Burning Forests For Power?

• What has precipitated the rise of this industry
• The new proposals
• The carbon debate
• The political campaigns
• Consumer action
• Wrap up

"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees."  William Blake

At a time when we desperately need to be promoting sustainable, truly renewable energy, the woodchip industry is promoting a return to the Dark Ages, where power will be generated by burning forests. The industry hopes to impose this option on the Australian public in the same way they imposed export woodchipping. Increased public awareness of the issue is the last thing the industry wants.

What has precipitated the rise of this industry?

The export woodchip market has plummeted in NSW over the past few years, with State Forests desperate to find a new market for their product. Despite the Regional Forest Agreements in the north-east of NSW handing the industry almost everything it has wanted, the economic decline of the native forest logging industry has come to the fore. Continued massive state investment has effectively failed, as decades of over-cutting and mismanagement of forest resources appear to be terminal. That is, however, until you factor in the burning of the products of clearfelling. An industry that is not capable of even selling a waste product like woodchips, is now forced to throw forests into the furnace.

In NSW, both State Forests and industry groups such as the Forest Products Association (FPA) have spent several years promoting the use of native forest products to power generation companies. The NSW Government facilitated this by amending the Electricity Supply Act 1996, allowing for native forests to be used for electricity production. Currently, products from the logging of public native forests in NSW are being fed into one of the nation's largest coal-fired power stations in the Hunter Valley. Macquarie Generation, public electricity generator, began a trial of 170,000 tonnes of ative forest products in 1999. Since then, they have reduced their use to around 20,000 tonnes per year due to a range of problems. While this questions the viability of this industry, it has not stopped a raft of new proposals.

Unfortunately for the future of Australia's natural environment, these products come from intensively logging the habitat of rare and threatened species, important water catchments, and vital carbon stores.

The new proposals

The FPA in NSW has brought forward a proposal for three wood-fired power plants. Based near Grafton, Bulahdelah and Moruya, each of these plants would burn 280,000 tonnes, effectively increasing the state's native forest woodchip industry by 300 percent. Added to this are proposed biomass power plants from Delta Electricity, another public power generator, which would require native forest products in the nine months of the year that sugarcane waste was not available. Volumes required for these generators have not been provided.

In all states with active native forest logging regimes, there are current proposals for using woodchips in power plants. Victorians are facing a potential plant at Morwell to burn forests from Gippsland. Tasmanians are facing at least two new proposals, including one at Southwood in the Huon Valley, which is being strongly promoted by Forestry Tasmania. And finally, in Queensland, there is a proposal for a power plant in Maryborough, which threatens the outcome of the south-east Queensland Forest Agreement.

The carbon debate

In the case of native forest burning for power, Australian governments hope to burn forest products but not have the greenhouse gas emissions accounted for under the Protocol, using the guise of 'Renewable Energy'. The fact is that burning native forest trees is just another form of carbon-based combustion, releasing greenhouse gas emissions similar to those of coal. This is not the solution to greenhouse gas emissions. Neither is promoting the clearfelling of native forests in order to feed the furnaces. This is particularly significant when oldgrowth is logged, as these forests hold very substantial stores of carbon. Replacing old growth forests with plantations and immature regrowth will result in a major net emission into the atmosphere. Logging rotations will ensure that the carbon lost will never be replaced and this scenario fails to account for the effect on biodiversity, water catchments, or soil quality.

At the time of writing, the Australian Government had won the 'Fossil of the Day' award from international environment groups at the climate change conference at The Hague. This award was earned for their retrogressive stance on forest clearing for plantation establishment as a trade-off for industrial emissions.

The political campaign

The Federal Government has attempted to include the burning of native forests as a renewable energy source under its Renewable Energy (Electricity) Bill 2000, giving financial incentives to an industry which few Australian consumers consider 'renewable'. At the time of writing, the Bill has failed to pass through Parliament. Removing native forests from the Bill has been a significant campaign focus for the environment movement. Our stance has received strong support from some Members of Parliament, as well as from the genuine renewable energy industry.

Senator Robert Hill, the Federal Environment Minister, represented Australia at the climate change convention at The Hague. With no legislative incentives yet established for a truly renewable energy sector, and a clear failure to come anywhere near its greenhouse emissions obligations, the Government is desperate to promote the burning of trees as a political solution.

It is worth noting that both the Federal Coalition and the ALP support the burning of forests as a 'renewable energy' industry in the Bill. The Australian Greens and, after considerable discussion with the conservation movement, the Australian Democrats, have taken a strong stance against passing any legislation which promotes the burning of native forests for power generation.

Consumer action

Regardless of the outcome of the Renewable Energy Bill 2000, consumer choice will be a major determinant of whether this industry gets off the ground. Thankfully, the accredited Green Power scheme developed by the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA), a NSW Government initiative, does not include the burning of native forest products. The SEDA model has been followed in other states, indicating the pervasive view that green power schemes will fail to win consumers if native forest burning is included. SEDA, and the other state authorities which have accepted the Green Power scheme, have resisted strong industry pressure to change their position on native forests.

As the electricity industry continues to deregulate, the opportunity for consumers to promote environmentally appropriate power becomes greater. Consumer power came to the fore when it became public that one of the partners of the NSW power plant proposal is named the Clean Green Energy Group. Once this had been revealed, a large number of Green Power consumers contacted Energy Australia requesting their removal from the scheme if it involved the burning of native forests. This indicates just how sensitive the whole industry is to consumer issues.

Wrap up

Despite massive industry promotion, the burning of native forests for power has failed to gain support from the electricity industry. This has forced the logging sector to propose its own power plants. Establishment of wood-fired power stations will require massive government support, both by direct financial means and through legislative support. Perverse carbon accounting systems being promoted by the logging industry and Federal Government would lead to a worsening in greenhouse gas emissions combined with the further loss of forests and biodiversity. As consumers, we need to direct attention at both state and federal governments to ensure that our taxes are not used to support the native forest fire-sale.

Burning native forests is not a solution to Australia's greenhouse problems. Governments and industry need to provide a sustainable future that protects essential biodiversity and generates genuinely renewable energy.

As consumers, we can also make a direct impact by purchasing Green Power, as indicated by the SEDA green tick, and provide support to the one industry body holding a strong stance against the intensification of native forest destruction. You can also increase the pressure on your electricity retailer by asking for a guarantee in writing that it will not purchase power produced by burning native forest wood.