By charles the moderator
We missed this story in May, but in order to replace the use of coal in the UK, power stations are being refitted to burn wood chips. But the UK doesn’t have enough forests to supply the wood chips, (biofuel) so…
Wait for it…
Wait…
Yup, power companies in the UK are planning on purchasing timber in the United States to be converted to wood chips to be shipped across the Atlantic to burn in the previously coal-fired power plants.
From the BBC
Swamp forests in the US are being felled to help keep the lights on in the UK. Is this really the best way to combat climate change?
Environmentalists are trying to block the expansion of a transatlantic trade bringing American wood to burn in European power stations.
The trade is driven by EU rules promoting renewable energy to combat climate change.
Many millions of tonnes of wood pellets will soon be shipped annually to help keep the lights on in the UK. Other EU nations may follow.
Critics say subsidising wood burning wastes money, does nothing to tackle climate change in the short term, and is wrecking some of the finest forests in the US.
The insanity of this is difficult for me to put in perspective, but it seems comparable to shining spotlights on solar collectors.
Read the full BBC story here.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“When the EU set its 2020 target of sourcing 20% of energy from renewables, some leaders thought the deal referred to electricity. (I know because I spoke to Downing Street on the day of the decision).In fact, it included energy for transport and heating too, so the bar was set much higher than anticipated.”
This brings the question – why not just install hordes of heatpumps to heat the buildings to meet 20% overall goal? Heatpumps are a proven technology.
Two thoughts:
Cutting down forests will affect climate for sure.
Cutting down trees in a swamp forest have a huge impact on the ecosystem.
Where’s the Green people? (Oh right, extinct after the reds hijacked the green movement …)
GrzeTor on August 8, 2013 at 12:51 am
Heatpumps has been tested i Sweden for many years. They work fine when outdoor temperatures are above freezing point. Below they are almost as efficient as wind power during calm days and extra heat sources are needed to compensate. (oil, wood, expensive electricity …) During the winter season, we have plenty of sub zero (ºC) days …
SasjaL says:
August 8, 2013 at 2:40 am
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Think water to air or water to water heat pumps rather than air to air. Have had one for underfloor heating for 11 years. Works well to 40 plus below. The water is a constant 42 degrees F and discharges at 36 to 37 F. Also have a heat recovery system available on my waste water system.
Poor trees
Hey! “Doug Huffman”, what is the mentality of not providing proof when smearing Leonard Peikoff?
(And you write poorly:
– “Randian” sneering buzzword, meaningless to most people,
– what is your point about Nietzche and Hegel? Both are in the Plato fork, the one that theorizes the bizarre notion of two worlds (one real but unknowable – except by priests and other academics like Andrew Weaver and David Suzuki, the other the unreal bad one we live in).
So will the ships carrying the wood to Europe use wood for fuel?
But hey! Perhaps the BC government could sell its surplus of beetle-killed pine trees to Europe. (Gordon Ford on August 6 at 7:14am is looking for investors, but methinks he’s asking in the wrong place. 🙂
As for wood-burning generation of electricity, it is done where the wood is available. The Harmac pulp mill near Nanaimo BC does that, presumably wood they can’t use in making their specialty paper products, or perhaps waste from the process either at the beginning (such as bark) or at the end. Pulp mills use energy, so have direct motivation to generate it onsite. West Fraser lumber company is building generation as well.
I live in Grand Forks, BC and watch every day as chip trucks roll by on their way to Kettle Falls, WA where there is a wood-fueled generating station. It’s pretty frustrating when you consider we could be producing power from our forests after making lumber. Of course, the ‘environmentalists’ are against it, as they are everything.
UK Marcus says: @ur momisugly August 7, 2013 at 9:43 am
Where is John Galt when you need him?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Busy making movie part III. (Just ran into a kid named Dagny yesterday at a birthday party and ‘she was named after a character in a book’)
Eli Rabett says:
August 7, 2013 at 6:42 pm
“The UK imports most of the coal that is burnt for power, principally from the US and Russia. Exactly how is this different?”
Come on, Eli, don’t be so modest. Everyone knows they must be the same…..because you say sooooo!