Ecological and economical nonsense of new large-scale biomass plants in Belgium By guest author Sara Van Dyck, Bond Beter Leefmilieu, Belgium Today, biomass plays an important role in Belgium’s renewable electricity supply. But Belgian governments have just pledged more money towards new large-scale biomass plants even though a recent study clearly
New Year’s resolution: let’s have a sustainable biofuels policy by Cristina Mestre, Shipping and Fuels Officer, Transport & Environment WHAT I KNOW IN 2016 THAT I DIDN’T KNOW IN 2015: As a newbie at T&E, it’s a challenge to summarise all I’ve learned about the biofuels story in the past
Where the wood pellet industry threatens US forests By Lisa Benedetti, BirdLife Europe The American southeast is a place where rich bottomland hardwood forests support rare plants and animals and important ecosystem services. But millions of hectares of trees in the southeastern US are under the axe because of UK
Nothing green about burning wood for electricity Jeremy Wates, the Secretary General of the European Environment Bureau in Brussels, explains in a letter to Britain’s The Independent newspaper how there is ‘Nothing green about burning wood for electricity‘ By burning wood pellets instead of coal Drax power station has turned green, according to
Biomass and the EU’s Circular Economy equation By Sini Eräjää, Policy Officer EU Bioenergy, Birdlife Europe and the European Environmental Bureau Last December the European Commission published their long awaited Action Plan for the Circular Economy. The intention is to show how the EU will move from a wasteful linear to
Dutch scientists call for closure of coal plants By guest author Linde Zuidema, Bioenergy Campaigner, Fern With nearly a quarter of its land below sea level, the Netherlands has much to fear from climate change and rising sea levels. But Dutch scientists say it is the worst-performing country in Europe
An atlas of environmental justice conflicts By Nick Meynen, Project Officer, Global Policies and Sustainability Unit, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) Far from most eyes and ears, environmental collisions between industry and local communities are occurring around the world. The Atlas of Environmental Justice, created by a global coalition of academics
By Lisa Benedetti, BirdLife Europe
DRAX, UK – Up in Flames By guest author Fred Pearce, author and journalist – article from Fern’s report ‘Up in Flames’ Drax is one of Europe’s largest power stations. Its 12 giant cooling towers dominate the landscape of the Trent Valley in eastern England. It generates up to 4,000 megawatts
Last ditch climate option or wishful thinking? By guest author Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is increasingly promoted as a means of removing large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. It involves capturing CO2 from biomass-burning power stations or biofuel refineries and burying it underground. The concept
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