Biomass Energy, Forests and Climate Library

EU 2040 climate target – what does it mean for forests?

In February 2024, the European Commission issued its 2040 climate target Communication, which proposes
to reduce net greenhouse gases (GHG) by 90% compared to 1990 levels. The Communications sets the
direction of travel, while the details will be worked out during the next Commission. Several elements of the Communication have serious implications for forests, in particular the excessive reliance on Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) and an unrealistic modelling of bioenergy use among others. Fern briefing is looking at these elements and recommends actions that will support the climate, foresters, and wildlife.

Despite known coastal cooling trend, risk of deadly wildfires in central Chile increasing with changing land management in a warming climate

The study identifies exotic plantations as factor of increased fire risk in Chile. Across the studied area, fire risk is increasing notably due to current land management practices, such as the expansion of Wildland-Urban Interface areas (including the growth of informal settlements in forest zones) and widespread conversion from native to foreign and monoculture plantations.

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.

We burn the forest with state subsidies for low-efficiency electricity, and because of this, firewood is also more expensive

In Hungary, five large biomass power plants use nearly a third of all firewood, a significant part of which comes from forests that are valuable for nature conservation. Since 2003, these power plants have received HUF 323 billion in government subsidies, compared to HUF 185 billion in subsidies for solar and wind energy, while their role in the domestic electricity system is minimal. Their operation also distorts the residential firewood market, and price competition hurts households with lower incomes and living in energy poverty the most.

Expert review of the science underlying nature-based climate solutions

Nature-based climate solutions (NbCS) are conservation, restoration and improved management strategies (pathways) in natural and working ecosystems with the primary motivation to mitigate GHG emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere1 (similar to ecosystem-based mitigation2).

Viable nature-based climate solutions (NbCS) are needed to achieve climate goals expressed in international agreements like the Paris Accord. Many NbCS pathways have strong scientific foundations and can deliver meaningful climate benefits but effective mitigation is undermined by pathways with less scientific certainty. Here we couple an extensive literature review with an expert elicitation on 43 pathways and find that at present the most used pathways, such as tropical forest conservation, have a solid scientific basis for mitigation. However, the experts suggested that some pathways, many with carbon credit eligibility and market activity, remain uncertain in terms of their climate mitigation efficacy.

Wiser with Wood – A guide on how to transpose the EU’s revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) to better protect forests, the climate, public health and other wood-using industries

This Guide identifies RED III’s legal requirements in the context of woody biomass for energy, describes Member States’ margins of manoeuvre, and proposes ways to better protect forests, the climate, public health and other wood-using industries from the problems created by the EU’s biomass policy.

An analysis of BECCS industries’ methodology for certifying industrial carbon removals

Fern commissioned a report from EU bioenergy and forest policy expert Duncan Brack which analyses the methodology suggested by two energy companies (Drax and Stockholm Exergi) for certifying carbon removals from Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). Both companies are planning to add a CCS installation to their existing biomass power plants.

This analysis takes place in a context where the European Commission is preparing methodologies for certifying industrial carbon removals, in particular for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).
Leading scientists believe BECCS “risk[s] overstepping multiple planetary boundaries, with potentially irreversible consequences.” This analysis shows that the proposed industry methodology would fall far short of addressing scientists’ concerns, which we share.

From pine forest to power station

A video investigation (in Portuguese with English subtitles) by Biofuelwatch and the Portuguese NGO ZERO reveals that the Pinewells pellet plant in Portugal, whose biggest customer is Drax in the UK, has been sourcing trees from clearcuts in the mountainous Serra da Lousã nature reserve. The Serra da Lousã is designated a Natura 2000 site under the EU Habitats Directive. Portuguese legislation does not currently prohibit logging and even clearcutting forests in such nature reserves, which the European Commision has taken the Portuguese government to court over.

Forest Injustice: The Truth Behind Biomass Industry #LookBiden

Southern environmental justice leaders rallied in DC. They had demands. They urged Biden to stop the dirty wood pellet biomass industry and to focus on environmental justice communities who are suffering. #LookBiden