{"id":346288,"date":"2024-10-10T16:39:16","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T14:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=346288"},"modified":"2024-10-10T16:39:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T14:39:18","slug":"anger-at-uks-bonkers-plan-to-reach-net-zero-by-importing-fuel-from-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=346288","title":{"rendered":"Anger at UK\u2019s \u2018bonkers\u2019 plan to reach net zero by importing fuel from North\u00a0Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t Doug Brodie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can this Net Zero farce get any worse?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Guardian:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A plan by the British government to burn biomass imported from countries including North Korea and <\/em>Afghanistan<\/em><\/a> has been described as \u201cbonkers\u201d, with critics sayingit undermines the credibility of the UK\u2019s climate strategy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A <\/em>bioenergy resource model<\/em><\/a>, published in late summer, calculates that only a big expansion in the import of energy crops and wood from a surprising list of nations would satisfy the UK\u2019s plan to meet net zero.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/em>government wants biomass<\/em><\/a> to play a \u201csignificant role\u201d in decarbonising all sectors of the economy in the years leading up to 2050, and has provided <\/em>more than \u00a320bn<\/em><\/a> to businesses using it in the power and heat sectors over the past two decades.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a third of the biomass used in the UK is imported. In 2021, 9.1m tonnes of wood pellets for use in energy production came from abroad \u2013 about 76% from North America and 18% from the EU. But there is not enough wood in these regions to supply the large expansion in bioenergy that the government is banking on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resource model sets out potential domestic and overseas sources of bioenergy. Only the most ambitious scenario outlined in the document would theoretically provide enough biomass to meet this demand, and it involves a huge increase in imports.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an assessment by Mary Booth, director of the Partnership for Policy Integrity, this includes a list of countries that seem \u201cimprobable\u201d as sources of significant volumes of agricultural and forestry biomass, including <\/em>North Korea<\/em><\/a>, Afghanistan, Bhutan and the Maldives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booth criticised the way the model addresses changes in land use, and its assumption that energy crop area will increase exponentially globally and crop yields will increase by more than 50%. \u201cThis is all against a background of increasing climate change when whole regions are facing famine due to <\/em>weather-induced crop failures<\/em><\/a>,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s bonkers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as being unclear whether such a large volume of biomass would be available to the UK, the model does not attempt to explain how existing deforestation problems in countries such as Brazil or the lack of transparency in a dictatorship such as North Korea would comply with sustainability rules.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More fundamentally, Booth questioned the model\u2019s assumption that bioenergy can actually limit greenhouse gas emissions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists and environmental campaigners have long <\/em>disputed claims<\/em><\/a> that burning wood for energy is climate neutral, saying <\/em>forests<\/em><\/a> are unlikely to be replaced quickly enough to absorb the carbon emissions required to slow the climate crisis. <\/em>A recent report showed<\/em><\/a> that Drax, the UK\u2019s largest power station, was responsible for four times more carbon emissions than the country\u2019s last remaining coal-fired plant <\/em>which closed <\/em><\/a>last month.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics also question the government\u2019s reliance on extensive use of carbon capture and storage to neutralise emissions from burning biomass. Drax\u2019s operator <\/em>plans to develop <\/em><\/a>a \u201cbioenergy with carbon capture and storage\u201d project using more government subsidies, but there are no such plants functioning with such systems in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The <\/em>former energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has also said<\/em><\/a> importing wood to burn did not \u201cmake any sense\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, serious concerns have been raised about the affect of large-scale use of biomass on <\/em>biodiversity<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>air quality<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>agriculture and soil health<\/em><\/a> in the UK and abroad, as well as the <\/em>potential for violation of Indigenous people\u2019s land rights<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government recognises some of these concerns. In a <\/em>biomass strategy<\/em><\/a> published last year it said only biomass use that complied with strict criteria was considered to be low carbon and to offer genuine CO2<\/sub> emissions savings, and that it was considering strengthening these criteria.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in January, a National Audit Office (NAO) report concluded that the government <\/em>could not<\/em><\/a> show its current arrangements were adequate to give it confidence that the industry was meeting sustainability standards.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several months later, <\/em>Drax agreed to pay \u00a325m<\/em><\/a> after the energy industry regulator Ofgem found it had submitted inaccurate data on the sourcing of wood pellets from Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the Department of <\/em>Energy<\/em><\/a> Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) \u201cis clear that biomass sourced in line with strict sustainability criteria can be used as a low carbon source of energy. We will continue to monitor biomass electricity generation to ensure it meets required standards.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, <\/em>the IPCC itself says<\/em><\/a> biomass should not automatically be considered \u201ceven in cases where the biomass is thought to be produced sustainably\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DESNZ said it planned to consult on developing a \u201ccross-sector sustainability framework\u201d but would make no further comment because the biomass strategy and bioenergy resource model were subject to continuing litigation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rewilding charity the Lifescape Project, backed by the Partnership for Policy Integrity, has <\/em>launched a legal case<\/em><\/a> claiming the <\/em>biomass strategy<\/em><\/a> was illegal and would undermine the UK\u2019s ability to achieve net zero by 2050.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frances Lawson, a lawyer at Lifescape, said the strategy hanged on the resource model, which strengthened her organisation\u2019s argument that the government\u2019s wider approach to bioenergy was \u201cirrational\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Booth said the UK had backed itself into a corner by putting so much reliance on biomass in its plans to tackle the climate crisis. \u201cThey\u2019re afraid to say the truth \u2013 that we all need to use a lot less energy,\u201d she said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NAO said that if biomass could make the contribution to achieving net zero that the government expected, it may need to increase activity in other areas to reach its 2050 target. \u201cThis could include increasing the capacity of other types of greenhouse gas removal technology, encouraging greater behaviour change, or further innovation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/oct\/09\/anger-uk-plan-net-zero-import-biomass-fuel-north-korea<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in a perfect world where the trees cut down are all replaced, it could take a century or more for the new trees to absorb the carbon dioxide already  emitted. And each year we will be emitting more and more. I don\u2019t recall being told that it is OK to carry on emitting, as long as we start cutting  back in 100 years time. On the contrary, we are told  we must start drastically cutting now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we don\u2019t live in a perfect world. Even  in the US there is now indisputable evidence that virgin forests are being cleared for biomass, with no plans to replant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So  the idea that we could somehow trust N Korea or Afghanistan is utterly absurd. And that is before we consider genuine environmental concerns, such as the loss of forest habitat and the fact that burning biomass is far more polluting than coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But  there again the whole idea of Net Zero is just as ridiculous. So I would not put anything past the idiot Miliband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A plan by the British government to burn biomass imported from countries including North Korea and Afghanistan has been described as \u201cbonkers\u201d, with critics saying it undermines the credibility of the UK\u2019s climate strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":346292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818659,691825874,691830877,691818154],"class_list":{"0":"post-346288","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-biomass","9":"tag-british-government","10":"tag-department-of-energy-security-and-net-zero-desnz","11":"tag-net-zero","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0biomass-energy.jpg?fit=3500%2C2381&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1s5i","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":346928,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=346928","url_meta":{"origin":346288,"position":0},"title":"British Blackout System Mobilised After Wind Dropped on a Cold Day","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The alert was withdrawn after 2 hours. 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