Apr. 10, 2012 - In late March, the European Parliament for Brussels was told to
reconsider its biomass emissions calculations, based upon the rapidly
gaining traction argument from scientists, researchers and NGOs that biomass may not necessarily be
According to an article on EurActiv.com, the movements against the carbon neutrality argument for biomass is gaining support at an extremely fast pace, including from EU officials.
“It is wrong to assume that bio-energy is ‘carbon neutral’ by
definition, it depends what you replace it with” Professor Detlef
Sprinz, the Chairman of the independent Scientific Committee advising
the European Environment Agency (EEA) told EurActiv. “If you replace a growing forest by energy crops under the current
accounting rules of the EU, you may very well increase greenhouse gas
The article goes on to discuss about the feasibility of the European Union's desire to reduce emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020, and how it may not be as likely as everyone initially assumed by using biomass.
This debate shows no sign of ending, in the EU or Canada, without substantially more data, but it is important for all biomass producers and exporters to be aware of.