When a natural disturbance hits Alberta’s timber supply — like forest fires — forestry companies may decide it’s still economically worthwhile to go and salvage the burned trees. There’s a small window of about two years to harvest, before the wood fiber twists, cracks and rots, making it economically worthless. Since 2016, Alberta has harvested approximately 20 million cubic metres of timber each year, which is enough to fill 8,000 Olympic swimming pools, but the proportion of that from salvaged logging can vary, according to data from the Alberta government. Some years, fire-killed trees make up less than one per cent of the total harvest, but some years it’s substantially more. Between May 2019 to April 2020, fire-killed trees were almost 20 per cent of the total harvest. The reason it varies is due to economics, said Ken Greenway, executive director of Forest Stewardship and Trade with the Ministry of Forestry and Parks.
Wednesday is 
Since the passage of its landmark climate regulations 17 years ago, California has been a leader in the fight against global warming. The state reached its 2020 emissions target four years early. …But for all of California’s progress, some of it is being undercut by a problem with one of the state’s key climate policies, according to a research paper published Thursday. …In the first nine years of California’s cap-and-trade program, companies have purchased offsets representing more than 140 million tons of emissions to help meet their requirements. But the most frequently used type of offset project in the state program appears to deliver far fewer climate benefits than claimed, according to the peer-reviewed paper. Those projects, known as “improved forest management,” …accounted for more than 80% of the offsets issued under California’s program. …But IFM projects appear to cause the storage of little extra carbon, according to the researchers.
The world’s largest wood pellet producer has applied for a major clean energy tax credit for building a new plant in Epes, Ala., but critics say burning wood pellets for energy won’t reduce the greenhouse gases that drive climate change. Enviva—which is currently constructing what will be its largest pellet mill to date in Sumter County—recently told investors in an earnings call that it has applied for tax credits under the Department of Energy’s “Advanced Energy Project Credit,” meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy. The wood pellets produced at Epes would be ground up from whole or partial trees, and shipped overseas to countries where burning the wood pellets in power plants is considered a carbon-neutral or renewable energy. 
Minneapolis, MN – The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities has provided a grant to Dovetail Partners to conduct a project in collaboration with Cambium Consulting with the goal of creating shared understanding around the potential effects of an expanding forest carbon market in the United States. The project has four distinct phases designed to raise awareness and encourage consideration and integration of approaches to maximize positive outcomes and minimize negative impacts. The project includes development of a concept paper, a survey of stakeholders and interested parties, development of mapping strategies, and a conveying workshop to be held in mid-2024. “Forest carbon offset prices are now competitive with lower value traditional forest products such as pulp, and chip-n-saw logs in some markets,” says Pete Madden, President, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. “As offset prices continue to rise, it’s reasonable to anticipate price competition with forest products in the near future.” 
Microsoft has signed a carbon capture agreement to remove CO2 by burying charcoal. Carbon Streaming Corporation last week announced it will provide Microsoft with carbon removal credits from the Waverly Biochar project in Waverly, Virginia. “We’re pleased to work with Carbon Streaming to support the development of biochar as a carbon removal approach through the Waverly Biochar project. Carbon Streaming’s capacity to provide project-level finance is an important part of scaling this industry and it ensures we can focus on procuring carbon removal from high-quality projects,” said Brian Marrs, senior director of energy and carbon, Microsoft. …Carbon Streaming said the Waverly Biochar project is expected to deliver up to 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide removal credits per year towards Microsoft’s carbon negative target. The Waverly project will see a biochar production facility located at a wood pellet manufacturer in Waverly, in Virginia’s Sussex County.
JAKARTA — Indonesia has just launched its first carbon emissions trading market in a bid to fight climate change. The Southeast Asian country is one of the world’s top 10 greenhouse gas emitters, with a bulk of its emissions coming from the burning of coal to generate power. …Environmentalists have criticized Indonesia’s carbon trading mechanism, which had its first day of trading Sept. 26. The government touts the mechanism as a way to curb emissions and attract climate funding, but critics call carbon trading a false solution to climate change and a greenwashing attempt. Environmentalists say carbon trading could discourage companies from outright reducing emissions, enabling a “business as usual” attitude in which people and companies could buy carbon credits to continue polluting instead of changing their behaviors.
Big brands’ efforts to get coal out of their supply chains by encouraging a shift to biomass like wood pellets and rice husks is a “greenwashing tactic” that risks delaying a transition to cleaner energy sources and increasing deforestation, a group of 16 Indonesia-based environmental advocacy organisations have said. In an 
BRAZIL — With the return of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Brazil’s presidency this year, environmental protection has shot to the forefront of the political agenda — and with it a rush to seize the commercial opportunities accompanying the green transition. Most exuberant has been the market for voluntary carbon credits. …The potential for the market has left many breathless, with one study last year optimistically forecasting potential revenues of $120bn by 2030. …But doing business in the rainforest is a fraught endeavour. These complexities have been laid bare by a deepening scandal in the huge Amazonian state of Pará, where prosecutors have filed lawsuits against three carbon credit projects. The investigators allege the little-known companies behind the projects had seized public land to use in their bid to generate carbon credits and profits. In local parlance, the alleged offence is grilagem, or land grabbing.