REA comments on Bright Blue’s Global Green Giant report
Amy MacConnachie, Head of External Affairs at the REA said:
“Bright Blue’s report clearly has good intentions for combatting climate change and environmental decline. However, it is concerning that in some areas the report seems poorly evidenced. This undermines good intentions by raising questions about its standards of research.
“The report wrongly claims that regulations linked to biomass power ignore key environmental issues and lead to negative environmental outcomes. This statement seems to rely upon a nine-years-old, non-peer-reviewed report by a campaigns organisation, whose claims lack any peer-reviewed evidence on biodiversity.
“In reality, the South East US Forests in question have seen a steady year-on-year growth in forest inventory, more than doubling since the 1950s. The UK has world-leading biomass sustainability governance in place which specifically considers land use change in order to stop the unsustainable practices intimated by the report. Annual wood pellet exports from the Southern US account for less than 0.1% of the wood growing in the forest (far less than annual net growth), yet provide an additional layer of transparency and oversight.
“Biomass has played a fundamental role in decarbonising the UK energy sector. It also sits at the heart of plans for Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), a technology noted by the Committee on Climate Change as critical to getting to net zero emissions by 2050. In short, Net Zero by 2050 will not happen without biomass.
“As such, we encourage Bright Blue to take a more evidence-based approach to biomass and retract its recommendation.”
—ENDS—
For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Hayley Allen
External Affairs Officer
+44 (0)20 7981 0862
[email protected]
Notes to editors
- The full report is available here.
About the REA
The REA is the UK’s largest trade association for renewable energy and clean technologies with around 550 members operating across heat, transport, and power. The REA is a not-for-profit organisation that represents renewable energy and clean technology companies operating in over fourteen sectors, ranging from biogas and renewable fuels to solar and electric vehicle charging. Membership ranges from major multinationals to sole traders.
For more information, visit: www.r-e-a.net