Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Sweden is hoping to rely more heavily on biomass burning, because other
non-fossil fuel options - nuclear and hydro power - are thought to be
environmentally unsound. In Canada, the potential for biomass burning
also appears considerable due to the extent of its forests. Unlike the use of
trees for wood products, biomass burning is approved under current Kyoto
definitions. Biomass burning does not lead to potential C leakages such as
those that occur when timber from plantations is used for wood products
(as discussed above). Indeed, the benefits of C uptake through afforestation
are enhanced under current rules when there exist opportunities to use
forest biomass in conjunction with wood waste to produce energy that
substitutes for energy from fossil fuels (with the reduction in GHG
emissions from fossil fuel consumption constituting a credit).
In terms of carbon balance, the benefits of burning biomass to
produce energy include the maintenance of an emission-uptake equilibrium
(no net flux), the one-time gain in C uptake from initial establishment of a
tree plantation and then the annual fossil-fuel offsetting emissions. There is
also the potential for capturing carbon in the burning process, thereby
reducing total emissions further.
The Canadian forest sector is a large consumer of electricity, much
of it purchased from the local/regional provider. The purchased electricity
is generated from a variety of sources, including primarily natural gas, coal
and hydropower. The forest sector self-generates about half of the power
that it uses (Forest Sector Table 1999), but is constrained in many cases
from achieving economies of size in power generation by either an
inability to sell excess power into the provincial grid or a lack of fibre
(Canadian Pulp & Paper Association 2000). In British Columbia, for
example, BC Hydro restricts sale of privately generated power into the
provincial grid because this would reduce prices and the revenues that the
government-owned company could generate. Until recently, sawmills in
the Province burned sawdust in beehive burners, but, when this was no
longer permitted on environmental grounds, the sawdust was simply put
into landfills. A small number of cogeneration plants have been built since
the ban, primarily in areas where disposal costs and wood waste volumes
are highest.
Wood waste could be a limiting factor in achieving economies of
scale in biomass burning, however. As demand for industrial wood waste
increases beyond supply, the value of wood fibre from fast-growing energy
plantations will increase. If biomass power generation is determined to be
economically profitable, farmers may be able to sell biomass at a profit; at
least, it might reduce the compensation (private or public) paid to farmers
for establishing and maintaining tree plantations, and increase the area
economically feasible for afforestation.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search