UPDATES (Nov 7, 2018):
The Dark Side of the Bioeconomy: Climate Catastrophe, Forest Destruction, and Human Rights Abuses
Over 115 Organisations from 40 countries hold day of action on Nov 7, 2018 to reject the “BioFuture Platform” .
“The exponential growth of the bioeconomy is a global threat. Instead of contributing to climate mitigation, bioenergy and ‘bio’ products keep energy generation locked-in to the carbon cycle, decrease the amount of land available for food crops, drive land-grabs, and decimate forests – our most efficient carbon sinks.
MIT expert: Carbon-neutral biomass ‘accounting fraud’
Aaron Beswick in the Chronicle Herald NOV 5, 2018
Missing Pathways to 1.5°C
Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance – “CLARA pursues climate solutions that work for people—at community, landscape, and national levels. Our work is rooted in the latest science, in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the UN Convention on Biodiversity. We work with scientists, farmers and indigenous leaders to show the crucial role of local solutions for building community and ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change.”
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From EAC>Wilderness>Projects:
Burned Documentary Screenings
View Trailer
View Burned – The MovieWe’re proud to present screenings of Burned at locations across Nova Scotia this fall. Burned examines the rise of biomass in the Eastern United States. These are the same issues Nova Scotia is facing today. Following each film, we’ll have a Q&A to discuss what is happening with our forests.
Fri Nov 2, 7:00 p.m. Tatamagouche Public Library, Tatamagouche
Wed Nov 7, 6:30 p.m., Natural History Museum, Halifax
Fri Nov 9, 7:00 p.m., Mahone Bay Centre, Mahone Bay
Sat Nov 10, 1:30 p.m., Musquodoboit Harbour Public Library, Musquodoboit Harbour
Mon Nov 12, 7:00 p.m., Osprey Arts Centre, Shelburne, NS
Wed Nov 14, 7:00 p.m., Yarmouth County Museum and Archives, Yarmouth
Sat Nov 17, 7:00 p.m., Al Whittle Theatre, Wolfville
Sun Nov 18, 7:00 p.m., United Church, Annapolis Royal
Thurs Nov 22, 7:00 p.m., Centre Burlington Hall, Centre Burlington, Hants County
NEW: Wed Nov 28 at 7:30PM at St Luke’s United in Upper Tantallon, Halifax Co.
Various organizations are co-sponsors of the local events, e.g., SuNNS and The North Shore Chapter of the Council of Canadians were co-sponsors for the event at Tatamagouche on Nov. 2.
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Recent related posts on NSFN:
– Climate Warming Warnings: time to be objective about forest bioenergy in Nova Scotia
Post, Oct 9, 2018
– Nova Scotia forests, forestry and GHGs 2: Who accounts for the EU’s emissions from bioenergy generated from imported chips?
Post, July 27, 2018
View other NSFN Posts about Biomass
C.H. Nov.10, 2018
Biomass madness
Re: “MIT expert: Carbon-neutral biomass ‘accounting fraud’” (Nov. 5 story). Thank you for exposing the Nova Scotia biomass shell game. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: It’s one thing to use local firewood to boil a kettle to make tea. Your trucking is minimal, and in our damp climate, your patch cut will soon restock, cancelling your carbon debt within the trees’ lifetimes.
It’s quite another thing to clear cut hundreds of hectares of Crown land a year (some of it prime old growth), truck it long distances (burning fossil fuel at about four kilometres per litre) to biomass mills to boil water to make steam to run turbines to generate electricity to transmit kilowatts (losing more than 20 per cent along the way) to distant points to boil water to make tea (plus run TVs, recharge phones, etc.).
Never mind shipping our tree chips overseas to right the carbon wrongs of Europe and the U.K.!
I’m oversimplifying — but how ungreen can we get? Burning biomass is like the U.S. subsidizing Big Ag (wink, wink) to grow corn to make ethanol to replace gasoline — while producing more CO2 than they saved! I know — it’s all about jobs and votes. But meanwhile, our grandkids’ planet is being cooked! Are we nuts? Or just slow?
Gary L. Saunders, retired DNR extension forester, Clifton
Burned: Are Trees the New Coal? Trailer from Marlboro Productions on Vimeo.