The New Biomassters - Convention on Biological Diversity

What Is Switching?
Switch 1: Switching Power – Burning
biomass for heat and bioelectricity
At present, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports
that 10.1% of global primary energy comes from biomass,
mostly wood, dung and straw burned for traditional cooking
and heating. However, they predict this amount could increase
to 25% by 2030, 212 a massive upswing reflecting the new
commercial race to burn biomass to generate electricity.
Low Hanging Fruit
In a few short years, the electricity industry has embraced
biomass burning as a strategy to not only cut costs but also to
capture carbon credits and meet renewable energy targets.
Biomass power plants now exist in over 50 countries around
the world and supply a growing share of electricity. Globally,
an estimated 54 GW of biomass power capacity was in place
by the end of 2009. 213 In many ways, burning biomass is the
low hanging fruit of the renewable energy world. It requires
little or no new technology and can be easily implemented in
existing industrial facilities by switching feedstock from
mineral oils to vegetable oils, or from coal to wood pellets
(compacted sawdust). As such, national and regional
authorities often target biomass burning as a simple
‘transitional’ form of supposedly renewable energy. In
particular, the practice of co-firing wood in existing coal
power plants is becoming widely practiced. This is done
simply by mixing biomass with coal in the burning chambers
of power plants that in turn drive steam turbines.
Biomass Burning in the USA
<strong>The</strong> United States generates over one third of all biomass
electricity – making it the largest producer of biomass
power in the world. 214 As of October 2010, the grassroots
group Energy Justice Network had mapped over 540
industrial power facilities burning biomass in the U.S.,
with a further 146 slated to be built. 215 Eighty biomass
power plants connected to the electrical grid in 20 U.S.
states currently generate about 10GW of power, 216 which
is half of all U.S. “renewable energy” in an industry worth
$1 billion. 217 Since 2000, biomass generation on the
electrical grid has risen 25% to about 2,500 megawatts,
according to the Biomass Power Association. 218
Biomass Power in the South
According to REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for
the 21st century), biomass power has also grown significantly
in the global South, particularly in the BRICS countries
(Brazil, India, China and South Africa). Other countries with
bioelectricity production include Costa Rica, Mexico,
Tanzania, Thailand, and Uruguay. China’s share of biomass
power in 2009 was 3.2 GW and the country plans to produce
up to 30 GW by 2020. India is aiming for 1.7 GW of capacity
by 2012. Brazil has over 4.8 GW of biomass electricity, almost
entirely produced from sugarcane bagasse at sugar mills. 219
Illustration: the
Beehive Collective
Counting the Costs of Biomass
Electricity I: Gobbling fields and forests
<strong>The</strong> most straightforward impact of new biomass power
facilities is the increased requirements for biomass, chiefly
wood, required 24 hours a day to keep the turbines turning.
According to a report on biomass availability prepared by the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Resources,
13,000 tonnes of green biomass are required to generate one
megawatt of biomass power for one year. 220 As U.S. activist
Josh Schlossberg puts it, these facilities are “gaping mouths
waiting for a constant supply of forest.” 221
<strong>The</strong> world’s largest wood-burning biomass power station, the
Prenergy plant at Port Talbot in Wales (currently under
construction), aims to import over 3 billion tons of woodchips
from the U.S., Canada, South America and Eastern Europe.
According to watchdog Biofuelwatch, the land area needed to
grow this much biomass could be as large as one half-million
hectares – ensuring the deforestation of an area three times the
size of Liechtenstein every year. 222
ETC Group 42 www.etcgroup.org