Biomass Energy, Forests and Climate Library

What is the real link between biomass energy and forest fires?

This new study intends to answer the questions; Has the installation of multiple biomass power stations throughout mainland Portugal contributed to reducing or increasing the risk of forest fires? We focus on a specific case: the Fundão Biomass Power Plant, located in the Cova da Beira region, between the Gardunha and Estrela mountain ranges, in central Portugal.

Does increased forest protection correspond to higher fire severity in frequent-fire forests of the western United States?

There is a widespread view among land managers and others that the protected status of many forestlands in the western United States corresponds with higher fire severity levels due to historical restrictions on logging that contribute to greater amounts of biomass and fuel loading in less intensively managed areas, particularly after decades of fire suppression. This view has led to recent proposals-both administrative and legislative-to reduce or eliminate forest protections and increase some forms of logging based on the belief that restrictions on active management have increased fire severity. We investigated the relationship between protected status and fire severity using the Random Forests algorithm applied to 1500 fires affecting 9.5 million hectares between 1984 and 2014 in pine (Pinus ponderosa, Pinus jeffreyi) and mixed-conifer forests of western United States, accounting for key topographic and climate variables. We found forests with higher levels of protection had lower severity values even though they are generally identified as having the highest overall levels of biomass and fuel loading. Our results suggest a need to reconsider current overly simplistic assumptions about the relationship between forest protection and fire severity in fire management and policy.

Will logging more in healthy forests reduce wildfire risk?

Given the unprecedented wildfires dominating headlines, including the recent tragedy in Jasper, Alberta, it’s tempting to believe we should attack the problem by charging into Canada’s forests with a phalanx of heavy machinery to “take down” the apparent enemy: old forests. However, decades of clearcut logging, conifer planting, and extensive fire suppression have more likely exacerbated wildfire risk to communities than diminished it. A fundamental rethink of our relationship to forests and wildfires is needed.

Logging Does Not Reduce Fire Risk, Two Studies Conclude

Two new studies - one by an environmental group, one by a Congressional research group - have concluded that logging in U.S. national forests does not protect them against devastating forest fires. In fact, logging activities often increase a forest’s fire risk, the studies show.

What are the relationships between native forest logging and bushfires?

Native forest logging increases the severity at which forests burn. This is likely because such operations increase the volume of coarse woody debris, and the density of elevated and vertically oriented live fuels. In addition, by opening up the forest canopy, logging operations probably alter microclimate conditions, causing drying of soils and fuel.

Logging does indeed increase fire risks!

Logging does indeed increase the risk of high severity wildfires. And the evidence for this worrying narrative comes from work by many scientists across Australia and in fact around the world. These places include Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, western North America, Canada, and South America. As importantly, these elevated fire risks persist for up to 70 years after a forest has been logged and regenerated

Debunking industry myths – why burning forest biomass for bioenergy does not reduce the risk of wildfires

A Biomass Action Network webinar to debunk the biomass industry myth that burning forest biomass for bioenergy reduces the risk of wildfires. The biomass industry is using this narrative to justify its expansion, when the reality is that burning biomass is driving the climate crisis that exacerbates the intensity and frequency of wildfires around the world.

The panel includes speakers from fire prone regions in Chile, Portugal and California:
Robinson Torres - professor of sociology at the University of Concepción in Chile
Paulo Pimento do Castro - forestry engineer and president of the NGOs Acréscimo and IRIS, and co-author of the book "Portugal in Flames: How to rescue the forests."
Gary Hughes - a campaigner from Biofuelwatch based in California and currently active on the campaign to stop 2 new pellet mills by GSNR.

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

A webinar based on the report "Beaten to a Pulp" by Biofuelwatch and the Environmental Paper Network International, 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.

Fooling ourselves while burning our trees?

Over the last decades, burning wood for energy has expanded in the EU, as have proposals for implementing Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). The origins of this questionable boom can be found in accounting loopholes, which allow burning woody biomass to be classed as carbon neutral and BECCS as carbon negative. Based on these loopholes and large lobby power, (woody) biomass has received generous subsidies and been counted towards renewable energy targets in the EU. A large international supply chain has developed, with wood pellets being shipped all the way from forests in the U.S. Southeast to generate energy in the EU.