Alexander C. Kaufman pfp
Alexander C. Kaufman
@kaufman
This is a pretty good breakdown of the insanity that is the transatlantic wood pellet energy trade. U.N. carbon accounting rules count the CO2 from losing a tree in the country where it’s cut down. So when American trees are milled into pill-sized pellets and shipped to, for example, England to be burned in a power plant, the British can claim its carbon-free power — even though they’re burning twice as much to compensate for the more energy-dense coal they’re replacing. This scam has been allowed to continue, however, in part because the typical pro-climate bloc in Europe — ie Nordic countries — all have big timber industries and haven’t wanted to crack down on a market. Meanwhile, the heavily-polluting pellet mills processing all these old-growth forests being felled in the American South are overwhelmingly located in poor, rural and mostly Black towns.
15 replies
5 recasts
74 reactions
Alexander C. Kaufman pfp
Alexander C. Kaufman
@kaufman
I wrote a big feature on this back in 2021 in Mississippi https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biomass-energy-power-plants_n_61bcb6cae4b0a3722477d16a/amp
1 reply
0 recast
16 reactions
erica pfp
erica
@erica
how is felling old growth forests even remotely green 💀
2 replies
0 recast
7 reactions
Jawa pfp
Jawa
@jawa
Have you heard of any positive development in waste to energy tech like gas plasmafication ? It seems like such a logical area to explore since feed stock is already distributed where power is needed. The only place I know it’s being done is on large aircraft carriers.
1 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
gFam.live (UrbanGladiator) pfp
gFam.live (UrbanGladiator)
@gfam
There is an amazing Volts podcast episode (with David Roberts) about how pellets should have never been included in the UN carbon accounting rules - especially since this industry is not only terrible but completely financially unsustainable without those credits. It shouldn't exist!
1 reply
0 recast
2 reactions
J. Valeska 🦊🎩🫂 pfp
J. Valeska 🦊🎩🫂
@jvaleska.eth
great, but who is earning the money? pellets prices going higher than btc last years guessing the companies sited in the US are doing it and the government too, through taxes us get the money and europe "green" energy, everyone is happy here, I guess
1 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
Mind Attic pfp
Mind Attic
@mindattic
It paints a picture, but not an accurate one. I'm from Latvia, and it shipped $200 million worth of timber to the U.S.(2022)—selling to each other to extract profit at the expense of biodiversity. Logging is just one of the five main drivers of deforestation: Urban Development Logging and Timber Harvesting Wildfires Pests and Diseases Agricultural Expansion All combined, these have caused a 75% loss in biodiversity over the last 200 years.
1 reply
0 recast
0 reaction
gFam.live (UrbanGladiator) pfp
gFam.live (UrbanGladiator)
@gfam
127223 👏 (for visibility to the Hunt Town commune community).
1 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
᠎ pfp
᠎
@m-j-r.eth
I'd much rather prefer timber being used for solar-powered cabins, but that has downsides in northern climates. even crypto had greenwashing like KlimaDAO. imho carbon accounting should be complemented by direct agroforestry accounting. if the baseload demand never goes away and forces loopholes like these, the responsibility should shift to how much water is treated and transported to accelerate % planet surface that's "rubisco'd". ironically, cutting down hardwood trees can increase biodiversity & photosynthesis in the short term, seems intuitive to repurpose structure for structure. wood-fired electricity is like burning peat; it only makes sense in medieval isolation.
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
KapaskieVibes pfp
KapaskieVibes
@kapaskie
Wild how something sold as 'green energy' can still be so destructive. Feels like the system is built to look good on paper, not in reality.
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
Koolkheart pfp
Koolkheart
@koolkheart.eth
Amazing how climate solutions too often turn into new colonial extractions… same playbook, different branding
1 reply
1 recast
4 reactions
pugson pfp
pugson
@pugson
in short: it’s either nuclear or it’s a scam
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
Señor Doggo pfp
Señor Doggo
@fubuloubu
On top of saying "we don't have enough trees for housing!" this seems especially diabolical
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction
Kyle pfp
Kyle
@banta
But it's all about feeling good, not doing good, and this makes people feel good!
0 reply
0 recast
0 reaction
OtterFodder pfp
OtterFodder
@otterfodder.eth
Absolutely ridiculous
0 reply
0 recast
0 reaction
jayplayco pfp
jayplayco
@jayplayco
54916 $hunt
1 reply
0 recast
0 reaction