Category Archives: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Seattle, Zurich – The Timber Finance Initiative, Green Canopy NODE, South Pole and Gordian Knot Strategies have joined efforts in creating the first mass timber carbon credit methodology. They are developing a globally applicable carbon credit methodology for mass timber construction in Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) GHG crediting Program. Verra will serve as the independent standard-setter for the methodology. The Working Group …will develop a concept note to be submitted to Verra’s VCS Program… later this year. The final methodology will then be developed by the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole. A rigorous carbon methodology will help realize the climate value of stored carbon in mass timber construction and help scale mass timber as a negative emissions technology and low-emissions building material. …Sustainably sourced mass timber mitigates climate change twofold: By removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it long-term in buildings and by replacing GHG-intensive conventional building materials.

An environmental campaigner has been ejected from an event sponsored by the power station operator Drax at the Labour party conference after criticising the company’s use of biomass. The owner of the North Yorkshire power station sponsored a debate on Tuesday on Britain’s net zero climate goals on the fringes of the political party’s conference in Liverpool. The company’s group director of corporate affairs, Clare Harbord, was on the panel. Climate campaigners have accused Drax of greenwashing and argue that its biomass operations, which burn wood to produce electricity, are far from green and can even increase the CO2 emissions driving the climate crisis. The talk in Liverpool was titled “Reaching net zero: how can the UK boost energy security and invest in green jobs?” Several campaigners interrupted the discussion to question Drax’s green credentials.

KUALA LUMPUR – A new funding pact between Indonesia and Norway to cut carbon emissions by protecting and restoring rainforest should kick-start similar deals between the Southeast Asian country and rich nations, said green groups, which broadly back the partnership. Indonesia abruptly ended its previous accord with Norway a year ago, due to apparent disagreements and slow progress in releasing payments based on the results of work to curb forest loss. The new five-year collaboration, outlined in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked by ministers in Jakarta last week, will provide annual payments in line with evidence showing emissions from deforestation have been avoided or reduced through conservation efforts. …There is a risk that Indonesia’s government will curb deforestation to an extent but continue to allow some commodity-driven felling in the name of “progress”, while freezing much-needed reforms to secure indigenous peoples’ rights, he added.

Vultures are obligate scavengers, meaning they get all their food from already dead prey… [They are] nature’s flying sanitation crew. And new research adds to that positive picture by detailing these birds’ role in a surprising process: mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. …the 22 species of vultures found around the world are often the first scavengers to discover and feed on a carcass. This cleanup provides a vital service to both ecosystems and humans: it keeps nutrients cycling and controls pathogens that could otherwise spread from dead animals to living ones. Decaying animal bodies release greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane. But most of these emissions can be prevented if vultures get to the remains first …U.S. Forest Service scientist Grant Domke points to studies on large-scale wildfires that show their detrimental impact on emissions and sequestration has the same order of magnitude as the beneficial effect shown by vultures. 

BRUSSELS — A vote last week by the European Parliament marks a first step toward new restrictions on burning “primary woody biomass” for renewable energy under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED). The Parliament’s proposal, to be finalized after negotiations with the European Council and Commission, would end subsidies for energy generated by burning most forest biomass by 2024. …On the heels of the vote, a group of NGOs from across the EU have filed a legal case seeking to block forest bioenergy and forestry projects from inclusion under the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, the EU’s new guidance for sustainable investments. Together, these measures could be a turning point for the EU, which allows energy from wood-burning to count toward renewable energy targets. …Power plants burning forest biomass currently receive a significant portion of the €17 billion per year that EU member states grant in bioenergy subsidies overall.

John Keppler

In North Carolina eastern pine harvest remains … head for one of 10 plants run by Enviva, to be made into wood pellets. …“We’re already sold out,” boasts John Keppler, Enviva’s cofounder and CEO. Earlier this year, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company locked in take-or-pay contracts to sell German and other European customers millions of tons of pellets over the next 15 years at upwards of $250 a ton, a record price that now yields gross margins of $43 a ton, up 14% over last year. The pellets fuel plants that might have previously relied on Russian coal or natural gas. In Europe, natural gas prices have jumped ten-fold in two years to the equivalent of $60 per thousand cubic feet (versus $8.25/mcf in America). “There’s never been a better time to be in the pellet business,” Keppler says. …“Every ton we produce is a ton of coal that stays in the ground,’’ he says. Many environmentalists doubt that’s a good tradeoff.

The UK beer industry is under threat, as rising carbon dioxide (CO2) prices could impact production – and even cause a shortage of the beverage ahead of the busy Christmas season. CO2 plays a crucial role in the beer-making process, from carbonation to packaging, meaning brewers are facing the pressure to meet costs. Carbon Herald reports prices of the gas have currently peaked at £2,800 per tonne. Three months ago, producers were paying £250 per metric tonne of CO2. The production of CO2 has been impacted partly due to rising wholesale gas prices. As the gas is a bi-product of fertiliser, the rising costs meant many fertiliser plants in the UK were forced to close. Last month, US fertiliser group CF Industries – which produces about a third of this country’s supply of CO2 – announced it would be shutting down its ammonia plant in the UK.

Climate scientists and data engineers have developed a new digital platform billed as the first-ever global tool for accurately calculating the carbon stored in every tree on the planet. Founded on two decades of research and development, the new platform from nonprofit CTrees leverages artificial intelligence-enabled satellite datasets to give users a near-real-time picture of forest carbon storage and emissions around the world. With forest protection and restoration at the center of international climate mitigation efforts, CTrees is set to officially launch at COP27 in November, with the overall aim of bringing an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability to climate policy initiatives that rely on forests to offset carbon emissions. Forest experts broadly welcome the new platform, but also underscore the risk of assessing forest restoration and conservation projects solely by the amount of carbon sequestered.

European NGOs have today announced legal action seeking to block forest bioenergy and other forestry projects from the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy, calling their inclusion ‘unlawful’. The Taxonomy, which has been criticised for including nuclear and natural gas as sustainable investments, also includes projects that accelerate logging and burning forest wood despite their substantial impact on ecosystems and the climate, the groups said. As a result, seven NGOs, along with legal support, have filed an annulment action arguing that the qualifying criteria for forestry and bioenergy projects violate basic legal obligations under primary EU law as well as key obligations under the Taxonomy Regulation because they are not based in scientific evidence, they fail to mitigate climate change, and they cause significant harm to the environment. …“The European Commission has failed to provide any scientific basis for the forest and bioenergy criteria,” said Elsie Blackshaw-Crosby.

The European Parliament voted on 14 September in favour of a 45% target for renewable energy in the EU’s energy mix by 2030, paving the way for negotiations with the 27 member states to finalise the text before the end of the year. Russia’s war in Ukraine is “a war on our energy, a war on our economy, a war on our values and a war on our future”. Those words were those of Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President who was addressing Parliament on Wednesday in her annual State of the Union speech. And MEPs apparently took note. With 418 votes in favour, 109 against and 111 abstentions, the Parliament adopted a new revision of the 2018 directive on renewable energies, part of EU plans presented last year aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% before the end of the decade. 

NEW ZEALAND — The Forest Owners Association President is predicting massive increases in the worldwide demand for engineered timber construction. Grant Dodson has told delegates at the Forest Institute Conference in Auckland that continuing worldwide urbanisation, coupled with the need to reduce carbon emissions from concrete and steel construction, will result in many counties encouraging mid-rise timber accommodation. He says a recent study published by the Potsdam Institute of Climate Research projects that the worldwide demand for wood for such building will need the global plantation forest area to at least double, and perhaps triple, by 2100. …Dodson also told delegates here in New Zealand the demand for wood for fuel had already begun to increase. He commended Fonterra’s aim of converting all its powder driers from coal by 2037 and said the cooperative was leading the biofuel revolution in New Zealand. 

UK — We are facing a once-in-a-generation energy crisis which will require an unprecedented response from the Government. So it was strange to see Stepan Stepanenko in these pages call for the Prime Minister to ‘take a long, hard look’ at one of our most dependable energy sources. Biomass currently delivers enough renewable energy to power 4 million homes, displacing fossil fuels and supporting more wind and solar power. Energy is complex. We should tread lightly when encouraging politicians to take sides on energy sources. Misguided intervention into energy markets tends to drive up costs and have unwanted ripple effects. Effective energy policy should be underpinned by the expertise of scientists and engineers. …In the case of biomass, its value to our energy system is apparent and the science points to a clear conclusion. Sustainable biomass is vital to both the present and future of our energy mix.

As the European Parliament (EP) prepares to vote on biomass amendments on 14 September, and amidst a report that the three largest groups in the EP have backed proposals to end subsidies for biomass used in power plants and exclude primary wood burning from the EU’s renewable energy targets, IEA Bioenergy has released a statement. Dr Paul Bennett, Chair of the Executive Committee of IEA Bioenergy, said: “Europe is facing a hard winter season due to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the question is: where enough electricity and heat will come from at affordable prices? Urgent action is required to move away from the reliance on fossil fuels, both for energy security and for the climate. “But there are campaigns currently being run against bioenergy from wood that misrepresent on-the-ground forestry practice. This is dangerously short-sighted and ignoring broader environmental and social implications. Policy-making should be based on facts, not on fiction.

The carbon dioxide emissions must decrease. By 2050, the net emissions of greenhouse gases shall be zero according to the EU’s Green Deal. Similar targets have been presented by many governments and leaders around the globe. Aviation is often pointed out as “the bad guys”. Here in Sweden, we talk about “flight shame” meaning shame on the ones who fly instead of taking the train. But the aviation industry is working on it. Will they eventually be the ones that solve the problem? On the 6th of September 2022, Alder Fuels, a clean tech developer and green crude producer, presented the news that they will team up with Enviva, a US producer of woody biomass, to commercialize the supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Enviva will supply up to 750.000 metric tons of woody biomass (forest residue) to Alder’s first Green Crude production plant, soon to be under construction. The supply is planned to commence in 2024. 

In a new study published in Nature, an international group of scientists emphasized the risk of depending on carbon removal technologies to curb climate change. To curb global warming to below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, researchers and others are placing their hopes on the world’s copious supply of biomass – materials such as wood remains, agricultural remnants, and energy crops – to set up mass bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), the use of which is also presumed to grow significantly in the future. However, …the harmful effects of climate change on crop yields may decrease the capacity of BECCS and endanger food security, thus forming an undetected positive feedback loop on global warming. Scientists from IIASA, Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and other organizations worldwide attempted to measure the strength of this feedback by closely considering the relationship between climate change, bioenergy, agriculture, and carbon removal technologies.

Global warming is likely to cause a decline in the number of species of microbes that live in tropical soils which could threaten the biodiversity of rainforests and increase carbon emissions, according to new research. Microorganisms, which include bacteria and fungi, play a key role in the health of tropical forest ecosystems. They breakdown dead organic matter, and use, transform or release as CO2. About a third of the carbon stored in soils is held in tropical soils—and they support around two-thirds of the world’s plant biomass. Climate models suggest the tropics could warm by two to five degrees centigrade by the end of the century. To date, there has been little scientific research into the impact this level of warming could have on the tropical soil microbes that play a key role in plant health and in mediating carbon emissions.

Technology to remove carbon dioxide from emissions before they enter the atmosphere is still nascent, but many scientists, governments and investors are already banking on the approach to reduce the climate impact of difficult-to-decarbonize industries. Carbon capture technology operates a bit like a giant vacuum, sucking planet-warming CO₂ from emissions generated by the burning of carbon-intensive fuels. But wide-scale adoption has so far been stymied by the size and expense of most capture systems, which can cost up to $500 million and typically require bespoke equipment and installation. New standardized, modular designs that are aimed at small emitters could open the door for more widespread use. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to start introducing a line-up of small to medium-sized carbon capture systems next year, which it says can sequester up to 95% of CO₂ emitted from small polluters like municipal waste incinerators, cement plants or ships.