3. New report argues microalgae biofuels are overhyped and unacceptably risky

Today, Biofuelwatch released a new report and companion briefing entitled Microalgae Biofuels: Myths and Risks, in collaboration with Friends of the Earth U.S.

The report explores the biological, technological and economic barriers that have prevented the development of commercial-scale microalgae biofuels - despite hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private sector investment over the past decade.

The report argues that genetically engineering microorganisms such as microalgae poses a potentially enormous threat to ecosystems and public health, and calls for an end to public-sector subsidies along with a common-sense moratorium on the commercial-scale cultivation of GE microalgae.

This is the latest in our Biotechnology for Biofuels series.

4. International NGO coalition calls on Danish pension fund PKA to divest from biomass

Biofuelwatch, along with US and Danish NGOs, has written to the Danish Pension Fund PKA, urging it to divest from its 50% equity stake in the worlds biggest dedicated Biomass combined heat and power plant which is under construction on Teesside. The plant will burn up to 1.5 million tonnes of wood pellets a year, which equates to about 3 million tonnes of green wood.

Approximately 1 million tonnes of the pellets will be supplied by Enviva, a US wood pellet producer known to source wood from clearcut coastal hardwood forests in the US south as well as siting their facilities directly alongside low-income and typically communities of color that are already suffering environmental impacts from a variety of polluting industries.

PKA prides itself on its responsible investement policy, having divested from almost 50 coal companies and from five involved in tar sands, while increasing its investments in 'green energy'. In doing so, PKA has set a positive example to other pension funds and investors worlwide; however, one of its largest supposedly green investments is in MGT Teesside, which will damage forests and the climate and risks undermining the pension fund's reputation.

A coalition of NGOs from the US, UK, Denmark, and Australia have released a new briefing outlining the negative impacts of PKA’s investment on the climate, forests, and local communities and demanding it to divest.

5. Drax's biomass conversion and increased particulate pollution

A recent investigation by Biofuelwatch has discovered that since Drax Power Station’s part-conversion to burning wood pellets, emissions of dangerous dust particles have increased by 135%. The particulates released each year by the power station are now equivalent to adding 3 million diesel cars to the roads.

Particulates are an especially dangerous form of air pollution linked to a wide range of health problems, including cancer, heart disease and neurological diseases. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there is ‘no safe level of exposure’ to particulates, however the UK government has chosen to ignore WHO guidelines on limits to particulate levels in the atmosphere.

Read the briefing
 

6. New Contracts for Difference to fund climate change, air pollution and forest destruction

The Government's latest announcement on renewable energy subsidies – Contracts for Difference, or CfDs – contains a shock biomass handout. Most of the subsidies have gone to offshore wind; however, one award has gone to what would become Scotland’s largest biomass power station in Grangemouth, and others to controversial “energy from waste” projects. The company behind the Grangemouth award is called Silva Renewable Energy Ltd. According to the Vice-Convenor of Grangemouth Community Council, the local community was not informed of the plans prior to the subsidy announcement. The company may be seeking to use a highly controversial planning consent obtained by a Joint Venture of Forth Ports and SSE, Forth Energy, in 2013, against strong opposition from the community.

Walter Inglis, Vice-Convenor of Grangemouth Community Council, said:

“I am shocked and disappointed to see that a company has succeeded in winning subsidies for a huge biomass power station in Grangemouth. Once again, the already poor air quality and public health of residents in Grangemouth is being sacrificed.”

Biofuelwatch assumes that the new plant will run on imported wood chips or pellets, as the nearby Markinch biomass power station already imports “waste” wood from around the UK. The UK currently burns around 50% more wood in power stations than we can produce annually.

CfDs guarantee a minimum purchase price for renewable electricity which is set far above the market price for electricity. Contracts for Difference are awarded through an auction, based on eligibility criteria set by the Government. The Government decided earlier this year that biomass “Combined Heat and Power Plants” (CHP) would be eligible to bid in the auction. To meet the definition of CHP, a power station has to make use of a limited amount of its heat and reach an overall efficiency of just 35%, which is less than the efficiency of most fossil fuel power stations and less than half what could in theory be achieved with biomass CHP.

For more information on Biofuelwatch's response to the subsidy announcement, see http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2017/environmental-campaigners-denounce-new-subsidies/. Other reports of this story have chosen to focus on the falling cost of renewables, and expecially offshore wind. For a useful round-up, see https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-auction-offshore-wind-cheaper-than-new-gas

7. International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations

September 21st was the International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations, a day to coalesce the movement against the industrial forestry model and its negative impacts, and fight for community rights to land, food, energy, and water.

8. Geoengineering Monitor

Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, proposals for large-scale carbon dioxide removal via yet-to-be-developed technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) have steadily moved to the center of political discussion on climate mitigation. Meanwhile, the Trump administration in the U.S. has appointed geoengineering supporters to high-ranking positions, a similarly troubling development that could accelerate the mainstreaming of geoengineering.

In response to these developments, Geoengineering Monitor - an online platform co-anchored by Biofuelwatch - released its first bi-monthly bulletin this summer, aiming to provide a collection of cutting-edge, fact-based news and analysis around these proposals for the large-scale intentional manipulation of the earth system.