{"id":377501,"date":"2025-05-07T19:41:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377501"},"modified":"2025-05-07T19:41:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:41:35","slug":"biomass-the-green-energy-debate-we-need-to-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377501","title":{"rendered":"Biomass: The Green Energy Debate We Need To Have"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lars Schernikau<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is burning organic matter really saving the planet?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lars Schernikau: Energy Economist, Commodity Trader, Author (recent book \u201cThe Unpopular Truth\u2026 about Electricity and the Future of Energy\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details inc Blog at <\/em>www.unpopular-truth.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Is biomass really the climate hero it claims to be?
We\u2019ve been told it is clean, renewable, and part of the solution. But dig a little deeper, and the picture gets a little murkier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments are pouring subsidies into biomass projects, and energy companies are branding it as a climate win. But when you zoom out and look at the full lifecycle\u2026from harvesting through transport to emissions, biomass starts to look a lot less like a solution, and much more like a loophole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could it be that, burning wood and waste for energy might be more about clever accounting than actual carbon cuts? Let\u00b4s find out\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A blast from the past<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before fossil fuels became the flavour of the month, we relied on firewood, crop waste, and other forms of biomass to power our lives. Now, with the push for cleaner energy sources, biomass is back on the menu and being marketed as a \u201cgreen\u201d alternative. But the return of this \u201cancient\u201d solution raises a critical question: are we actually helping the environment, or just shifting the damage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: Estimates for global biomass energy and sectoral breakdown, Schernikau based on various sources\u00a0available in\u00a0the blog<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The biomass boom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, biomass accounts for a significant slice of the renewable energy pie. Wood pellets shipped across oceans, food waste turned into fuel, and even whole forests chopped down in the name of sustainability. Among others, Finland and Sweden are leaning hard into biomass, showcasing it as a reliable and renewable source of electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, it sounds like a great idea to use organic material we otherwise would have thrown away anyway, burn it for power, and call it a win for the climate. But like most things in energy policy, the reality is messier and much more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green on paper, dirty in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biomass gets a lot of mileage out of being labelled as \u201ccarbon neutral\u201d. The idea that any CO\u2082 released when it\u2019s burned is offset by the carbon the plants absorbed while growing sounds tidy, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except\u2026 it\u2019s not that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burning wood produces more CO\u2082 per unit of energy than coal. And those trees? They don\u2019t grow back overnight. It can take decades, even centuries, for regrowth to rebalance the carbon books\u2026if it ever does. Then throw in the emissions from harvesting, processing, and transporting the biomass across continents, and the green credentials start to look a little shaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: Does replacing coal with wood lower CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions? Source: IOP Science\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the real cost?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the whole carbon math, biomass has other consequences. Forests cleared for fuel mean lost habitats and biodiversity\u2026 and air quality near biomass plants often takes a hit as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also the policy angle\u2026subsidies and carbon accounting tricks can make biomass look greener than it really is. Some critics argue that the incentivizing of practices that aren\u2019t sustainable in the long run is taking place, just because they tick the right regulatory boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t about dissing biomass<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be clear\u2026the idea of turning waste into energy isn\u2019t inherently bad. Done effectively, on a small scale, using truly renewable inputs, biomass can play a role in the clean energy mix. But like most things, scale matters. Context matters. And honesty matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curious to know more?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put together a quick breakdown of what\u2019s really going on with biomass, and why it might not be as sustainable as it looks. If you\u2019ve ever felt like some parts of the climate conversation just don\u2019t add up, this one\u2019s for you. The full blog post<\/a> digs deeper into the numbers, the policy loopholes, and the real-world impact of the biomass obsession. If you\u2019ve ever wondered how \u201cgreen\u201d green energy really is, this one\u2019s worth the read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-><\/strong> How \u201cGreen\u201d Does Biomass Make the World?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Is burning organic matter really saving the planet?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":377509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_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":[691818659,691829997,691818118,691821576],"class_list":["post-377501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biomass","tag-carbon-dioxide-co","tag-green-energy","tag-wood-pellets","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-97.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1AcJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":250175,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=250175","url_meta":{"origin":377501,"position":0},"title":"How Human Disruptions Impact Global GDP","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/29\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cHuman Disruptions\u201d? \u2014\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Like the Covid Pandemic and governmental responses to it.\u00a0 Like the war in the Ukraine.\u00a0 Like governmental efforts to reduce CO2\u00a0emissions and restrict the use of fossil fuels.\u00a0 Like \u201cNetZero\u201d.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1244.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1244.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1244.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1244.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-1244.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":363502,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363502","url_meta":{"origin":377501,"position":1},"title":"When Green Isn\u2019t Clean\u2026 What They Don\u2019t Tell You About Hydropower","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/26\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When we think of clean energy, hydropower often sits at the top of the list. 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