Impact on PNW Forests and Watersheds
The biomass industry claims that pellet production doesn’t use whole trees.
Drax made this claim in its SEPA application, see Take Action.
Later, Drax revised its application, acknowledging that it would use whole trees at its proposed Longview plant.
Similar, PNWRE project proponents claim they won’t use whole trees. But the Hoquiam site is adjacent to a large chip mill that routinely chips large-diameter trees from the Olympic Peninsula (see PNWRE in Hoquiam). Presenting to Hoquiam city authorities, PNWRE acknowledged it would buy wood chips from that mill.
But sourcing whole trees isn’t the only problem. Pellet producers don’t care about timber quality, only fiber quantity. Biomass demand increases both the volume and intensity of logging. This has knock-on effects on forest, riparian, and coastal ecosystems.
Increased amount of logging
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources noted that the availability of raw material for pellet production is tied directly to the volume of trees that are logged. If Drax and PNWRE claim that they are using mostly ‘logging slash’ and ‘mill waste’, the question must be asked: where is all that logging slash and sawmill residue coming from? It comes from expanded logging.
Increased intensity of logging
Another little-appreciated aspect of wood pellet supply baskets: these pellet plants take all types of forest biomass. Whereas a lumber producer will be looking for straight-grained trees, and therefore may pursue more selective cutting, with reduced impact from logging, wood pellet producers will take everything. That extends to below-ground biomass! – Drax and PNWRE plant to take even the stumps left in the ground, to use as ‘hog fuel’ for drying biomass for pellet production. That extends to below-ground biomass! Drax and PNWRE plan to take even stumps left in the ground to use as ‘hog fuel’ for drying the biomass used in pellet production.
Impacts to the Chehalis River Basin
Hoquiam and Longview are separated by 100 road miles, but each proposed plant has said it would source wood from as much as 75 miles away. So there is significant overlap in the ‘supply areas’ proposed by these pellet manufacturers. This overlap centers on one of the most important watersheds in western Washington – the Chehalis Basin. The Chehalis River Alliance has put together detailed plans for restoring the basin, including the restoration of critical salmon runs. The increased logging associated with raw material demands from the pellet producers would make flooding in the basin even worse. All of the important work to improve ecosystem health in the region—in particular, restoring aquatic species – is at risk from these pellet plants.
Overview of the Chehalis River Watershed. Video by Heather Jones. Additional images from Legacy Forests Defense Coalition.
Climate impacts
Is biomass energy good for the climate? The answer is NO. Per unit of useable energy produced, biomass energy is often worse than coal-fired power in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Biomass is only considered a ‘renewable energy’ technology because trees can grow back. But in western Washington, ‘growing back’ to a mature state can take 250 years. For decades, even centuries, logging forests and burning them in biomass plants creates a ‘carbon debt’ that worsens climate change.
This video demolishes logging industry myths about forest cutting and climate change. Produced by Nature Creative Commons of Canada, the video focuses on forests in British Columbia; but the lessons for western Washington are the same.