PR: 36464
29 July 2014 

Government ‘deaf' to wood burning carbon concerns

The Government has confirmed what wood panelling manufacturers have been arguing for years
- that burning wood to fuel power stations can create as much, or in some
cases more, harmful carbon emissions as burning coal

The Government has confirmed what wood panelling manufacturers have been arguing for years - that burning wood to fuel power stations can create as much, or in some cases more, harmful carbon emissions as burning coal.

A report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) last week admitted that sometimes much bigger carbon savings would be achieved by not utilising whole trees for energy, suggesting also that power firms may be winning subsidies for inadvertently making climate change even worse.

While the Government has now promised to strengthen the regulations on burning wood, and to make standards mandatory, the Wood Panel Industries Federation (WPIF) insists that manufacturers have been making the same point for some time.

WPIF, of which Norbord is a member, is a representative organisation giving voice to the industrial manufacturers in the UK and Ireland of Wood Chipboard, Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF).

Director General of WPIF, Alastair Kerr, said: "This report has now confirmed what we have long said - that tax payers may have been subsidising power stations to burn wood in a way that creates more carbon emissions than burning coal.

"This should not be considered a new development. Indeed, WPIF and others, including Greenpeace, have been telling the Government this for years.

"When DECC published its reportLife cycle impacts of Biomass Electricity in 2020¹we were reminded of the old adage, ‘There's none so deaf as those who choose not to hear.'"

In 2010, WPIF submitted a report to DECC²which stated: "If the UK biomass industry were to displace the UK wood panel industry as primary consumers of 4 million tonnes of UK sourced timber, the net CO2 emissions for the UK would rise by 6 million tonnes - more than 1% of the UK's reported emissions in 2008."

Furthermore, in November 2012, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the RSPB published a report entitledDirtier than coal, while the Scottish Government has recognised the issue and constrained tax payer support for biomass electricity to plants of 15MW or less.

Mr Kerr said: "It seems that policy dogma has deafened the Westminster audience to all but the ‘facts' that support their case.

"WPIF is not against burning wood for energy, but we have long argued that policies which determine the use of tax payers' money must be premised on the principle of the ‘hierarchy of use' - a way of prioritising economically, socially and environmentally higher added-value applications for material use over those having lower added value.

"It is essential that only waste wood which could not have been reused or recycled should be incinerated. Current energy policies undermine the hierarchy and promote the burning of an environmentally valuable resource.

"Perhaps now, a more balanced debate will take place, and hopefully it won't be too late."

With six manufacturing sites across the UK, the industry is the second largest processor of UK-sourced wood, annually consuming some 4.5m tonnes. It has a combined annual turnover of over £550m, directly employing approximately 2200 people with some 7900 FTE jobs dependent upon it.

These are mostly based in rural areas where job provision is often limited. Up to another 40,000 are directly employed by the sawmilling and paper industries.

For further information on Norbord, please call 01786 812 921 or visitwww.norbord.co.uk.
 

-ends-

¹Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity in 2020 -https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-cycle-impacts-of-biomass-electricity-in-2020

²An analysis of carbon emissions for different end of life scenarios - Carbon River May 2010http://www.makewoodwork.co.uk/GalleryEntries/Manifesto_and_Reports/Documents/WPIF_Project_Subsidy_Report.pdf

With compliments:
Alison Relf
Taylor Alden Ltd
Unit 2, Temple Place
247 The Broadway
London
SW19 1SD
Tel: 020 8543 3866

Email: alison@tayloralden.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Wood Panel Industries Federationwww.wpif.org.uk

The Wood Panel Industries Federation is a representative organisation giving voice to the industrial manufacturers in the United Kingdom and Ireland of Wood Chipboard, Oriented Strand Board (OSB) and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF). 

With a particular focus on technical and environmental influences, the role of the federation is to support its members' processing activities and their products in the market.