The southeastern U.S. exported 1.5 million tons of wood pellets made from whole trees in 2012, according to a report by Wood Resources International. To raise awareness for what they see as a poor use of natural resources, Dogwood Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) launched "Our Forests Aren't Fuel."
Large utility companies, including the three major European companies, are logging trees from the Southern U.S. to be made entirely into wood pellets to be burned for electricity. While trees and wood products are recognized as "carbon sinks," which keep carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, the carbon is released once the wood is burned or otherwise broken down. Logging for burning results in an increase in greenhouse gas pollution comparable with that of fossil fuels, according to a study by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.
"With the advancement of clean, renewable energy alternatives, the growing practice of burning trees for electricity is a major step in the wrong direction," said Debbie Hammel, senior resource specialist of the NRDC. "Our Forests Aren't Fuel lets the public know about the extent of this ecological devastation and calls on utilities to end the practice. It's an even dirtier form of energy production than burning fossil fuels, it destroys valuable southern ecosystems and it isn't necessary."
More information and full case studies on companies driving the biofuel industry can be found on the Our Forests Aren't Fuel website.
