Carbon Loophole: Why Is Wood Burning Counted as Green Energy?

[ThatOwlWoman]

Don't hold your breath.

We'll see.

 

[cancel2 2022]

We'll see.

You will, shit and run is his preferred posting style

Sent from my Lenovo K8 using Tapatalk

 

[Althea]

Here is a prime example of classic greenwash in action, I really do not understand how this is even allowed to happen.

A loophole in carbon-accounting rules is spurring a boom in burning wood pellets in European power plants. The result has been a surge in logging, particularly in the U.S. South, and new doubts about whether Europe can meet its commitments under the Paris accord.

It was once one of Europe’s largest coal-burning power stations. Now, after replacing coal in its boilers with wood pellets shipped from the U.S. South, the Drax Power Station in Britain claims to be the largest carbon-saving project in Europe. About 23 million tons of carbon dioxide goes up its stacks each year. But because new trees will be planted in the cut forests, the company says the Drax plant is carbon-neutral.

There is one problem. Ecologists say that the claims of carbon neutrality, which are accepted by the European Union and the British government, do not stand up to scrutiny. The forests of North Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi — as well as those in Europe — are being destroyed to sustain a European fantasy about renewable energy. And with many power plants in Europe and elsewhere starting to replace coal with wood, the question of who is right is becoming ever more important.

Since 2009, the 28 nations of the European Union have embarked on a dramatic switch to generating power from renewable energy. While most of the good-news headlines have been about the rise of wind and solar, much of the new “green” power has actually come from burning wood in converted coal power stations. Wood burning is booming from Britain to Romania. Much of the timber is sourced locally, which is raising serious concerns among European environmentalists about whether every tree cut down for burning is truly replaced by a new one. But Drax’s giant wood-burning boilers are fueled almost entirely by 6.5 million tons of wood pellets shipped annually across the Atlantic.

Some 200 scientists wrote to the EU insisting that “bioenergy is not carbon-neutral” and calling for tighter rules to protect forests and their carbon. In September, some 200 scientists wrote to the EU insisting that “bio-energy [from forest biomass] is not carbon-neutral” and calling for tighter rules to protect forests and their carbon. Yet just a month later, EU ministers rubber-stamped the existing carbon accounting rules, reaffirming that the burning of wood pellets is renewable energy.

Under the terms of both the UN Paris climate agreement and Europe’s internal rules, carbon losses from forests supplying power stations should be declared as changes to the carbon storage capacity of forest landscapes. But such changes are seldom reported in national inventories. And there is no system either within the EU or at the UN for reporting actual changes in carbon stocks on land, so the carbon is not accounted for at either end — when trees are cut, or when the wood is burned.

Wood burning is turning into a major loophole in controlling carbon emissions. The U.S. could be the next country to take advantage. A federal spending bill that passed the House of Representatives earlier this year directed the Environmental Protection Agency to establish policies “that reflect the carbon neutrality of biomass” and to “encourage private investment throughout the forest biomass supply chain,” paving the way for a boom in American pellet burning.

Logs await processing at a wood pellet plant in Bardejov, Slovakia. An estimated 10 million cubic meters of wood is logged each year from the country's forests.

http://e360.yale.edu/features/carbon-loophole-why-is-wood-burning-counted-as-green-energy

Yep...burning wood can be filthy too. But, in America, all new wood stoves must contain catalytic converters that reburn the exhaust before it goes up the stack. Pellets are very clean, as you don't damp down the system. They're always running like a forge.

It's more of a renewable thing, than a clean thing, but steps are being taken to make it better. You can't ignore the issues associated with toxic spent coal.

 

[Althea]

I actually like the smell of wood smoke, but there is such thing as too much of a good thing. I myself heat 100% with wood, but my nearest neighbor is over a quarter mile away.

I burn about 8 cords/year in the shop. I have an oil system, but wood is 'free'...save for the labor. I'll keep that option until I'm too old to do so. Otherwise, I'd burn 200 gallons of oil per month.

 

[Althea]

I agree, and I am in the country. Wood burning has no place in an urban setting. Beyond maybe a small back yard chimenea.

typically, if the stack is too short, the smoke sits over the neighborhood. Especially with the new outdoor furnaces. Some villages outlawed them for that reason. But it's always the guy who doesn't take advantage of one method of doing anything, that complains about those who do.

 

[Althea]

So you're okay with pollution and accounting tricks, as long as it forwards your agenda. Got it.

No different than the OP, who hails nuclear as the end all.

 

[Althea]

I suggest that you read this, it addresses the "carbon neutral" canard extremely well. Asides from that there is the transport element as well, these wood products are often shipped several thousands of miles away from their origin, and ships tend to use the dirtiest type of fuel oil to power the engines.



https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/wood-not-carbon-neutral-energy-source#

I see. So all power plants are built next to coal/plutonium mines?

 

[Althea]

On short time scales, they can be called a sink, but the carbon does not go away. Are you sure you understand the terms you are using?
Want proof? Look at the seasonal variation in CO2. It's caused by plants taking up and then releasing CO2 during the growth season and also by the absorption rate of CO2 into water due to temps.

Um..he said 'don't doubt me'. Are you doubting him? Because that's his new catchphrase. Bigly

 

[Althea]

No sir, you are the blithering idiot. Do you really want trees being taken from states like Mississippi and North Carolina to be used thousands of miles away? Anybody intelligent can see it is totally pointless and essentially just a box ticking exercise by Eurocrats.

Hah!!!! We don't ship coal overseas?

 

[countryboy]

I burn about 8 cords/year in the shop. I have an oil system, but wood is 'free'...save for the labor. I'll keep that option until I'm too old to do so. Otherwise, I'd burn 200 gallons of oil per month.

Yep, same here. Wood is "free" except for labor and equipment. I have a small house, so I'll go through maybe five or six cords. It's been going fast of late though. I wish this cold snap would break.

 

[Althea]

Right off the bat the article is incorrect in that it states that pellet fuel is unsustainable.
Nothing could be further from the truth.

Especially given that much of it is recycled. The best pellets come from furniture grade hardwood.

 

[Althea]

And that’s just one of the reasons I don’t live in an urban area lol.

My pellet stove is cranking out the heat in front of me as I type. It heats 2200 sq feet and when we have one of these insufferable arctic blasts it costs $10/day for me to stay toasty warm. Probably half that during our normal winter weather.

The pellets I burn are a by-product of an oak flooring wood mill. Since it’s kiln dried saw dust it’s essentially smokeless. Probably any hardwood pellets would burn clean though.

I’m waiting for someone to figure out you could run duct work off one of these things and use it like a conventional furnace.

They make pellet furnaces, and all pellets burn cleanly due to the fact that you don't damper them down.

But...the way they rape us for pellets now, it's no longer the most efficient form of heat. Heating 2200 square feet isn't easy with pellets, unless you have the stove in the basement of a ranch. Or your house is one big room with bedrooms off the main room with no hallways.

 

[countryboy]

No different than the OP, who hails nuclear as the end all.

I'm personally not a fan of nuclear. I'd rather burn coal.

I used to be on a forum where a member claimed he heated his house with a certain type of coal. He claimed it was far cleaner than some coals. Anthracite maybe?

I know I've demolished a lot of old homes that used to use coal for heat, and there was soot embedded deep in the structure. I'm sure modern coal furnaces are much cleaner though. My wood burning furnace is actually designed for coal.

 

[Althea]

wood pellets are a renewable fuel source in that they are made from trees
When burned they can only release the amount of carbon the trees absorbed during their lifespan, minus of course that contained within the root system, which remains burried underground (sequestered). This is why wood, when burned in place of fossil fuels is carbon negative, green (the very essence of) and renewable.

From a carbon point of view...sure. But I'd stop short of calling wood burning 'green', if that term addresses the lack of any pollutants.

 

[Althea]

My house sits on ten acres of mostly hardwood forest. I couldn’t burn dead wood fast enough to come to the end of it lol.

It’s inexcusable to cut a live tree for firewood.

Eh. Proper forest management demands doing so at times. And...I get a lot of wood from properties that had trees planted way too close to the house 40 years ago.

 

[Darth Omar]

Yep, same here. Wood is "free" except for labor and equipment. I have a small house, so I'll go through maybe five or six cords. It's been going fast of late though. I wish this cold snap would break.

I actually enjoy getting wood in but it’s labor intensive.

This pellet stove is spoiling me though. I got it right before thanksgiving so it’s still new to me. All you do is load the hopper and press the button. Though keeping a shop vac handy is a necessity because of the ash. I clean the burn pot daily and the vent bi-weekly on account of ash build up.

It takes 16 minutes to brush the vent out because I timed it lol.

 

[Althea]

Kudos for displacing fossil fuels.
All pellets burn clean due the pelletizing process, during extrusion the matter is heated to the point that lignin in the wood becomes liquefied and holds the pellet together.
Interestingly the density consistency of extruded pellets is the same wheter hardwood or softwood is usued and in that BTUs per pound is the same regardless of type of wood, the heat value is the same, in fact many users favor softwood pellets which seem to produce a more manageable ash

I get much more heat from hardwood pellets. Some stoves seem to prefer softwood, but that has more to do with the combustion fan setup, and burn pot.

All of my friends call me to ask who has the hardwood pellets each year. I can be found in a variety of places, sniffing the bags!

 

[Althea]

The shipping part of the equation is a good point, as you mentioned in an earlier post that I didn't read. lol How can shipping the wood thousands of miles, burning some form of carbon fuel the entire way, create a net gain?

It is just common sense that the best negative-carbon energy sources are things that are much closer. Wind, solar, water, etc.

Sure..which is why small scale energy production on a local level is the way of the future.

 

[Althea]

Nice, when I get too old to cut and split wood I'll probably get a pellet stove. My current wood burner, is a wood-burning furnace with a standard furnace blower motor, and a plenum for ductwork. I only have one duct running to the master bedroom at the moment. But eventually I'll tie it into the ductwork of the entire house.

I bought one of those for the shop...after decades of using other stoves with my home made setup. I LOVE my wood furnace. It sits in a fireproof shed on the outside of the shop.

 

[Althea]

I’m wanting one of those. I have a Buck stove insert in the fireplace but the blower went out on it and I need to upgrade the pipe running up the chimney. I love the pellet stove, it has a thermostat and it’s ridiculously easy to operate but I’m leery of needing to rely on a supplier and/or if demand jacks the price of pellets up.

And I have an abundant supply of ‘free’ wood [my labor, chain saw cost etc] so I’m thinking of getting a wood furnace instead of putting money in the Buck.

Next year lol.

I've been burning pellets for more than 20 years. $129/ton when I started. When oil went to $4/gallon, they jacked the price up, and it never came all the way down to this day.