10/21/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/21/2024 12:23
Pinnacle/Drax pellet cutblock for biomass near Burns Lake BC (C) Conservation North/Kai Nagata
Individuals and organizations around the world are taking part today in an annual international day of action against "Big Biomass." In demonstrations, briefings, and other actions spanning six continents, participants will stress that, far from a clean energy solution, industrial-scale biomass energy actually worsens climate change, destroys global biodiversity, and harms vulnerable communities.
With this year's day of action coinciding with the first day of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16), we are also calling on Parties to this convention to recognize the risks bioenergy presents to people and planet. In particular, to follow the Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for the elimination of environmentally-harmful subsidies, CBD Parties must stop propping up bioenergy with billions in subsidies per year.
Here are four ways in which NRDC is trying to stop big biomass:
Pressuring bioenergy-reliant countries to stop using and subsidizing biomass - The UK and the EU have invested heavily in biomass electricity generation. To feed its rapidly growing demand for biomass, the UK has become the largest importer of wood pellets in the world with the lion's share of those pellets destined for a single destination: Drax power station, the largest in the country. The UK also subsidizes bioenergy - mainly Drax - with billions of pounds per year, much of which comes from billpayers.
In the UK, we are working to prevent the UK government from extending bioenergy subsidies past 2027, when they currently expire. The UK government issued a consultation on this subject in February, but has yet to decide. In the EU, we are working with partners to ensure restrictions on bioenergy included in both the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII) and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) are implemented in an ambitious and expeditious manner.