Letter to the editor The Port Macquarie News
Many
readers of the Port News would have seen recently on television the latest
propaganda from the Forest and Wood Products Australia group.
In this
short video advertisement the actor with a safety helmet explains to the viewer
that wood sourced sustainably is the Ultimate Renewable as the carbon in the
timber in your house is stored for life and the trees are replaced from the
thousands of seedlings pictured in the industry's nursery soaking up more
carbon.
Sounds
good but this description of the industry is deceptive.
There is
obviously up to 100 years age gap before the seedlings replace the old trees
that actually are more efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide than the growing
saplings.
Furthermore
the script completely and intentionally omits to mention biomass burning for
energy.
The NSW
DPI (Department of Primary Industry) claims that, "The benefits of using
forestry residues for bio-energy include the opportunity to significantly
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by displacing the use of fossil fuels."
The
Forest Corporation intends to use Industrial Logging to harvest 142,000
hectares of our state forests from Taree to Grafton with "residues"
feeding the proposed biomass plants at Bulahdelah, Herons Creek, Kempsey and
Grafton.
The
Herons Creek plant even has the support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency
ARENA) to trial making bitumen and diesel from forest material.
Single
Tree selection has now become "Every Single Tree" with leaves,
sticks, trees not millable and sawdust going to biomass and chips and pellet to
export.
The USA
and the EU, especially England have been running this rort for some time
claiming that burning timber is more efficient and sustainable however the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change summarized the emissions of
bio-energy use as follows: "The combustion of biomass generates gross
Green House Gas emissions roughly equivalent to the combustion of fossil
fuels." When wood is burned to produce electricity, it releases an
estimated 80% more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity than coal.
To make
this devastation of our biodiversity easier the NSW LNP Government has removed
the prescription to search for koalas before logging and is moving to make old
growth trees "new" again.
It is no
wonder people are talking about the extinction of arboreal wildlife in NSW
.
-
John Jeayes
Published
in The Port Macquarie News on July 23, 2019.
