Power stations fuelled on wood pellets and wood chips can complement the more unstable wind and solar energy. But in order to reduce CO2 emissions and preserve the ecosystem and biodiversity, the biomass has to be sustainable.
Not all biomass is sustainable. Biomass is carbon neutral if the size of the forest where the biomass comes from remains the same. This is achieved if new trees are planted each time trees are cut down. This creates a closed-loop life cycle that makes the CO2 balance stable and sustainable.
Today, forests cover one third of the Earth’s land mass. Let us try to keep it that way. Forests perform vital functions around the world. They play a key role in mitigating climate change because of their unique ability to absorb and store CO2.
21 March is International Day of Forests. This year focusing on forests, climate change and sustainable development. The fact is that today deforestation accounts for 12% to 20% of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Therefore woody biomass plays an important role in replacing fossil fuels with green energy at DONG Energy’s power plants. Global deforestation continues at an alarming rate – 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually. We need to protect the forests.
Wood pellets and chips must based on forest residuals and thinning trees coming from forests which are continuously replanted. Constantly replanting ensures the size of the forests is maintained and makes the forests able to continually absorb the CO2 emitted from combustion of the biomass. This makes the CO2 balance stable and sustainable.
