*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
“GREEN” ENERGY INCENTIVES THREATEN CLIMATE AND FORESTS
Contact:
Ellen Moyer, Ph.D., P.E., ellenmoyer@em-green.com 413-862-3452
Chris Matera, P.E., christoforest@maforests.org 413-341-3878
As reported in the New York Times last week, a ground-breaking article debunking the carbon
neutrality myth of biomass burning was published in one of the most prestigious, peer-reviewed
journals in the world, Science. Authors included researchers from Princeton University,
Environmental Defense Fund, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, Duke University,
University of California at Berkeley, Michigan State University, and University of Minnesota.
The Science article, “Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error,” clearly states “harvesting
existing forests for electricity adds net carbon to the air.” An accounting error that does not
count carbon dioxide emissions from biomass burning was made in the Kyoto protocol and then
was carried forward into other government policies, including the climate bill passed by the U.S.
House of Representatives earlier this year and state laws, including those of Massachusetts. The
error can be corrected.
Timothy D. Searchinger, the study’s lead author and a Research Fellow at Princeton University,
stated that "It literally means you can chip up the world’s forests and burn them for fuel without
noting the effect on the world’s greenhouse gases.” In reality, if an existing stand of forest land
is cleared for fuel, the stored carbon is released and the forests ability to absorb carbon dioxide is
diminished, thus concentration of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere goes up.
Ellen Moyer, Ph.D., P.E., and Chris Matera, P.E., were relieved to hear this issue finally gain
widespread attention since they have been trying to bring awareness to this critical point for
several years.
“The game is up” stated Dr. Moyer. “The problem has been identified, and the clarion call for
course correction has rung out around the world. The days of biomass burning receiving
lucrative Renewable Energy Credits are numbered and pending legislation needs to be corrected
before perverse incentives to burn our forests are enshrined in law.”
Mr. Matera added, “I am glad to see science finally catch up to common sense on this. Burning
wood to generate electricity emits 50 percent more carbon dioxide than coal and 150 percent
more than natural gas and adds to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations just like any other
source, only at a higher rate. The myth that biomass burning of forests is “carbon-neutral” is
laughable and a testimony to the power of industry lobbying and greenwashing.”
For the Science article, see: http://science-mag.aaas.org/cgi/content/summary/326/5952/527
For the NY Times article, see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/science/earth/23biofuel.html?_r=1&hpw