January 14, 2024 | The Japan Times via UVic News
Discourse surrounding the burning of wood pellets (a type of biofuel that is created from clearcutting in British Columbia forests) as an alternative to fossil fuels is alarmingly misleading, a recent Japan Times article explains. Japan’s government, who sources the pellets from BC, touts them as a ‘carbon neutral’ energy source. Experts such as UVic’s Andrew Weaver, however, explain that the use of wood pellets is not a long-term, renewable solution. According to Dr. Weaver, harvesting trees that are fit to become wood pellets is unsustainable due to the decades it will take for the trees to grow back, and the possibility that climate change may prevent a second harvest of them.
Dr. Andrew Weaver is a Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria. Are you interested in learning more from this important researcher? The Office of Copyright and Scholarly Communications is happy to say that two of Dr. Weaver’s publications are available in our open access institutional repository, UVicSpace!
You may also learn more about this area of study by browsing UVicSpace with the subject terms “renewable energy” and “biomass”.
