Biomass production implies 40 megatons of CO2 emissions every year

Nov 4, 2011 08:49 GMT  ·  By

Greenpeace has assumed an active role in pointing out that manufacturing biofuel and producing electricity out of large amounts of wood are two main factors in deforestation activities, in its report called “Fuelling a Biomess.”

The organization warns the government that burning wood-based biomass is putting the integrity of the Canadian forests in danger and that it could be a key factor in fastening and increasing the effects of climate change phenomenon.

Despite the fact that major players in this industry have made the public opinion believe that their biofuels are a safe, clean, zero-carbon source of energy, the organization states that the great demand on the market has made the common waste stream sources unable to cope with the population's needs.

The increased demand for forest bioenergy might be responsible for can have a damaging impact on key elements to the functioning of the entire ecosystem.

In this particular case, if the biofuel's popularity will grow even more in the near future, officials say that it is likely that authorities will allow an exploitation of the forests' wood at a doubled rate, compared to what we are witnessing now.

So far, Canada has shipped 1.2 million tonnes of wood pellets to Europe. This number is quite significant, since it shows that the industry has reached a 700% growth in only eight years.

Also, the forest bioenergy manufacturing processes are responsible for a great impact upon the atmosphere, since experts have revealed that 40 megatons of CO2 emissions end up influencing the air quality every year.

The carbon footprint of such activities leaves the air pollution resulted from small vehicles far behind, according to a study elaborated in 2009.

Such a strategy would put an enormous pressure on the Canadian woodland, which is already a challenged sector.

Greenpeace representatives suggest that, before approving new projects which imply tree-cutting activities, the authorities should pay more attention to the real benefits reflected by these strategies.

“Using woody biomass to produce energy should be restricted to local, small-scale uses of mill residues.Before we continue to approve new projects, public hearings, a full accounting of the climate and biodiversity footprint and life-cycle analyses of those projects are needed,” declared Nicolas Mainville, Greenpeace Canada forest campaigner.