Wood pellets cause more climate pollution than coal

[jackman]

Wood pellets cause more climate pollution than coal when they’re burned. So why does Europe call them ‘carbon neutral’? | Energy News Network


https://energynews.us/2019/12/02/so...-so-why-does-europe-call-them-carbon-neutral/





Thoughts?

 

[GMadd]

I saw that. My question is that the article seems to be talking about wood pellet power plants in Europe, not home heating stoves. So really I'm interested in what this means for our purposes.

 

[peakbagger]

I posted an article in the green room that has a more local perspective out of VT

Vermont Doubles Down on Wood Burning, with Consequences for Climate and Health - Inside Climate News

This story was co-published with The Weather Channel as part of Collateral, a series on climate, data and science. BRISTOL, Vermont — Wood smoke rising from a stovepipe is as about as common a sight in Vermont as roadside signs advertising maple syrup for sale. Vermonters have been heating...

insideclimatenews.org

And like I did in the green room, don't miss the last paragraph

Vermont's long love affair with wood is inextricably linked to its creed of self-reliance. During Hanson's first week on the job, she found herself touting the virtues of advanced wood heating systems to an older Vermonter. "Well, Emma," he replied, "I have 100 acres of trees on my property, but I don't have a single pellet tree."

 

[GMadd]

I posted an article in the green room that has a more local perspective out of VT

Vermont Doubles Down on Wood Burning, with Consequences for Climate and Health - Inside Climate News

This story was co-published with The Weather Channel as part of Collateral, a series on climate, data and science. BRISTOL, Vermont — Wood smoke rising from a stovepipe is as about as common a sight in Vermont as roadside signs advertising maple syrup for sale. Vermonters have been heating...

insideclimatenews.org

And like I did in the green room, don't miss the last paragraph

Vermont's long love affair with wood is inextricably linked to its creed of self-reliance. During Hanson's first week on the job, she found herself touting the virtues of advanced wood heating systems to an older Vermonter. "Well, Emma," he replied, "I have 100 acres of trees on my property, but I don't have a single pellet tree."

Great article! This quote below sums it up for me. My question is how do you know which pellet brands are making sure it's "done right"?

"The researchers determined that whether pellet stoves made sense as a carbon emissions reduction strategy depended largely on harvest levels: If roughly half of the feedstock used to make pellets was from sawmill residue and half from harvested pulpwood, then emissions would be roughly the same as from heating with fossil fuels.
In other words, their findings suggested that a wide-scale shift to pellet heating could lead to a net reduction in climate-warming emissions if it was done right. But it could also cut the other way if increased pellet demand leads to more felling of standing trees."

 

[peakbagger]

My guess are the New England pellet mils are running a mix of low grade sawmill rejects and low grade wood that is not good for sawlogs. Pellet mills do not pay a lot for wood. Owners have lots cut to sell veneer and sawlogs, they just sell the crap for what they can to make a few more bucks, If they cant break even on it they just leave it in the woods. The other source of lower grade wood is pre-commercial thinning, depending on the type of wood, the owner may do a couple of cuts over the years at a loss to reduce the overall inventory in the woods. The goal of a landowner is generally to reduce the junk trees to encourage the best trees to get bigger. Sometimes if the woods were high graded in the past the best option is clearcut it and start over.

 

[railfanron]

The reason it's called carbon neutral is simple. If left in the woods to rot or the sawdust is sent to the landfill to rot the amount of oxygen it takes to oxidize (rot) and the amount of carbon dioxide given off is the same as burning it. Fossil fuels may produce less co2 but that co2 is locked in the earth and not released until we pump it out or mine it and burn it.
Ron