The Australian Government has reversed its decision on "renewable" biomass.

🇦🇺 Native forest biomass will therefore no longer be considered as an eligible renewable energy source. The importance of this reversal cannot be understated!

🌎 In 2015, the Australian Government followed many Global North countries by allowing native forest biomass to be included in the renewable energy program.

🍅 A public outcry led by the indomitable Wilderness Australia campaigner Virginia Young resulted in a public consultation process, which, in turn, has led to the recent reversal of the 2015 decision.

This is important as numerous scientific articles has shown that woody-whole-tree-derived biomass burning releases more CO2e per unit of energy produced than coal.

Were the whole planet to switch from coal to biomass burning, what do you think would happen to the world's biodiverse forests (vs monoculture plantations)?

Coal, nor fossil fuels, are of course not the solution either.

My time at Greenpeace taught me that our general view on the myriad and ever-evolving forms of nuclear energy are not founded on science. Could some forms of nuclear be part of the energy mix?

Well, if society wants to continue to have ever-increasing amounts of energy, while not burning fossil fuels, nor decimating the world's remaining biodiverse ecosystems, something is going to have to give.

As always, I expect to get a number of comments claiming that this post is nonsense.

This is to be expected as biomass is now BIG BUSINESS!

Mongaybay writes: "The EU spends more than $18 billion annually subsidizing bioenergy with most of that money going to woody biomass. The UK spends over $1 billion annually subsidizing wood-burning at Drax."

I wonder why pro-biomass entities do not seem to appreciate that it takes decades upon decades for the deforested ecosystems to replenish its above-ground and below-ground carbon stocks? And conveniently ignoring the significant and far-reaching impacts upon ecosystems' biodiversity?

Perhaps Upon Sinclair was onto something, when he quipped:

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

Video credit: CNN footage of Enviva's practices in the US Eastern Seaboard (article link in comments).

Matt Homewood's post

#foodsharing #foodwaste #foodshare #sustainability #nature #biomass