Biomass Energy, Forests and Climate Library

Beaten to a pulp: How the pulp and paper industry is burning EU forests for energy

This report exposes the extent to which the EU’s major wood pulp producers generate and sell energy produced by burning wood sourced directly from forestry operations. In the largest pulp-producing countries, the report estimates that over a fifth of the wood sourced directly from forestry operations that is burned for energy can be attributed to the pulp industry with, on average, one cubic metre being burned for every tonne of pulp produced.

The report looks at the EU’s top five pulp-producing countries – Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Germany and Spain – and finds that in all but the case of Germany, the pulp and paper industry is the dominant force in the biomass energy sector. The case studies can also be downloaded separately from the biomass library.

Burning down Finnish forests: The scale and impacts of using woody biomass for energy by the pulp and paper industry

Finland is one of the most biomass dependent countries in Europe when it comes to generating energy, and 30% of the energy consumed in Finland in 2021 was produced by burning biomass, with more than half of this being woody biomass (57%). Wood-based fuels account for as much as 70% of so-called renewable energy in Finland. It has been the single largest source of energy in Finland since 2012.

Pulp mills and biomass plants in Germany

At least two pulp and paper companies are expanding into wider biomass energy markets, beyond supplying process energy and selling some
additional electricity to the grid. These are Mercer International, which has built a 150,000 tonne capacity wood pellet plant, and Koehler Group, which operates
five biomass cogeneration plants that don’t supply the company’s paper mills. Koehler Group has also recently acquired two wood and biomass logistics and trading companies, one in Germany, the other in France.

Biomass energy and pulp production in Spain

ENCE Energía & Celulosa is Spain’s largest producer of both pulp and biomass electricity. The company operates two pulp mills in Galicia and Asturias with a combined capacity of over one million tonnes of pulp, and both mills have biomass CHP plants that burn woody biomass alongside recovery boilers that burn black liquor.

The reindeer are starving: The contribution of burning biomass to the impacts of pulp production in Sweden

Sweden produced around 12 million tonnes of pulp in 2022, accounting for over a quarter of Europe’s total pulp production and making it Europe’s largest producer. Bioenergy is Sweden’s largest energy source and accounts for almost a third of total energy supply. Almost 60% of final energy use in the industrial sector is bioenergy, and the pulp and paper industry accounts for much of this.

Zellstofffabriken und Biomasseanlagen in Deutschland

In Deutschland gibt es fünf Zellstofffabriken sowie eine große Anzahl von Papierfabriken. Letztere sind zu etwa 60 % auf Altpapier angewiesen. Sie verwenden außerdem Zellstoff aus Eukalyptusplantagen aus Brasilien und Uruguay sowie Zellstoff aus Frischholz aus Deutschland und anderen europäischen Ländern wie zum Beispiel Schweden und Finnland.

El Capitalismo Depredador

En el Abya-Yala, la colonización configuró territorios orientados a la mercantilización de sus recursos comunes, incorporándolos al sistema-mundo como proveedores de las materias primas. Esto ha significado una sobreexplotación intensiva que supera la capacidad que la naturaleza y los sistemas que ésta tiene para regenerarse, ocasionando una crisis ambiental sin precedentes. Debido a esto, actualmente vivimos un nuevo ciclo extractivista, asociado a la implementación de una agenda global de transición energética, que emerge desde las sociedades del norte global, como respuesta a la crisis climática. Se trata de un modelo de transición basado en la descarbonización de la matriz energética, que supone el reemplazo de los hidrocarburos por las energías renovables no convencionales, principalmente eólica, solar y biomasa.

BOIS ÉNERGIE: LA FIN DE LA FRÉNÉSIE

Le bois-énergie représente environ 35 % des énergies renouvelables en France1. Après une phase d’expansion rapide, cette filière doit aujourd’hui amorcer un atterrissage nécessaire, en mettant fin aux dérives qui se sont installées et en intégrant pleinement les exigences de la nouvelle donne climatique. Ces défis restent pourtant largement ignorés par les représentants de la filière.

Debunking Dangerous Distractions: Bioenergy

How burning wood, biofuels and BECCS are exacerbating climate change, hurting people and delaying real action.