The global trend is seeing native forests cut down to be burnt in electricity furnaces and termed ‘renewable power’. This further damages climate, natural carbon stores and our forests and wildlife.
September 22, 2010
In a controversial forest policy backflip, the Victorian Brumby government released its revised Timber Industry Strategy in December 2009 that includes the archaic plan to burn native forests for power generation.
The revised TIS includes ‘a proposal to allow the use of forest residues for power generation’. The plan claims only ‘forest residue’ will be used, but 85% of native forest logged in Victoria ends up as woodchip, waste and sawdust. Woodchipping drives the logging of our native forests. Burning forests ...
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September 20, 2010
The burning of our native forests to generate electricity (to power our air conditioners!) is being supported by the Liberals and ALP and assisted by State and Federal legislation. This will be the next major threat our forests face.For more information visit www.noforestfurnaces.org.au
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April 15, 2009
The Victorian government has released a draft strategy for the future of the Forestry industry which includes lifting the current ban on burning native forests to burn as renewable energy and increasing timber contracts from ten to twenty years. These measures would undermine efforts to transform the logging industry into a climate-positive, value-adding, innovative, job-creating industry.
A study released by ANU last year estimated that if we were to leave the native forests of South-east Australia and allow them to reach ...
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December 2, 2007
The next big battle for Australia’s south east forests is to stop NSW’s Eden chipmill from burning woodchip logs to make electricity. Exchange rates are pricing their woodchips out of international woodchip markets, so plans are now afoot to create a “forest furnace”. It hopes to burn so-called “waste” for power and call it “renewable”.
Formerly called Diashowa, the SEFE mill has announced that by 2009 it intends to start generating power just to supply the town of Eden (hoping to ...
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August 17, 2007
The European Union’s target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel comes from renewable sources by 2020 is not an effective way to curb carbon emissions. Australia must also avoid this path as a ‘solution’ to our increasing CO2 .
A team of UK-based scientists suggested that reforestation and habitat protection was a better option. Writing in the magazine Science, they said that, given the same area of land, forests could absorb up to nine times more CO2 than the production ...
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August 9, 2007
The Victorian Renewables Bill allows the clearfelling of native forests to burn for ‘renewable’ energy. A Greens amendment to prevent this was defeated on the 9th of August when Labor, Liberal and National MPs voted to allow native forests to be thrown into furnaces.
Greens MLC, Greg Barber, said that in the run-up to the 2002 election, the state government promised that native forest wood must ...
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May 29, 2007
Burning forests for power – back on agenda
If Mr Bracks wants to increase drought and weather extremes in the state, he’s doing a great job, but they’ll need an army of spin doctors to sell this latest one to the public. The Bracks government is again planning to generate power by burning Victoria’s native forests.
In 2002, ALP policy prohibited the burning of native forests for power generation. More than ever, forests are now acknowledged as critical carbon stores and soaks, ...
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September 2, 2003
In the never-ending search for new and innovative ways to make a buck from our native forests, one enterprising shipping company decided to try sending a load of Gippsland and WA woodchips to Italy for fuelling a biomass-burning electricity plant.
After enquiries, we were told that it was a financial disaster and they lost out very badly. This isn’t surprising, considering it’s not viable to cart chips any distance within Australia for the same purpose.
The idea of exporting forests to help ...
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September 10, 2002
The proposal to connect the electricity grids of Tasmania and Victoria (via Basslink) has come under fire in recent weeks due to fears that Victorians will be buying energy generated by the cutting down, pulverising and incineration of Tasmanian forests.
These fears have met with strong denials from the proponent of Basslink (BPL). They argue that only wind and hydro power will be sent through the Basslink cable. In fact Basslink P/L wont have any say as to what goes through ...
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July 1, 2002
There are plans for a new 30 megawatt power station in the Latrobe Valley, to be fuelled by wood.
International banking group Babcock and Brown and Californian-based National Power Australasia Incorporated are proposing the project which would need 280,000 tonnes of wood per year. They are offering 25 year contracts to suppliers.
Their spokesman is claiming it will be 100% eco-friendly – using only waste wood – just like woodchips.
After some investigation, this mob are the very same NSW company that calls ...
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