Forest biomass as a renewable energy source - consequences for forestry

The current provisions in the EU directive, applicable to the signatories of the document, assume reaching by 2020 a share of at least 20% of energy coming from renewable sources. The EU Parliament demands changes to the current directive on forest biomass and its contribution to the use of renewable energy. The Parliament considers it expedient to increase the amount of forest biomass obtained, including wood in various processing states, treating this solution as one of the active methods of replacing the energy derived from fossil fuels. The definition proposed by the EU Parliament states that countries and industrial plants in their areas can receive financial assistance and also be included in the group of energy users ‘from renewable sources’ if they obtain it from the combustion of wood, which will be collected only for this purpose. Such a case has led to the protest of over 750 scientists from around the world. In a letter sent from researchers to the EU, it was found that only harvested forest biomass coming exclusively from logging residues and wood waste, and not from wood intended for other use, should be taken into account for the purpose. Signatories of the letter warn that this change puts at risk both the global climate goals and maintaining the sustainability of the world’s forests. At the heart of the argument is the conviction of scientists that the defect of the directive is based on such a construction of regulations that will cause actions that cause expansive damage to forests in the world and accelerate the occurring climate change. The proposed solution is to limit the amount of forest biomass obtained only to the part that qualifies according to the directive, for logging residues and wood waste. The real danger, including concerning the stability of forests, is the possibility of overestimating the forest’s production capacity in supplying forest biomass. This claim is not an expression of academic caution. It is a real threat. The history of overestimation of forest potential is as long as the history of human development and in each case ended up with a total degradation of the forest and the lack of resources that forced migration of the population. This threat, both on a global scale and for our country, is high, first of all, because the implementation of energy policy assumptions, just like an agricultural policy, in each case leads to the direct growth of producers’ incomes. They are always higher, as are profits in other economic sectors, from revenue received from forest management. This income asymmetry may stimulate in our country, and in many countries of the world is already stimulating, changes in forest management leading to the reduction of forest biological diversity, as well as the growth of deforestation