Adjournment Speech: Eden Chipmill and 'Green Power'

Dr JOHN KAYE: In mid November, with much fanfare, the operators of the Eden Chip Mill announced that they were proceeding with the development of a $20 million, five megawatt native forest biomass power station. The mill's owner, South East Fibre Exports, is seeking to distort the truth to market the power produced as both renewable and low carbon. In truth, it is neither. If State and Federal governments fall for these myths, not only will they condemn the forests of south-east New South Wales and north-east Victoria to further ongoing devastation and loss of biodiversity and species, but they will also undermine the integrity of both the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the renewable energy targets.

South East Fibre Exports General Manager Peter Mitchell and the local Federal member Dr Mike Kelly enthusiastically promote the use of more wood as a key tactic in fighting climate change. In truth, Mr Mitchell is responding to the collapse of the international price for woodchips and the imminent oversupply of wood from hardwood plantations. He is desperately seeking new markets for the heavily subsidised native forests of New South Wales. If the myths that support the biomass generator's proposal are maintained, they will lead not only to one five megawatt power station, but also up to 15 more, consuming the forests of the south-east with appalling consequences. The native forest destroyers rely on multiple layers of propaganda, each of which is more outrageous than the previous.

The first is the idea that the furnace will be fuelled by mill wastes. The concept of wastes conjures up safe images of that which would have no other uses and would be discarded. Nothing could be further from the truth. Economic forces will inevitably drag woodchips into the furnace of the power station once the plant is built, as the export price for woodchips plummets and the unit wholesale price of electricity rises dramatically. Just as whole logs are currently declared waste and hence fed into the chippers at Eden, so too will woodchips be declared appropriate fuel for the power station. No matter what prohibitions are contained in the conditions of consent, regardless of the promises made by the State and Federal governments, and irrespective of undertakings by South East Fibre Exports, the economic inevitability is the forests of south-east New South Wales being fed into furnaces to generate electricity.

The second myth is that forest biomass is an economic source of power. The massive subsidies paid by the New South Wales Government to the chip-mill owners deliver wood at less than one half of its economic value. The forest furnaces will be able to out-compete other cheaper sources of power that do not enjoy the same subsidies, including wind and solar thermal power.

The third myth is the idea that native forest biomass power generation could be declared renewable and qualify to produce certificates under national and State targets. The exploitation of the south-east, the steady conversion of native forest into managed plantations and the devastation of native species and biodiversity are the antithesis of sustainability. An industry that destroys priceless native forests could never be called renewable by any but apologists for the multinational profit takers.

The fourth myth is that the electricity from native forest biomass is low carbon emitting. The theory is deceptively simple. The CO2 emitted from the burning of the wood will be reabsorbed by tree regrowth and in this perfect world there is little or no net release of carbon. Proponents refer to it as solar energy, where photosynthesis stores the energy of the sun as chemical energy.

Forests NSW has been disgracefully negligent in its data collection on carbon storage and release in its forests. Recent work by Professor Brendan Mackey and his team at the Australian National University casts doubt on current carbon accounting practices. Our very rough analysis, based on forestry industry and peer-reviewed data, suggests that for every megawatt hour of energy generated by south-east native forestry biomass, more than 6.4 tonnes of CO2 would be released instantaneously. This is more than 6.4 times the amount of CO2 released from burning coal to produce the same amount of energy. Certainly regrowth would bio-sequester some of this carbon but at a very slow rate. It would take about 80 years of regrowth to capture 5.4 tonnes, thus returning the greenhouse gas emissions to the same level as coal.

However, the forests are harvested on a much shorter cycle. After 20 years, the forests would have captured only two tonnes, leaving more than four tonnes in the atmosphere. Forestry biomass is at least four times worse than burning coal. Forestry biomass will not be economic, sustainable or low carbon. The development of this one power station will continue and it will accelerate the damage being done to the south-east forests. It will also undermine the integrity of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Forestry biomass should be rejected by both State and Federal governments