It’s time to stop pretending burning forest biomass is carbon neutral

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Some have argued that against conserving forests, alleging that ‘managing’ forests, including for bioenergy, produces more climate mitigation than letting them grow. However, this conclusion is based on not counting emissions from burning biomass, and other carbon accounting sleight of hand.

Forest logging in Germany - Photo from Unsplash
Softwood forestry, Germany [photo: Unsplash.com]

The opinion piece “The climate change mitigation effect of bioenergy from sustainably managed forests in Central Europe” by Schulze et al. (2020) argues against putting forests into conservation, concluding that managed forests can help mitigate climate change more effectively than unmanaged forests mainly due to the potential to use end of life wood products as fuel. This is alleged to produce “emission savings” by substituting diesel or other energy use. However, we question some of the assumptions upon which this conclusion is based.

Schulze et al.'s conclusion of a 10× factor for climate mitigation in managed forests depends on carbon accounting sleight of hand

Few dispute that harvested wood products may play some role in climate mitigation, but Schulze et al.'s conclusion of a 10× factor for climate mitigation in managed forests depends on carbon accounting sleight of hand (not counting biogenic emissions and not including all carbon pools), large substitution effects and not including the time difference between emissions and regeneration. Unfortunately, it is likely to be cited in support of increased harvesting by those who crave access to Europe's last remnants of untouched natural forests.

Article authors

Dr. Mary Stuart Booth

Mary S. Booth

Dr. Mary Booth is the Director of the The Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) and a nationally-recognised advocate known for producing high-quality, data-driven arguments.
Dr Brendan Mackey

Brendan Mackey

Project Director and Director of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon at Griffith University, contributing to community planning and engagement in forest projects.
Virginia Young

Virginia Young

Virginia is a Director of the International Forests and Climate Programme for the Australian Rainforest Conservation Society (ARCS) working in the international policy arena on primary forests as part of a global collaborative research programme funded through Griffith University. 

Reference

Booth, M. S., Mackey, B., & Young, V. (2020). It’s time to stop pretending burning forest biomass is carbon neutral. GCB Bioenergy, 12(12), 1036-1037.

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