Biomass Energy, Forests and Climate Library

Avoiding Bioenergy Competition for Food Crops and Land, Creating a Sustainable Food Future

Installment 9 of Creating a Sustainable Food Future shows that any dedicated use of land for growing bioenergy inherently comes at the cost of not using that land for growing food or animal feed, or for storing carbon. It recommends several policy changes to phase out forms of bioenergy that use crops or that otherwise make dedicated use of land.

South Korea to Reduce Subsidies for Biomass Energy, Explained

On December 18, 2024, the South Korean government announced a major reform of public support for biomass energy, phasing down indirect subsidies known as Renew able Energy Certificates (RECs) for most biomass categories. While this change largely heralds a step in the right direction to mitigate the controversial forest biomass, slow phase-out timelines and loopholes continue to threaten global forests.

BORNEO FOREST’S SILENT SACRIFICE: Japan’s Energy Transition and the Shadow of Indonesia Illegal Biomass Trade

The wood chips and wood pellets producon from Indonesia's largest Energy Forest Plantaon (HTE) concession or PT Koringa Hutani is 100% exported to supply Japan's biomass demand. A glaring discrepancy in the mber trade data between Indonesia and Japan from 2012 to 2023 revealed a potential gap in illegal practices in the wood-based biomass supply chain.

Shareholder Action: A cost-effective means of influencing corporate investment and policy decisions for commercial scale forest bioenergy

This document aims to show why purchasing shares in companies that are involved in the forest bioenergy sector can provide a cheap and highly effective way of getting your arguments against forest bioenergy heard in the corporate world that funds so much of the sector.

Financing biomass mega polluters with sustainability-linked loans

An investigation (https://mississippitoday.org/2025/01/15/amid-years-of-pollution-violations-in-the-deep-south-drax-received-over-700-million-in-green-loans/) by The Examination, The Toronto Star and the Mississippi Today, revealed that some of the world’s mega polluters (including biomass burner and pellet producer, Drax) have received millions in “green” loans. Since 2018, banks have issued $1.5 trillion in low-interest “sustainability-linked loans” (SLLs) to large corporations to motivate climate-friendly practices. The investigation found that wood biomass companies alone received over $76 billion in SLLs between 2018 and 2023. During this same period, Drax was charged millions in fines and settlements for violating state pollution laws with its wood pellet plants in the USA. In this webinar the Biomass Action Network is joined by Sasha Chavkin and Mago Torres from The Examination and Alex Rozier from Mississippi Today, in a webinar and Q&A session.

Burning Up the Biosphere – Threat Map Webinar

Webinar based on the report “Burning up the Biosphere: A Global Threat Map of Biomass Energy Development” released by the Biomass Action Network of EPN International, which reveals that, according to the IEA’s Net Zero Scenario, a tripling of woody biomass supply for energy is assumed to occur between 2021 and 2030. This will include an incredible and dangerous increase in wood supply from monoculture plantations of up to 13 times current levels to meet the quantities required.

The connection between pulp & paper and biomass in Latin-America

Discusses the new global trend to burn more biomass at pulp mills

From Forest to Furnace: The Impact of Wood Biomass Energy

The burning of wood in power and heat installations as well as the industrial use of charcoal are expanding rapidly worldwide. This development is driven by a combination of renewable energy targets and subsidies, coal phaseout policies that support wood biomass as an alternative. But, as shown in this report, the industrial-scale burning of wood for energy has severe impacts on forests and other ecosystems. This paper looks at wood biomass energy developments in Europe, North America, East Asia, Africa, and South America.

The scientific case against burning forest biomass for energy