An article in The Times last week stated that the UK wood energy sector was set to “plunder the lungs of the world” to meet its need for fuel. Once more emotive language in the media gives the impression that wood is a finite resource and that felling trees is inherently bad for the environment.
Of course, wood energy is a sensitive issue for the UK timber sector too. In its rush to meet its carbon emission obligations, the government has adopted a sledgehammer strategy, throwing millions of pounds in subsidies at the green energy industry without thought to the impact for other areas of business. As a result, UK wood panel manufacturers and the British-grown timber industry are justifiably concerned that they will be priced out of the market for timber and wood co-products by eco grant-rich power companies.
It makes no sense, economically or environmentally, to drive up the use of biomass-fuelled energy generation if it damages UK sawmillers and panel producers and puts them at a competitive disadvantage against suppliers of far less sustainable materials.
Government has to take a holistic approach on this issue, ensuring through a fair grant regime and, perhaps, the planning system, that growth of wood energy is kept in line with raw material supply, taking into account the needs of established wood-using industries.
And lobbying to this end by the Wood Panel Industries Federation, among others, does seem to be having the desired effect, as TTJ was contacted this week by a government consultant tasked with assessing the impact of wood energy growth on the panel sector (and more on this will follow).
Having said that, while UK wood energy strategy may be flawed, the hysterical tone of The Times’ report should be challenged too. It implied that harvesting woodland, for whatever purpose, left a barren, tree-less landscape, reinforcing the association in the minds of consumers between using wood and deforestation. That can only be bad for the timber industry as a whole.
