Serious mismatches continue between science and policy in forest bioenergy

Abstract In recent years, the production of pellets derived from forestry biomass to replace coal for electricity generation has been increasing, with over 10 million tonnes traded internationally?primarily between United States and Europe but with an increasing trend to Asia. Critical to this trade is the classification of woody biomass as ?renewable energy? and thus eligible for public subsidies. However, much scientific study on the net effect of this trend suggests that it is having the opposite effect to that expected of renewable energy, by increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide for substantial periods of time. This review, based on recent work by Europe's Academies of Science, finds that current policies are failing to recognize that removing forest carbon stocks for bioenergy leads to an initial increase in emissions. Moreover, the periods during which atmospheric CO2 levels are raised before forest regrowth can reabsorb the excess emissions are incompatible with the urgency of reducing emissions to comply with the objectives enshrined in the Paris Agreement. We consider how current policy might be reformed to reduce negative impacts on climate and argue for a more realistic science-based assessment of the potential of forest bioenergy in substituting for fossil fuels. The length of time atmospheric concentrations of CO2 increase is highly dependent on the feedstocks and we argue for regulations to explicitly require these to be sources with short payback periods. Furthermore, we describe the current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounting rules which allow imported biomass to be treated as zero emissions at the point of combustion and urge their revision to remove the risk of these providing incentives to import biomass with negative climate impacts. Reforms such as these would allow the industry to evolve to methods and scales which are more compatible with the basic purpose for which it was designed.Non peer reviewe

LONG TERM STUDY OF GREENHOUSE GASES INFLUENCE ON EPICUTICULAR WAXES OF Populus tremuloides M i c h x.

Maňkovská B., Oszlányi J., Karnosky F.D.: Long term study of greenhouse gases influence on epicuticular waxes of Populus tremuloides M i c h x. Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 31, No. 4, p. 355–369, 2012. Epicuticular waxes of three trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides M i c h x.) clones differing in O3 tolerance were examined over six growing seasons (1998–2003) at three localities (Rhinelander, WI − clean and control site; Kalamazoo, MI − moderate pollution loading and; Kenosha, WI − high pollution loading) in the Lake States regions of the USA and at the Aspen FACE site in Rhinelander, WI. Differences in epicuticular wax structure were determined by scanning electron microscopy and quantified by the coefficient of occlusion. Statistically significant increases in stomatal occlusion occurred for the three O bio-indicator sites, as we predicted, with the higher O sites hav-3 3 ing the most affected stomata for all three clones, and also for all treatments including elevated CO, elevated O, and elevated CO + O. The results suggest that O pollution of the Kenosha 2 3 2 3 3 and Kalamazoo sites show significant negative impact on epicuticular waxes of aspen, and these impacts are the most severe on the most O sensitive clones. We recorded statistically significan

Natural production of the calorific value from poplar clones and socioeconomic aspects of its wider use in Slovakia

The calorific value produced from the poplar clone stands’ above-ground biomass was derived from its volume production, and calculated by mathematical model growth tables of I214 and Robusta poplar clones’ biomass density and dry biomass calorific value. Calorific values at 35 year stand age and site indices of 20, 30 and 40 were approximately 2,700, 6,000 and 9,300 GJ ha-1 respectively and the I-214 clone had minimally higher production than Robusta in the first half of growth. Lowland forest locations with 25,600 ha area and high groundwater level are most suitable for Slovak poplar production, and this enabled us to calculate mean annual production of 3,566 TJ of gross calorific value obtained from above-ground biomass. This is divided into 64% wood, 14% bark and 22% small-wood. Up to 85% of this production potential is situated in the Danube Lowland with the remainder in the Slovak southern middle and eastern regions. Natural production of poplar clones increases the possibilities of economic activity diversification and supports governmental policy of eliminating socio-economic disparities in regional population high long-term unemployment due to low qualifications. Finally, the least developed Slovak regions have a high proportion of agricultural and forest land, so governmental support is now also encouraging the green economy