New analysis by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) shows that the UK’s biomass from Estonia and Latvia is coming from forests with shrinking carbon storage.
The UK Government awards biomass power stations billions in low-carbon subsidies.
It says that burning forest materials for energy can be instantly carbon neutral because the amount of carbon stored in forests can remain stable or even increase over time.
The new analysis looked at four wood pellet mills in Estonia and four in Latvia. The companies that own these pellet mills have strong ties to the UK.
In Estonia the mills are owned by Granuul Invest, which is a major supply partner of Drax power station (the UK’s largest biomass burner) and in Latvia the mills are owned by LatGran, which says the UK is one of its biggest export markets. However, the lack of transparency in the industry means it is impossible to say with absolute certainty which wood pellet mills the UK sources biomass from.
In the 60km harvesting areas around all eight of these mills the amount of carbon stored in forests declined steadily from 2015-2022. Across the eight areas forests lost a total of 7.9 million tonnes of carbon over that time period, the equivalent of the emissions from 10 gas power plants for that whole period.
The UK Government accepts that biomass may cause short-term losses of carbon stored in forests but says this is fine so long as they will recover in the long-term. But this can be defined as several successive forest cycles of 20-100 years each, meaning decades to centuries before forests will recover. But the biomass that’s burned is counted as instantly zero carbon.
Matt Williams, Senior Advocate for NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), said: “Estonia’s and Latvia’s forests are being decimated, it is totally unacceptable. The UK is burning biomass from places where forest carbon stocks have been shrinking for years: it can’t possibly believe that forest bioenergy is good for the climate. Yet the Government continues to reward the biomass industry with billions in low-carbon subsidies.”
Heather Hillaker, Senior Attorney for Southern Environmental Law Center, said: “NRDC’s new analysis further confirms the long-lasting damage that the biomass energy industry does to our forests and our climate. In Estonia and Latvia–much like in the American South–forests that should be used to fight climate change are routinely cut so biomass companies can burn wood pellets for power, a process that worsens the impacts of climate change. UK leaders must reject this biomass boondoggle and stop handing over taxpayer dollars to this harmful, polluting industry.”
