Is Woody Biofuel a Carbon Neutral Source of Energy?

Dr Chuck Ray, Penn State School of Forest Resources recently posted to his Blog, entitled Go Wood, a story clarifying the issues surrounding the use of woody biomass and carbon neutrality.  I thought I would share it with my readers.  It brings to light some flaws in the findings of the recently published Monamet study in Massachusets.

In short, the inaccuracies lead to flawed findings, which have prompted sweeping policy changes in Massachusetts that threaten to wipe the use of woody biomass off the map in the state (Kilwa Biomass, Wood Energy News, Vol. 181, May 20, 2011).

Wood Biomass and Carbon Neutrality(Dr. Chuck Ray, Go Wood, May 19, 2011) For those of you who learned about the carbon cycle back in high school or college, you probably knew that the harvesting and use of wood is fundamentally a carbon-neutral process. Or you thought you knew that, until the concept of using biomass for energy became a topic of heated debate.

Now, we have claims both for and against the carbon-neutrality of wood energy almost daily in the news. There are stories like these, that make woody biomass out to be as bad or worse than fossil fuels. For the rest of the story click here.

Study points out inherent flaws in Manomet woody biomass study(Lisa Gibson, Biomass Power and Thermal, May 19, 2011)  A new study contradicting the findings of the well-known 2010 Massachusetts biomass study by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences points out inherent flaws and incorrect assumptions in the Manomet authors’ methodology. In short, the inaccuracies lead to flawed findings, which have prompted sweeping policy changes in Massachusetts that threaten to wipe the use of woody biomass off the map in the state.  For the full sory click here.