Suspected H5 bird flu detected in Australia
A wild migratory bird in Western Australia has returned a suspected positive result for avian influenza, which has devastated populations of seabirds, seals and other animals across the world.
US rebuked over ‘climate change’ controversy at Antarctic meeting
The US has been criticised over its reluctance to refer to “climate change” at a major Antarctic meeting, with France describing it as a “dangerous precedent” that risks undermining science.
The Tassie devils in my neighbourhood keep stealing shoes and laundry, but I adore them | Kelley Swain
The thievery of these little creatures is endlessly amusing to me, but there have been, I’m told, a few rounds of inconvenience
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To have your knickers go missing at a music festival may be seen as evidence of having a great time, but what if you’re at a folk music festival in the lush green Huon Valley of Tasmania, where parents stroll around with children in prams, and the wildest thing happening is an 8pm ceilidh?
The thing is, I’m fortunate to live in that lush green valley, but my neighbours are inveterate kleptomaniacs. A guest who was visiting for the Cygnet folk festival this summer had left some laundry out on my landlady’s deck to dry in the sun, and as my landlady turned the corner, she saw the pair of knickers disappearing slowly between the wooden deck slats. She dived to rescue the knickers; the thief scuttled away beneath the deck. I learned early on that leaving shoes out at night was to kiss your shoes goodbye.
Burning forest ‘waste’ to make cement damages the climate. Let’s pursue cleaner options
The Australian government has agreed to invest almost $53 million in a north Tasmanian company that will upgrade its coal-fired kiln to burn wood “waste” and used tyres for cement manufacturing.
The Federal Minister for Climate Change, Chris Bowen, says this initiative will help decarbonise the Australian economy.
However, the science is clear: burning forest biomass, or so-called forest “waste” – which could include dead trees, understorey vegetation and fallen logs – generates large amounts of carbon emissions. It will likely also accelerate poor forest health.
The empirical evidence shows burning forest biomass to make concrete is poor climate policy, poor environmental and forest policy, and a poor use of taxpayer funds.
Why is this happening?
In line with climate change treaty commitments under the Paris Agreement, governments worldwide are working to decarbonise their economies in an attempt to limit global warming.
This includes finding alternative sources of clean energy to using fossil fuel. This is especially important for carbon-intensive, high-polluting industries, such as concrete production. While about 56% of concrete emissions come from processing clinker (the base material for cement), 39% come from using fossil fuel to generate heat, and 14% from electricity.
Unfortunately, forest biomass is increasingly being promoted as an energy source to replace fossil fuels, for example in the United Kingdom and Europe. Most forest biomass used to generate energy will likely be trees. And what is often referred to as “waste” is actually a critical part of the structure and composition of natural forests. For example, understorey vegetation and logs provide habitat for a wide range of animal species. They play an essential role in nutrient cycling, such as storing substantial amounts of carbon.
Whilst forest biomass is technically a renewable resource, as trees can be regrown after logging, it is not a source of clean energy. This is because about half of tree biomass is carbon (assuming a moisture content of 45%). Therefore, burning a tonne of wood generates roughly a tonne of carbon dioxide emissions. Importantly, up to 30% of carbon dioxide emissions are still in the atmosphere after 1,000 years.
The time lag between release and absorption
Critically, there is a highly significant lag time, of decades to centuries, between carbon being instantaneously released from burning forest biomass and when it is removed from the atmosphere. These removals occur either by plant growth or through carbon making its way to the bottom of the ocean.
The lag time between burning forest biomass and tree regrowth is important because the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations causes even more climate change. This is one of the key reasons why widespread burning of forest biomass in some European countries threatens their ability to meet Paris Agreement greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Furthermore, forest biomass has a far lower calorific content relative to coal. This means large quantities of forest material has to be burned to generate an equivalent amount of energy. This high demand for wood for biomass energy can contribute significantly to poor forest health.
Notably, Australia, along with many other governments, has committed to ending deforestation and degradation by 2030. This recognises the importance of forest carbon sequestration and storage in meeting climate targets and achieving the Paris Agreement goals.
Not an isolated example
The Tasmanian plan, that would see Cement Australia burn forest “waste” to generate energy, is far from an isolated case. There are well-developed plans for Verdant Earth Industries to reopen the former coal-fired Redbank Power Station in the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales, and generate energy by burning hundreds of thousands of tonnes of “wood waste” annually.
Much of this “waste” will likely be trees from forest and woodland regrowth, which are fundamental to the integrity of those ecosystems. This regrowth also provides habitat for a vast array of species, including a range of threatened species.
Biomass burning is frequently supported by native forest logging advocates because of structural issues in the industry. These issues include attempts to extract some financial return from an industry that is largely unprofitable. The native forest sector produces primarily low-value, high-volume commodities such as [woodchips and paper pulp], whereas plantation forest sector dominates high-value sawn wood products.
Similarly, state government forestry agencies have been unable to get market certification for wood products such as woodchips and pulpwood from bodies such as the Forest Stewardship Council. This is partly because the areas logged to produce wood products are often are home to a diverse range of plants and animals that may be threatened by logging.
Decarbonisation matters
We fully acknowledge the efforts being made to explore how emissions-intensive industries can be decarbonised, such as reducing the clinker content in cement.
However, Australian governments must stop using taxpayer money to subsidise projects that entail large-scale burning of forest and woodland biomass for industrial energy.
Alternative forms of energy, including concentrated solar power, will be important in this regard. Unlike forest biomass burning, these are both renewable and clean sources of energy.
A response was sought from Cement Australia.
David Lindenmayer receives funding from the Australian government, the Victorian government and the Australian Research Council. He is a Councillor with the Biodiversity Council and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the National Academy of Science (USA), the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Ecological Society of America, the Royal Society of Victoria, and the Royal Zoological Society of NSW.
Brendan Mackey receives funding from the National Environment Science Programme, the Australian Research Council, and the Global Environment Facility. He has previously received funding from the Queensland, NSW and Tasmanian governments. He is a volunteer member of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative board as a science adviser. He is a member of the Ecological Society of Australia, the Society for Conservation Biology and the Royal Meteorological Society.
‘Mega-consumers’ of food and energy cost environment $5.7tn a year, study finds
Top 10% generate climate and biodiversity damage bill that exceeds economies of most countries, say researchers
The environmental damage bill racked up by the highest-consuming 10% of the world’s population has reached up to $5.7tn a year – larger than the economy of every country except the US and China, a study has found.
Mega-consumers in this group are concentrated in the global north, accounting for more than half the population of the US and 40-45% of people in the EU.