The Huge Flaw in How Congress Is Approaching Burning Wood for Energy

Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Federal Legislation, Feedstocks, Forestry/Wood/Residues/Waste, Opinions, Oregon, Policy, Sustainability, University/College Programs

June 16, 2016

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by Chelsea Harvey (The Washington Post) … The controversy centers on a specific provision in theHouse appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 regarding the burning of biomass (typically wood and other plant material) for energy. The bill proposes that the Environmental Protection Agency treat biomass energy as carbon neutral —that is, the agency would assume the practice does not contribute any extra greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere — under certain conditions.

Biomass is, in fact, generally regarded as a renewable energy source, since more trees can be grown after the old ones have been harvested for energy.

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The proposed legislation suggests that biomass energy be treated as carbon neutral as long as national forest stocks are stable or increasing. The rationale is that trees serve as a carbon sink, taking up carbon from the atmosphere and storing it away — so if more trees are growing, they’ll cancel out the carbon emissions released by burning other plant matter.

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An earlier draft of the Senate bill, obtained by The Washington Post, contained nearly identical language, although it suggested evaluating stocks on a regional basis instead, a move intended to account for differences in forest ecosystems throughout the country. However, people familiar with the matter have indicated that the language may have since changed.

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The House bill also indicates that the same carbon-neutral treatment should apply if the biomass in question comes from residual matter leftover from mills, harvests or other forest management activities — in other words, if the biomass was dead and considered waste in the first place.

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This is not the first time this controversy has arisen. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a sweeping energy bill addressing everything from advancing the electric grid to researching clean coal technologies. But environmentalists largely decried an aspect of the bill involving biomass energy.

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Granted, there’s another side to this issue. It’s true that forests do serve as a valuable source of carbon storage — so over a long enough period of time, enough new trees could actually end up absorbing the same amount of carbon emitted by burning biomass. In fact, a 2014 letter to the EPA, signed by more than 100 university experts, praised the advantages of biomass burning and noted that “most debates regarding the carbon benefits of forest biomass energy are about the timing of the benefits rather than whether they exist.” READ MORE and MORE (Climate Central)

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