Forests to Burn. The Real Cost of Bioenergy
Pracownia na rzecz Wszystkich Istot
Forests to Burn: The real cost of bioenergy is the first comprehensive study on forest biomass used in Poland for energy production. The report maps the situation of the market in Poland, answers questions about how much wood we burn and where it comes from. It explains the reasons for biomass market development and the consequences of forest biomass combustion for climate and nature.
For several years, the wood processing industry has been warning that it cannot buy enough wood from the State Forests. Meanwhile, Poland's largest power plants using woody biomass burn the equivalent of several dozen hectares of forest each day. The Polish government expects the harvesting of biomass from domestic resources to increase by 56% by 2030. The promotion of woody biomass as sustainable, 'green' fuel is one of the reasons for the intensification of logging and the deterioration of forest ecosystems. The extraction of biomass exacerbates the pressure that forest management puts on ecosystems:
- disturbs the integrity of forest ecosystems,
- negatively influences biodiversity,
- by depleting the resources of dead wood it causes the degradation of forest.
The main reason for the rapidly growing use of forest biomass for energy production is national and EU legislation. 2022 is the year when the EU is likely to stop considering biomass as a RES.