In an interesting post by Gerrit Hiemstra, meteorologist and former national weather presenter, about C02 emissions he rightly states that it is “really time that we stop burning natural gas, petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG, oil and coal”

This statement is not only interesting but also striking. Gerrit does not mention ‘biomass’ in the list. This while biomass (industrial combustion of wood) is one of the major C02 emitters at the moment.

Because the discussion that followed touches on an important core of the current debate between proponents and opponents of biomass, we would like to continue this discussion here.

When we asked Gerrit why he chose not to mention biomass, he said: “because the share of biomass combustion is relatively small and because it is C02 neutral, depending on the origin of the biomass.”

This last argument about the claimed climate neutrality of biomass is one of the main sources of confusion. Is this also true?

What is certain is that this ‘climate neutrality’ of biomass is a political agreement that led to its inclusion in the EU Renewable Energy Directive in Brussels. Based on this, approximately 24 billion in incentive subsidies are provided annually at EU level to the biomass industry. But is this claim of ‘climate neutrality’ also scientifically proven? No. This ‘green’ accounting is a fictitious reality. It looks good on paper, but in reality it is not correct.

When wood pellets are burned to generate electricity, they directly cause carbon pollution (in addition to other polluting emissions such as nitrogen and ultrafine particles) in the chimney of the power plant. Science has shown that burning biomass for electricity emits 20 percent more carbon than coal and three times as much as natural gas, per unit of electricity produced.

Gerrit’s first argument that the ‘share of burning biomass is relatively small’ is also incorrect. Half of the renewable energy in the Netherlands concerns biomass of all energy produced (electricity, heat, mobility). This biomass energy has a C02 emission that is higher than coal and gas. In 2020, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 19 MT C02 was emitted through the use of biomass. In 2020, the total emissions in the Netherlands were 164.5 megatons of C02 equivalents. The 19 Mt C02 emissions from biomass then amount to 12% of the total NL emissions.

That is a substantial part of the total emissions. These emissions do count. And this is apart from the millions of tons of wood directly from forests abroad. Biomass, harvested industrially, resulting in deforestation and forest degradation.

Not important to focus on? Not worth mentioning? We think so.
Curious what you think!

Let us know via:
www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-fenna-swart_gerrithiemstra-biomassa-uitstoot-activity-7330283585641328643-4OSw