Kjellberg at CELCO 2026. Fifteen years ago, the dissolving pulp industry was entering what many believed would be a golden age. Demand forecasts pointed to unprecedented growth. Prices surged to record levels. New investments poured into the sector as producers rushed to capture what appeared to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But what actually happened? At CELCO 2026, renowned industry and financial markets expert Lars Kjellberg will take attendees through one of the most fascinating chapters in dissolving pulp history and explain why the industry’s next phase may look very different from the last. More importantly, Lars will share his perspective on whether the industry is now entering a period of tighter supply-demand balances, improving pricing conditions, and stronger returns.

 

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Turkish producer ships 3,375 tonnes of wood pellets to EU and UK

Bioenergy Insight
September 24, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Aden Pellet Enerji, a subsidiary of Pasifik Holding, has completed an export shipment of 3,375 tonnes of Green Planet branded wood pellets from its production facility in Giresun’s Espiye district, dispatched via 125 containers through Giresun Port to buyers across the European Union and the United Kingdom, with Italy and Slovenia identified as primary destinations. The shipment forms part of an ongoing export programme rather than a standalone transaction, with Pasifik Holding indicating that Aden Pellet’s international commercial operations continue on an established basis. This positions the company within Turkey’s growing wood pellet export sector, which has increasingly targeted European biomass markets as demand for solid biofuel continues to be shaped by EU renewable energy directives and member states’ efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for heating and power generation.

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Chemical Conversations Between Forests and the Sky Affect Air Quality, Clouds, and More

By Dennis Clark
Advancing Earth and Space Sciences – EOS
September 18, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Do forests cool the planet or warm it? It’s a deceptively simple question with no clear answer. The catch is that the same forest can push climate in opposite directions at once. Forests are widely viewed as climate change mitigators—and planting trees as a partial climate solution—because they absorb carbon dioxide. Yet that framing is incomplete. Trees also release reactive gases called biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) that can influence cloud formation, contribute to air pollution, and extend the atmospheric lifetime of methane, a greenhouse gas that can trap about 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide. …Whether forests cool or warm the planet depends on how BVOCs behave once they leave the foliage. From there, the normal steps of plant metabolism synthesize and release BVOCs. …The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature estimates BVOC emissions by combining information about terrestrial vegetation with data on environmental conditions that influence emissions. 

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As forest loss accelerates, can the world meet the rising demand for wood?

By Angeli Mehta, Ethical Corporation Magazine
Reuters
September 9, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

With the impacts of climate change being felt across the globe, forests are under pressure as never before. While agriculture is the main driver of permanent deforestation, wildfires contributed 30% of tree cover loss and logging accounted for a 25% loss, according to WRI. This loss may be temporary, but forests can take decades to recover and may never return to full health. …Five years after countries pledged to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, there has been scant progress. And demand for timber, which is expected to grow 37% by 2050, could rise even higher if more wood is used for construction – a climate solution to replace high-carbon steel and cement. The most ambitious regulatory solution on offer is the EU’s deforestation regulation (EUDR), which will come into effect at the end of this year. …Supply chain leakage risks pushing illegal timber into less regulated markets. …Just 11% of timber firms can prove 90% of sourcing is deforestation-free.

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Global Greenhouse Gas emissions reached fresh high in 2025: Report

By Georgia Gratton
Argus Media
September 8, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reached a record high of 55bn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2025, up by 0.9pc on the year, data from the EU’s independent emissions database for global atmospheric research (Edgar) show. These figures include the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector — which can act either as a source of carbon or a carbon sink. Excluding LULUCF, global GHG emissions rose to 54.1bn t/CO2e in 2025, an increase of 0.7pc on the year, Edgar found. The highest-emitting countries in 2025 were China, the US and India, with shares of 29.5pc, 11.1pc and 8.3pc of the global total, respectively, Edgar data show. …Of the top six emitters, the US and Indonesia recorded the most substantial increases in emissions in 2024-5 — a rise of 2.2pc or 131.5mn t/CO2e for the US and one of 1.2pc or 16.1mn t/CO2e for Indonesia.

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CelCo Conference — The Cornerstone of your Fall Strategy

CelCo Cellulose Consulting
September 8, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Summer is winding down, vacations are ending, and the familiar September routine is kicking back into gear. As calendars begin to fill and priorities shift toward year-end planning, now is the perfect time to map out your business activities for the months ahead. One event should be at the top of your list: the CelCo Cellulose Conference in London this November. More than just a conference, this is where the global pulp, cellulose, and fiber industry comes together. Attending will give you the opportunity to connect with key industry stakeholders, strengthen existing relationships, gain valuable market intelligence, and increase your visibility within the sector. Think beyond the conference itself. Schedule customer meetings, supplier discussions, strategic partnerships, and networking opportunities around your trip. Maximize your time in London and turn a few days away from the office into months of business value. Make sure you’re part of the conversations that matter most.

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Finland gives go ahead for wood-based biogenic CO2 plant

By Dominic Ellis
Gas World
September 3, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Finland’s Ministerial Finance Committee has given the green light to €21m funding for wood-based bioproducts firm Metsä Fibre to develop a biogenic carbon capture plant in Rauma. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will shortly prepare the decision for Sari Multala, Minister of Climate and the Environment, ahead of official approval. The €70m ($81.2m) plant would have a capture capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year. CO2 would be captured from the flue gases of Metsä Group’s Rauma pulp mill where it would be further delivered to produce renewable electrofuels. Later, the solutions from the plant could be scaled up and replicated for other similar projects.

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The Cellulose Conference — Last 24 hours for Early Bird Rates

CelCo Cellulose Consulting
August 31, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Time is running out! The Cellulose Conference is fast approaching, and so is the end of our early bird pricing. Register today to secure the best rate before prices increase tomorrow. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with industry leaders, discover the latest innovations, and be part of the conversation shaping the future of cellulose. Join speakers from Numera Analytics, Lenzing, CCF Group, IKEA, Maersk, Roquette, Acuity Commodities, and more for a day of forward-looking analysis and strategic discussion. Early bird registration ends in just a few days, so secure your place now and take advantage of the discounted rate before it’s gone. Registrations are coming in every day. Check out the companies already registered by clicking HERE.

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Concerns grow over ‘green’ biomass power in Japan after spate of accidents

By Nithin Coca
Mongabay
August 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

For the past decade, Japan has been expanding the use of woody biomass for power generation to replace or be mixed and burned with coal. The country is now the second-largest wood pellet consumer in the world after the U.K. But there are concerns that burning wood pellets or palm kernel shells to generate electricity might not be safe. In the past few years, there have been at least 14 fires, explosions and accidents at biomass power plants across Japan. These incidents, combined with rising prices, pollution concerns and growing opposition are leading some to question the future of Japan’s large-scale biomass plants, an estimated 34 of which produce 3.5 gigawatts of power. …in the rush to expand plants, corners may have been cut, including improper construction and substandard storage and processing of wood pellets, says Roger Smith, Japan director at nonprofit Mighty Earth. 

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The Arctic boreal forests are burning: Here’s why this matters to the world

By Erin Harrington, Brendan Rogers, and Natalie Çilem
The World Economic Forum
August 17, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Almost 4 million hectares of land burned across Canada during this summer’s fire season, much of it in the remote boreal forests. …some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing wildfires now occur in the Arctic and boreal region, across eight countries to form a ring around the North Pole and making up the world’s largest biome. Primarily triggered by lightning strikes and exacerbated by global warming, which is warming the Arctic boreal forests at up to four times the global average, these fires are becoming a major source of worldwide carbon emissions. …Arctic and boreal regions store an immense amount of carbon. Boreal forests alone house roughly two-thirds of global forest carbon. …Protecting the boreal from wildfire is not only about safeguarding northern communities and ecosystems. It is an essential part of tackling climate change, protecting public health and building resilience for a warming world.

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Dispute Over Counting Forest Carbon Roils Global Standard-Setter

By Olivia Raimonde
Bloomberg News in The Financial Post
August 13, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Scientist, Tim Searchinger, has resigned from the World Resources Institute amid disagreement over how to tally forest carbon in accounting rules that are under development. Those rules, which are being drafted by Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) — a global standard-setting body overseen in part by the non-profit — will shape how companies in the forest industry report their carbon footprints. A senior research scholar at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, Searchinger said that he will be leaving his role as technical director of land-related issues this month because of what he said are shortcomings in the GHG Protocol’s process in drawing up the new rules. …Danny Cullenward, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, stepped down from his seat on the body’s Independent Standards Board in June over the same issue. …The argument centers on two competing approaches to calculate carbon stores and emissions from forests. 

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After Record-Breaking Summer Start, Europe Braces for New Heat Wave

By Nazaneen Ghaffar
The New York Times
August 11, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Another round of intense heat is expected to sweep across large swaths of Europe this week, following a record-breaking start to the summer in Western Europe. Forecasters warned that rapidly rising temperatures, combined with persistently bone-dry conditions, could worsen the severe threat of wildfires. The latest heat wave will be Europe’s fifth since May, as a broad area of high pressure — also known as a heat dome — intensifies across the continent. The new heat wave comes after Western Europe recorded its hottest June to July period on record, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service. The average temperature across the region during the two-month period was 21.62 degrees Celsius (70.92 degrees Fahrenheit), 2.79 degrees Celsius (5.02 degrees Fahrenheit) above average, which surpassed the previous record set in 2022. The most extreme heat is expected initially across parts of France, Spain and Italy before shifting toward Central Europe. [to access the full story a NY Times subscription is required]

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Western Europe records hottest-ever June as heatwaves intensify

By Ajit Niranjan and Damian Carrington
The Guardian UK
July 9, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Western Europe has been scorched by its hottest June on record, scientists have said, as the UK enters its third heatwave of the year and wildfires ravage France and Spain. Inflamed by carbon pollution, the deadly June heatwave helped push surface air temperatures for the region 3.06C above their average from recent decades. Globally, June 2026 was 0.56C hotter than the 1991-2020 average and 1.39C hotter than preindustrial levels, making it the second-warmest June on record, the agency found. …Western Europe is facing its third heatwave in six weeks and widespread dryness is helping small wildfires explode into unchecked blazes. Copernicus said the succession of heatwaves illustrated “the growing challenge” posed by worsening heat extremes. Raging infernos have laid waste to large areas of southern Europe in recent days, prompting the EU to scramble firefighters and water-bearing planes to help national services overwhelmed by simultaneous blazes. 

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German govt adopts law to restrict support for biomass electricity generation

By Tanya Ivanova
Renewables Now
July 3, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The German government has approved a draft law designed to limit the support for electricity generation from woody biomass, aiming the meet the EU requirements. As a result, certain categories of wood will be excluded from subsidisation under Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), such as saw logs, veneer logs, other industrial-grade roundwood and stumps and roots harvested from forests. Electricity generation from these types of wood, however, may still receive support if it is necessary to safeguard Germany’s energy security or if local industry is unable to use the forestry biomass in ways that deliver greater economic and environmental value than energy production. Under the proposed law, industrial wood residues will remain eligible for financing.

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How much are people across the world paying for their carbon emissions?

By Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado
Our World in Data
June 22, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

©OurWorldinData

Recently, I was in a meeting with a group of people who do not normally spend much time in the same room: environmentalists, climate scientists, and economists. …Despite all of the differences in the room, it struck me that there was one thing everyone agreed on: those who emit greenhouse gases should pay for the damage they cause — there should be a price on carbon. How, then, is the world acting on this rare consensus between environmentalists and economists? …What is the price of carbon across these markets? The chart below shows the global picture. Carbon pricing schemes are lined up from the most expensive on the left to the cheapest on the right. The width of each step shows the share of the world’s CO2 emissions it covers. This not only reflects differences across countries, but is also specific to the sectors or fuels within countries that are priced.

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European Commission Faces Scrutiny Over Carbon Removal Certification Rules

Fundsfor NGOs
June 15, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A coalition of environmental organizations has formally requested the European Commission to review recently adopted methodologies governing biogenic emissions capture with carbon storage (Bio-CCS) and biochar carbon removal under the European Union’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation. The request for internal review argues that the methodologies fail to meet the regulation’s requirement of delivering permanent carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere and therefore do not fulfill their intended climate objectives. …The coalition contends that the methodologies overlook important scientific evidence and international standards related to the quantification, monitoring, and sustainability of carbon removal activities. …The environmental groups argue that the methodologies could weaken the credibility of the European Union’s carbon removal framework. Concerns have also been raised regarding the potential future use of carbon removals within the European Union Emissions Trading System. 

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European Pulp and Paper Industry Urges Freeze on EU Emissions Trading System Benchmarks

Confederation of European Paper Industries
June 15, 2026
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Like other manufacturing sectors and many national governments, the European pulp and paper industry has called on the European Commission to maintain the current EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) benchmark values for the 2026-2030 period. It could otherwise lose an annual €1 billion in decarbonisation investments. The European pulp and paper industry has a strategic advantage in supporting the EU’s objective of climate neutrality by 2050. In 2023, the EU bioeconomy was valued at €2.7 trillion, accounting for 5% of the EU’s GDP, and is expected to grow rapidly, presenting a €6.6 trillion opportunity globally, which will capitalise on divestments from fossil fuels but also materials. It is a rare industry where the EU still has a competitive advantage. But a recent EU Commission proposal to adjust its key climate policy the EU ETS, discussed today at the EU Council, fails to consider this potential. 

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