UK Biomass schemes to increase deforestation according to environmental and wood industry groups

The wood industry has claimed that biomass schemes will encourage deforestation through timber imports. Environmental groups are also alarmed that the increasing calls for biomass could trigger a ‘land grab’, where biomass growing companies look to cultivate in areas of virgin forest.

The Wood Panels Industries Association says, "We have already seen a 50 per cent increase in wood prices over the last three years because of these kinds of energy developments, and we do not think they should be receiving subsidies for schemes which we believe are not carbon-friendly and which will require a huge amount of imported wood to support a tenfold increase in planned capacity."

Currently the Renewable Obligation Certificate System runs until 2013 and subsidises biomass as well as other renewables such as wind power. This is planned to be extended until 2017. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) however, claims that there are safeguards that make sure biomass sources are known; but this is not as cut and dry as it may first appear. Switching to biomass will create greater demand from non-UK wood sources which are very hard to police and it is uncertain whether biomass is as low carbon as first thought, with growing and harvesting methods essential in this context.

Biomass works on the principle that harvested trees and plant matter from a site is constantly replaced with new growth, but the destruction of land such as primary forest does damage to biodiversity and cannot be replaced with the same amount of carbon sequestration from monocultured biomass. There have also been criticisms over its land use taking up agricultural land that could otherwise be used for food. When produced sustainably however, it could be a useful addition to the range of renewable options.

The Biomass Energy Centre however, maintains that it is a better fuel source than fossil fuels because of its use of contemporary, un-sequestered carbon. The important next step is to put tight controls on imported sources of biomass and to make sure pristine environments are not threatened by its use.