On July 8, 2010, David P. Tenny, President and CEO of NAFO, submitted the following letter-to-the-editor to the Washington Post in response to an editorial on biomass energy and its carbon benefits.
Dear Editor – your recent editorial Considerations for factoring biomass into clean energy (Monday, July 5) states fairly the objective that using renewable biomass to produce energy should have clear carbon benefits but stops short on the facts supporting the carbon benefits of using wood for energy in the United States.
Forests, unlike fossil fuels, naturally recycle carbon in the atmosphere rather than allowing it to accumulate. In developing countries where pristine forest is irreversibly cleared for agriculture this carbon cycle is sometimes out of balance. However, in the United States, total forest acres have remained steady for over a century, and the volume of trees in our forests has increased by 50% in the last half century. The ongoing increase in forest carbon in the U.S. makes our forests a net carbon sink – a fact recognized by the international community of experts using conventional carbon accounting practices.
The carbon cycle is ongoing, with no defined beginning or end. This means that so long as the cycle in U.S. forests remains in balance over time, wood used for energy in this country will not increase carbon in the atmosphere, and it may be used to displace fossil fuel with its emission of carbon stored on a one-time basis geologic ages ago. This clearly makes wood cleaner than fossil fuels and positions our forests to make a significant contribution toward achieving our nation’s clean, renewable energy goals.
Sincerely,
David P. Tenny
President and CEO
National Alliance of Forest Owners
Tags: biomass
