Stop Burning TREES

Trees do a good job for the planet. They absorb CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow and this carbon remains locked in the wood until it is burned. When a biomass power station burns wood, all the carbon is released back into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

On 22 November 2011, members of the UK Parliament, Lords, journalists and members of the Wood Panel Industries Federation gathered at the Houses of Parliament to discuss www.stopburningourtrees.org, a new campaign to discuss better ways to generate green energy. Many of the key messages mirrored those given at the recent FERN event at the EU Parliament,1 e.g., that a supply-led approach to forest productivity is necessary. Other messages were more UK focused.

The event highlighted that the Renewable Obligations Certificate (ROC) system encourages power stations to burn trees to make electricity, thereby stimulating demand for timber which is already overused – “by 2030 we’ll be burning our trees so fast, there won’t be time for them to grow back.”2

Other concerns included that burning trees for energy production as currently planned will not reduce carbon emissions. However, it will increase the price of electricity, drive up the price of timber products and reduce jobs in manufacturing. Their suggested way forward? To use ROCs to encourage only the burning of wood that would otherwise go to landfill, and encourage the creation of small-scale heat and power plants.